It is early June, and a number of major new regulations have been implemented in the field of home decoration and building materials across the country. The local construction and decoration industry exhibition in Chongqing has opened at the same time. Coupled with multiple changes such as the continued upsurge in the renovation of finely decorated houses and the overall tightening of construction control during the high school and college entrance examinations, the local home decoration market has officially entered a stage of deep transformation.
As a home decoration service entity that has been deeply involved in Chongqing for a long time, relevant companies continue to track policy trends, investigate market conditions, combine national industry trends and local consumption characteristics, objectively analyze the current development status and existing development pain points in the home decoration field, and make forward-looking thinking on the future development path of the industry.
Since June 1st, the new version of the national standard for the formaldehyde emission limit of artificial panels has been officially enforced. E0 grade boards have become the minimum market access standard. The original E1 grade boards have been banned from production and market sales in accordance with the new regulations. This is a far-reaching standard upgrade in the field of domestic home environmental protection.
From the perspective of the long-term development of the industry, the new regulations have raised the entry threshold for building materials, can reduce home decoration pollution problems from the source, and are in line with the public’s core demands for a healthy living environment. They are also an inevitable choice for the home decoration industry to move toward standardization and quality.
However, from a dialectical point of view, in the early stages of the implementation of the new standards, the overall market rectification is still continuing to advance, and some irregular behaviors have not yet been completely eliminated.
Some small building materials merchants and scattered decoration practitioners have taken advantage of ordinary consumers’ weak awareness of board testing standards and grade classification to adjust original product packaging and amplify product environmental protection promotion efforts.
There are also some businesses that focus on amplifying the concept of environmental protection for publicity and take the opportunity to adjust product pricing, so that many consumers have an inherent perception that “high price equals high quality.”
At the same time, the improvement of the environmental protection level of raw materials directly drives up the procurement cost, and the problems caused by low-price competition in the industry are further highlighted. Many small and medium-sized decoration companies are in a dilemma. They must either reduce the quality of materials to maintain their low-price advantage, or raise prices and lose some customers.
This less than healthy market competition environment has also caused considerable market pressure for home decoration companies that operate in compliance with regulations and adhere to quality.
In fact, for home decoration companies that focus on long-term development, strictly abiding by national building materials standards and establishing a complete material selection traceability and on-site inspection system are the basic bottom line of operations, rather than a bonus item for publicity and marketing. Only by incorporating environmental protection requirements throughout the entire process of material selection, construction, and acceptance can we truly keep up with the overall pace of industry upgrades.
Looking at the national level, the release of the “15th Five-Year Plan” for urban renewal and the upcoming expansion of the provident fund’s use of decoration are continuing to release the demand for decoration of existing houses.
The plan clearly and vigorously promotes the renovation of old housing, the popularization of prefabricated decoration, and the aging-friendly renovation of homes, accurately connecting with the current industry status quo where existing housing dominates the market; the adjustment of the provident fund policy is expected to alleviate the pressure on residents’ decoration funds and further activate the home decoration consumer market.
While policy dividends have brought incremental space to the industry, some problems currently existing in the home decoration industry have gradually emerged.
At present, prefabricated decoration is still in the promotion stage in many places across the country. The local market in Chongqing also suffers from the problems of insufficient consumer awareness and limited implementation. Some companies have followed the trend and deployed new business formats, directly introducing mature products and operation models from other places, without adapting and optimizing the local household structure and residents’ living habits in Chongqing. They lack localized core technology and solution support, which ultimately leads to a greatly reduced effect of the implementation of the new technology.
In the face of the upcoming housing provident fund decoration boom, there are also some phenomena worthy of attention in the market. Some promotional content excessively amplifies consumer anxiety and leads some consumers to choose decoration plans that exceed their living needs and budget planning.
