Booking a Home Professional in Delhi: A Short Checklist

1. Before you book

• Write down every job in the flat, not just the one that prompted the call. On small work most of what you pay is the visit, so a list turns three visits into one. This is the biggest single saving available.
• Describe the fault precisely. “Front-load washing machine, will not drain, water sitting in the drum” gets the right part on the van. “Washing machine problem” does not.
• Send a photo or a short video. Almost nobody does this and it is the most useful thing you can provide.
• Mention access up front — which floor, whether there is a lift, narrow stairs, society entry rules or timings. Finding out on arrival is what turns a quote into a renegotiation.
• Check the warranty first on anything that is an appliance. Paying privately for a covered repair is the commonest avoidable expense — our warranty tips cover it.
• Book ahead of the season. AC in February, waterproofing before the monsoon, geyser in October. Emergency timing costs more in every trade.

2. Getting a quote you can compare

• Always ask: with material or labour only? This is the single biggest reason two quotes differ, in every trade. Two numbers that answer different questions are not two quotes.
• Get labour and materials separated rather than one lump figure.
• Ask what is excluded. More useful than what is included, because every quote lists the inclusions.
• Get the quote before work begins. Work that starts before a price is agreed is how bills grow, and by then you have no position.
• Ask what happens if it turns out to be worse than it looks — a wall that has to be opened further, a part that turns out to be seized. Agreeing the principle in advance prevents the argument.
• Consider buying the parts yourself. You choose the quality, the warranty is in your name, and it makes two quotes genuinely comparable — our saving money tips cover when this is worth it.
• A quote well below the others usually means less preparation, not more efficiency. Ask what is being left out.

3. While the work happens

• Ask what was measured before agreeing to an expensive diagnosis. “It needs a new board” is a conclusion; a reading is a diagnosis.
• Be there for the start, or have someone who can make decisions. Most of the questions come in the first half hour.
• Photograph any wall or floor while it is open. Before it is closed up. This is worth a great deal the next time anyone works on that flat.
• Clear the area and move valuables before they arrive. It saves time you are paying for and removes an awkward conversation.
• Say something at the time, not afterwards. Raising a concern while it can still be adjusted is easier for everyone than raising it at the end.
• Do not pay the full amount up front. A material advance on a large job is normal; paying all the labour before the work is done is not.

4. Before you pay, and what to keep

• Test it in front of them. Run the tap, switch the socket, open and close the door, start the machine. The five minutes while they are still there is worth more than any callback.
• Walk through the whole job together on anything larger, making the list as you go. That is the only point at which you have leverage.
• Ask what warranty covers the work and the part, and get it written on the receipt rather than promised.
• Ask for any replaced part. It is yours, and it is the simplest check that the work was done rather than described.
• Get a receipt with the parts named, not just a total.
• Keep a note per appliance or per room — what was done, when, by whom. It answers the next technician's first three questions and it is what turns “a couple of years ago” into a fact.
• Save the contact if they were good. A professional who has already seen your flat starts the next job several steps ahead.

Our longer guide to hiring without being overcharged covers this in more depth, and the who-to-call guide covers picking the right trade in the first place.