Renovation: the invoices you throw away now and look for in three years
Warranty, insurance, sale, tax. Four different situations, the same missing piece of paper.
At the end of a renovation everyone does the same thing: exhales, clears out the rubble, and puts the invoices in a drawer they will never open again. That comes back in four different situations, and three of them are predictable.
One: the warranty
There is a guarantee on both materials and labour, but you can only use it if you can say who did what, and when. If the tiling lifts within a year, the question becomes whether the tile was faulty or the adhesive was applied badly. The answer is on the invoice and the work sheet.
Two: insurance
Renovation adds value, and if that is not declared, the policy quietly becomes underinsured. After a claim you also have to prove that the fitted kitchen really was fitted, not an assembled set of cupboards. An invoice and a few photos are the best evidence there is.
Three: selling
Buyers ask the same thing about every renovation: when, who, how much. "Four or five years ago, a friend of a friend" does not raise the price. A dated list with invoices does — because it removes the risk from the buyer’s head.
Four: tax
When you sell, some costs may be deductible against the gain, and expenses matter for rental taxation too. The details depend on where you are and on your situation — go through that with an accountant. What is certain: you cannot deduct anything you have no invoice for, under any set of rules.
What to record, job by job
- What was done, and in which room.
- Who did it — name and number. You will want to find the good ones again.
- When, start and finish.
- What it cost, materials and labour separately if you can.
- A photo of the invoice, and a few of the finished work.
- A photo of what is behind the wall before it is closed up — the run of the cables and pipes. This is the one that is almost never taken, and the one most missed at the next drilling.
That last point justifies the whole habit on its own. Anyone who photographed the pipework before it was plastered over will never drill into it.
Where it should live
Anywhere you will still find it in two years, and not in a phone gallery between holiday pictures. What matters is that the date, the cost and the invoice are attached to the job — because separately, all three are useless.
Tax treatment depends on current rules and your own situation; this is not tax advice.