A condo renovation starts at the management office.
Before a contractor lifts a tool, the MCST wants forms, a deposit and its own house rules followed. They differ from HDB’s, and from one development to the next.
A condo renovation in Singapore is approved by your condo’s management corporation, the MCST, not by HDB. Before work starts, the management office commonly asks for an application form, a scope of works, your contractor’s details and insurance, and a refundable renovation deposit, and it sets working hours and lift rules through the development’s own by-laws. National rules from BCA sit on top of that for anything structural and anything that changes how the building looks from outside. Because by-laws differ between developments, your management office’s renovation guidelines are the document that counts. For the design side, see our guide to condo interior design.
How condo renovation rules differ from HDB’s
An HDB flat runs on HDB’s own rulebook: a contractor from HDB’s directory, an HDB permit for the listed works, and HDB’s published hours. Our guides to HDB renovation rules and permits and HDB licensed contractors cover that side. A condo has two layers instead. The first is the law, administered by BCA, which covers structural work and strata living. The second is your development’s by-laws. BCA reminds owners that buying a unit makes you a subsidiary proprietor and a member of the management corporation, and that by-laws bind you once passed, even if you missed the vote.
So the same job can be routine in one condo and restricted in the next. BCA’s advice is to check with the developer or the MCST, and your Sale and Purchase Agreement, for renovation restrictions before any work.
What the management office usually asks for
The list varies by development, but these are the items a management office commonly wants before it signs off. Tick them off as you gather them.
Tick what you already have. Your management office’s own guidelines are the final word on what it needs.
In a condo, the rulebook belongs to your development, so the first conversation is with the management office.
The deposit is commonly refundable once the works finish and the common areas have been checked for damage. The amount and the refund conditions are set by each development, so ask for both in writing when you apply. Working hours come from the by-laws too, and noisy works such as hacking are commonly kept to weekdays. Your management office will tell you the hours that apply to your unit. Lift protection has a legal root: the prescribed by-laws let the management corporation decide how furniture and large objects move through common property, and that is the basis for the lift padding and delivery bookings managements commonly ask for.
What you cannot change without approval
- Structure. BCA says slabs, beams, columns and structural walls cannot be altered without proper assessment by a Professional Engineer. Structural work needs plans approved by BCA and a permit before it starts.
- Windows and the facade. BCA says features fixed on the outside of the building, such as windows and walls, cannot be altered without approval from the MCST and any relevant government agency.
- Anything that changes the building’s look. Additions that affect appearance, such as awnings or coverings over a private enclosed space, need the MCST’s permission. The management can also set appearance guidelines, which is why grilles and similar fittings often come in one approved design.
- Floor area. Works that increase the total gross floor area of the estate need a 90% resolution of the management corporation, not just a form.
Non-structural work inside the unit has fewer hoops. BCA lists insignificant building works that need no plan submission to it, while noting that works in a condo might still need the MCST’s approval. The prescribed by-laws let owners fit safety devices such as grilles and insect screens, as long as they match any appearance guidelines the management sets and the look of the rest of the building.
When the MCST and an owner disagree
Raise it with the management office first, with drawings in hand. If a dispute cannot be resolved, BCA points owners to the Strata Titles Boards, or to mediation through the Community Mediation Centre or the Singapore Mediation Centre.
For what goes into a renovation quote, see how a quote is built, and for where approvals sit in the order of works, the renovation guide.