What should I ask my fit-out contractor for at the start?
A baseline programme showing every activity, its duration, dependencies and the critical path; the assumptions it rests on, including permitted working hours and lead times for long-lead items; a procurement schedule; a submissions schedule for authorities and landlord; and an undertaking to report planned against actual progress weekly with a short look-ahead. Agree these before work starts so there is a benchmark to measure delay against.
From the RRD Field Guide, checked against the sources cited in Commercial Fit-Out Programmes in Singapore: Realistic Timelines and Where Delays Come From. General information, not advice for your project.
The fuller picture
A Singapore office or retail fit-out runs through design, authority approvals, landlord submissions, procurement of long-lead items, site works, testing and commissioning, fire-safety certification and handover. Delays usually come from approvals, late design changes, long-lead M&E items, landlord working-hour limits and coordination. Early landlord submissions, early procurement and a baseline critical-path programme tracked weekly are the main defences.