Ohouse has moved to support small interior construction contractors. Ohouse introduced a subscription membership called Light for contractors and will step up support for small businesses, it said on Wednesday. The move expands a partner programme intended to help contractors, regardless of size, adopt a standardised work environment and customer protection measures in a construction market with large information asymmetries and high entry barriers.

Ohouse has provided its Standard service in the construction segment to improve price transparency through standard contracts and standard quotations. In May, it released a Light version to expand coverage to small and new contractors. It bundles tools needed for consultation, contracting and on-site construction work, and is designed to help more contractors provide the same level of work environment and customer protection measures.

Contractors that subscribe to Light can display a business profile and portfolio. They can use an all-in-one work tool covering everything from finding customers to scheduling, contracting and ordering. They also receive a liability guarantee service based on standard contracts. Small and new contractors that lacked upfront costs and operating capacity can establish stable service quality through standardised tools and policies. Customers, too, will use construction services that receive a certain level of management and protection.

The interior design tool 3D Planner, included by default in the membership, also drew a positive response. The tool can load more than 90 percent of South Korean apartment floor plans within seconds by searching only an address. Using about 50,000 real-material assets from more than 600 brands, it can create a space close to the real one. The completed space can be used as sales materials, including high-resolution images, VR panoramas and videos. Without separate design staff or paid programmes, small contractors can propose spaces to customers at a level comparable to large contractors.

Light surpassed 100 subscribing contractors within six weeks of its May launch. Among early subscribers, 94 percent either maintained subscriptions without cancellation or switched to higher-tier models such as Light Plus and Standard. Ohouse decided to extend its early-bird promotion through the end of the year. The plan offers Light at 90,000 won a month, a 55 percent discount from the regular monthly fee of 200,000 won, and will run through Dec. 31 after initially being set to end in July.

Ohouse plans to continue upgrading construction-related services based on cooperation with partner companies. It plans to create an environment in which partner companies can focus on their business with services that also cover small contractors. It also plans to expand offline touchpoints where customers can directly experience construction.

An Ohouse official said the interior construction market has a high share of small and new contractors, making it difficult in many cases for them to equip and use digital work tools. The official said the company will continue to ensure anyone, regardless of scale, can obtain standard tools for the interior business at a reasonable cost, and through this innovate the market into a healthy construction ecosystem that helps both partner companies and customers.