There is also a lot of room for improvement in the ever-expanding old housing renovation track. Old communities have complex pipelines and special house structures, which have higher requirements for preliminary survey accuracy and construction process standards. Some construction teams lack the ability to standardize operations, and early surveys are not detailed enough. The construction process also needs to be improved, which can easily leave hidden dangers for subsequent residential use such as water, electricity, and walls.
Focusing on the local market in Chongqing, the recently held Building Decoration Materials and Intelligent Construction Expo at the Nanping Convention and Exhibition Center focused on current mainstream home decoration trends such as whole-house intelligence, green building materials, and personalized customization, and also intuitively reflected the changes in the core needs of local consumers.
Nowadays, owners are no longer satisfied with basic hard decoration, but pay more attention to design aesthetics, living comfort and intelligent supporting experience.
However, behind the excitement of the exhibition, the problem of industry homogeneity is still prominent. The decoration packages and design styles of most participating brands are highly similar. Most market competition remains at the level of price competition. The proportion of companies that rely on original design, characteristic craftsmanship, and refined services to build core competitiveness is not high.
At the same time, the city’s decoration noise control measures for the high school and college entrance examinations also point to the general room for improvement in construction management in the home decoration industry.
Some construction sites have irregular working hours and incomplete noise reduction and dust prevention measures. Not only do they not comply with relevant urban management regulations, they can also easily cause conflicts among neighbors and affect the public’s overall perception of the home improvement industry.
In recent years, the scale of delivery of finely decorated houses in Chongqing has continued to expand. Partial renovation of finely decorated houses has become a popular local track with unique characteristics. The market volume has grown steadily. However, with the rapid expansion of the track, various irregular business behaviors have also emerged.
Some renovation construction workers do not know enough about the layout of the original walls and water and electricity pipelines of the finely decorated houses, and are not cautious enough in the demolition and renovation work; at the same time, the industry’s quotation standards are not unified, and some projects have low initial quotations and increased later costs, which not only damages the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, but also is not conducive to the orderly and healthy development of the local home improvement market.
In an environment where policies are reshaping industry standards, consumer demand is constantly iterating, and market competition is becoming increasingly complex, if Chongqing’s home decoration industry wants to break through the current development bottleneck, it cannot rely solely on short-term policy dividends. Only by facing up to problems and making up for shortcomings can it move forward steadily.
First of all, the entire industry must establish a firm compliance bottom line, regard national building materials standards, construction specifications, and urban management requirements as untouchable red lines, abandon the short-term profit-seeking marketing model, eliminate all kinds of false propaganda, and make compliance operations and quality first become the industry consensus.
Secondly, the industry needs to steadily get rid of the dilemma of low-price involution and homogeneity. The core focus is to strengthen original design capabilities and customized service capabilities. Combined with Chongqing’s local residential characteristics and residents’ living habits, it can create differentiated solutions for different scenarios such as new house decoration, old house renovation, fine decoration house renovation, and aging-friendly decoration, and win market recognition with professional design and refined services.
Furthermore, the upgrade of the construction management system is urgent. Improving standardized construction processes, standardizing operating times, and implementing civilized construction measures are not only basic requirements for complying with urban management rules, but also a key step to reshape the industry’s reputation.
In the face of emerging business formats such as prefabricated decoration and smart homes, practitioners should also maintain a rational development mentality, concentrate on accumulating technology, do a good job in market science, gradually promote the implementation of new processes and new products, and avoid a business model that emphasizes concepts and neglects implementation.
The home decoration industry has both service attributes and physical attributes. No matter how the market trends change, solid design, excellent construction, and considerate service will always be the foundation of the enterprise.
Taken together, Chongqing’s home decoration market is currently in a transition period with both opportunities and challenges. The implementation of new regulations has forced the industry to upgrade, and consumption expansion has opened up room for growth. However, homogeneous competition, non-standard operations, management loopholes and other issues still restrict the high-quality development of the industry.
Only by letting go of impetuosity, returning to the essence of business operations, and adhering to professionalism and integrity can the entire industry move forward steadily in the changing times.
