The biggest risks in a renovation rarely arise during the build. They arise during contractor selection. What we check, what we have learned to look for, and what we have walked away from.
We try to understand how a contractor behaves when something goes wrong.
We have never seen a renovation go off track because of one big mistake.
It almost always begins with small signals. Signals that turned out to be more significant than they seemed at the time. And that were there before the contract was signed.
The biggest risks in a renovation rarely arise during the build. They arise during the selection of the contractor.
Most buyers try to predict how a contractor performs when everything goes to plan. We try to understand how a contractor performs when something goes wrong.
That is a different starting point. And it leads to different questions.
Because something almost always goes differently than planned. A concealed pipe. A supplier who fails to deliver. A detail that only surfaces during the work. The question is not whether that moment comes. The question is how someone responds when it does.
You do not see that in a reference about a finished project. You see it in how someone talks about their previous work. Whether they mention problems. Whether they acknowledge that things sometimes run differently. Whether they explain how they communicate when that happens.
Before we go further, we check a number of basics. Is the company correctly registered and are the business details verifiable? How does the payment schedule work, and is each payment tied to work that has been visibly completed? Is the quote broken down in enough detail to understand what is actually being delivered? And how realistic is the proposed timeline, also relative to their other ongoing projects?
These points almost never determine who we end up working with. But they do determine who we stop considering. You use them to rule people out. Not to make a final choice.
A good quote does not just tell you what something costs. It shows how someone plans to organise a project.
That is why we look at the structure first and the total price second.
The worst presupuesto we ever seriously reviewed looked reasonable on first read. Line items for kitchen, bathroom, electrics, paintwork. And at the bottom: miscellaneous.
After reading it we still did not know what we were actually getting. Where were the boundaries? What was included? What would become an extra cost once the project was underway?
A good quote is not a price document. It is an organisational document. A renovation contractor who can break down their work clearly is showing you how they run a project. A contractor who cannot is showing you that too.
Choosing a contractor on the Costa Brava is rarely a price comparison. But a quote is the first document that reveals how someone thinks.
We pay almost as much attention to how someone answers as to what they say.
Someone who has an immediate answer for everything sounds convincing.
But a contractor who says they need to check something, or that they can only give a proper answer once they have seen it on site, usually gives more confidence.
Good contractors sometimes simply say they do not know yet. That they need to look into it. Or that they cannot commit until they have been to the property.
What makes us cautious are people who show no uncertainty at all. Not because they have bad intentions, but because renovations simply do not work that way.
A renovation rarely becomes difficult because of the work itself. It becomes difficult because of how people respond when the work does not go as planned.
Almost no one gives you the reference of a dissatisfied client.
That is why we do not only ask whether someone was happy. We ask what went wrong.
How was communication handled when something changed? Were commitments kept? What happened when something ran into trouble? A reference tells you how a project ended. We are much more interested in what happened along the way.
During a specific selection process, all of this became very concrete.
We had asked straightforward questions. Clarifications about the quote, nothing more. The answers came quickly. But they never actually answered the question. A lot was said, and the uncertainty remained.
We asked for the third time what exactly was covered under a particular line item.
After three answers, we still did not know.
That was the moment.
Because if something cannot be explained clearly before the project starts, it does not become clearer during the work.
The first red flag had been almost invisible in retrospect. No conflict. No confrontation. Just answers that never quite answered the question. Significant enough to stay with us, not significant enough to walk away immediately. Only on the third attempt did it become clear enough.
We used to think a professional website said something. That turned out to be less useful than expected.
We have worked with contractors who had almost no online presence and delivered excellent results. And contractors with polished presentations who were mainly good at marketing.
The same goes for fast responses. Pleasant, but it says little about how someone will manage a six-month project.
One thing consistently proved a better indicator: can you have a straightforward conversation when things get complicated? A good contractor is often recognisable earlier through how they communicate than through their quote.
On the Costa Brava, contractor selection is closely tied to permit timing. That is something buyers from the Netherlands, Belgium or the UK rarely expect.
Many buyers assume a contractor becomes available as soon as their permit is approved. That is rarely how it works.
The contractors with a strong local reputation here plan months ahead. Sometimes longer. Their schedule does not revolve around your permit. Your permit needs to fit into their schedule.
In practice, this means: anyone who only starts looking for a contractor after permit approval often misses the first viable construction window after summer. And anyone who receives a permit just before the summer season faces the building moratorium that applies to the coastal towns of the Palafrugell municipality from 24 June to the end of August. During that period, much external building work is not permitted, to limit disruption during the high season.
The challenge is often not finding a good contractor. The challenge is finding space in their schedule. And if someone is immediately available, that is sometimes reason to look more carefully.
Starting the selection process during the permit application, rather than after permit approval, is often the difference between starting when planned and waiting several more months. Not to sign before the permit exists. But to know who you want to work with by the time it arrives.
Everything here is also more local than buyers expect. Architects, contractors, tradespeople and suppliers often know each other well. Reputation carries weight. That works in your favour once you understand how that network functions.
Most buyers from abroad end up asking the wrong question.
Not: who is cheapest?
But: with whom do I have the clearest sense of what to expect when the project hits a difficult moment?
Because that moment almost always comes. And that is when you find out who you are actually working with.
In the end, the choice of contractor rarely turned out to be a technical question.
It was usually a communication question.
Not because technical skill does not matter. But because problems almost always become visible in communication before they become visible on site.
The signals were almost always there already.
Before the contract was signed.
→ Full guide: Renovating on the Costa Brava
What we coordinate
Casa Connecta coordinates renovation projects on the buyer’s side in Baix Empordà. We do not build, design, or have any financial relationship with contractors.
We help buyers ask the right questions before a project begins, and coordinate communication, planning and documentation once it is underway.
If you are planning a renovation in the region, you can reach us through our Projects service.
Questions about your buying process? Email us at [email protected]. We reply within 24 hours on business days, in your language.
