Ask which school of feng shui they practise, how they intend to assess the specific building, what a session or report actually includes, what it costs and covers, and whether any recommendation depends on buying something. A consultant who cannot answer these plainly is worth reconsidering.
Feng shui consultancy is unregulated in most countries. There is no licensing board, no common exam, no professional standard that every practitioner is required to meet. That does not make the tradition meaningless — it means the burden of asking clear questions sits with the client, the same as it would with any other unregulated service. The questions below are grouped by what they are trying to establish.
Which school of feng shui do they practise?
Ask directly, because the answer changes everything that follows. Form School (Xingshi) reads a site through landform, orientation and the shape of the land. Compass School (Liqi) works from precise directional readings tied to a compass, or luopan. The Western Black Sect (BTB) adaptation, common in North American and much English-language practice, maps a bagua from the front door regardless of compass direction. These schools disagree with each other on basic method, and why feng shui consultants disagree with each other is itself worth reading before a first appointment. A consultant who says “feng shui says” without naming a school is flattening a genuinely contested field into a single voice it does not have.
What will they actually assess in the building?
A competent answer names specific things: the direction the building faces, the position of the front door relative to the room layout, where water and roads sit outside, the shape of the plot, and the layout of bedrooms and the kitchen. Compass School practitioners will also want the building’s orientation to the degree, using a compass or luopan, and may ask for the construction or occupancy date, since some Compass methods factor in when a building was built. If the consultant proposes to work only from a floor plan sent by email, ask what that limits them from seeing — a plan does not show what is outside the plot, what borders it, or how light actually falls through the day.
What will a session or report include?
Ask for a plain description before booking: a walkthrough with notes, a written report, a marked-up floor plan, a follow-up call. Ask whether the report will explain the reasoning behind each recommendation or simply list instructions. A report that says “move the bed” without saying why is harder to evaluate than one that says the current position puts the sleeper’s back to the door, which Form School reasoning ties to not being able to see who enters — a rationale a reader can weigh for themselves, discussed further under the bed facing the door and commanding position topics.
What does it cost, and what is included in that fee?
This is not financial advice, and the site does not give any — but ask plainly what is covered before agreeing to anything. Does the fee cover one visit or several? Is a written report extra? Is there a separate charge for a follow-up if changes are made and the space needs reassessing? Ask whether the fee is fixed or scales with the size or value of the property, and if so, why. Whether paying a feng shui consultant is worth it depends heavily on what is actually delivered for the price, which is exactly why this needs to be clear up front rather than assumed.
Does any recommendation depend on buying something?
This is worth asking outright. A consultant whose advice consistently leads to purchasing specific charms, crystals, mirrors or figurines — particularly from a shop they recommend — is a conflict of interest worth naming. Why “buy this lucky object” is bad feng shui advice covers the reasoning: the tradition does use objects, and can explain what a wind chime or a mirror is said to do, but the object itself is not where the useful thinking lives. A recommendation to add a mirror to correct sightlines is different from a recommendation to buy a specific branded item.
Will they explain the reasoning, not just the rule?
Ask this one plainly: “why does this matter?” A consultant working carefully should be able to separate a rule with an ordinary practical logic — daylight reaching a room, a clear sightline to a door, less clutter underfoot — from a rule that is purely traditional, with no practical claim behind it, and say which is which. What the tradition holds, and what it is not is a useful baseline for checking this against, and what to ignore in most online feng shui advice is worth reading before any consultation, so a client can tell a considered answer from a recycled one.
What can and can’t actually be changed?
A rented flat, a shared house or a small studio all impose real limits — a tenant usually cannot move a kitchen, knock through a wall, or reposition a front door. Ask a consultant how they intend to work within those constraints rather than around them. A useful consultant separates the fixable from the fixed, in the way which layout problems are fixable in feng shui — and which aren’t sets out, and does not simply recommend structural change to a renter who cannot make it. If renting, it is also worth asking upfront what a renter can actually change, so the consultation is scoped to reality from the start.
Will they put anything in writing?
Ask whether recommendations will be documented — a marked floor plan, a short written summary, even email notes — rather than delivered only verbally on the day. This matters practically: a client revisiting the advice weeks later, or explaining it to a landlord or a partner who was not present, needs something to refer back to. It also makes it far easier to check a recommendation’s reasoning afterwards, against a source like the room-by-room guide to the approach to a house, rather than relying on memory of what was said.
What should you ask if a consultant makes a strong promise?
Treat any claim of a guaranteed outcome — improved health, income, a relationship, a sale — as a signal to ask more, not fewer, questions. A carefully reasoned consultant speaks in terms of what “the tradition holds” or what “practitioners commonly suggest”, not certainty. This site does not make outcome promises either, and treats a consultant who does the same way it treats any inflated marketing claim: with a request for the reasoning behind it. None of this is medical, financial or legal advice; for concerns that touch on health, money or a tenancy, an appropriately qualified professional is the right person to ask, not a feng shui consultant.
A short list to bring to the first conversation
- Which school of feng shui do you practise — Form, Compass, BTB, or a mix — and how does that shape your method?
- What will you physically assess, and do you need to visit in person or can you work from a plan?
- What is included in the fee, and is anything charged separately afterwards?
- Will you explain the reasoning behind each recommendation, including which are practical and which are traditional?
- Does any advice involve purchasing a specific object, and from where?
- How will recommendations be adapted if I rent rather than own the property?
- Will I receive anything in writing to keep?
None of these questions require the client to know feng shui in advance. They require the consultant to be willing to be specific, which is a fair thing to ask of anyone charging for professional advice.
About this site. Feng Shui Pack explains what the feng shui tradition holds and which school holds it, from published sources. Feng shui is a tradition of placement and orientation, not a science: nothing here will bring you wealth, health, luck or a relationship, and we never claim otherwise. Where a suggestion has an ordinary practical reason — daylight, airflow, sightlines, less clutter — we say so; where it does not, we say that too. This is not medical, financial, legal or tenancy advice. If a decision matters, talk to a professional in that field.