Landed Houses, Agriculture and Livestock Buildings

The following building works are considered insignificant building works:

1.   Building works carried out for or in connection with —

(t)   any single storey building used for agriculture or to house livestock, including a greenhouse or a building used to house fixed plant or machinery for the farm, provided that —

(i)    no part of the building is used as a dwelling or for the purposes of packing, exhibiting, or retailing; and

(ii)   each point of the building is situated not less than 1.5 times its height away from any adjacent building or any route of public access.

The following building works are considered insignificant building works:

12.   All air-conditioning works.

Homeowners must engage trained air-conditioning unit installers to ensure that the installation of the air-conditioning units is carried out properly.

Stainless steel brackets must be used to support the air-conditioning units and the structural supporting system must satisfy the specifications stipulated in the Building Control Regulations.

The trained air-conditioning unit installer shall submit an installation report upon completion of the installation to BCA for air-conditioning units that are installed in a non-HDB flat, or to HDB for air-conditioning units that are installed in an HDB flat.

A trained installer is an individual who has passed a training course for installing air-conditioning supports at the BCA Academy.

The following building works are considered insignificant building works:

1.   Building works carried out for or in connection with —

(n)   the enclosing of any sides of a balcony, yard or terrace with windows and glass panels in residential buildings.

The enclosing of any sides of a balcony, yard or terrace is only permissible provided that there is an existing and approved cover above the space. If the enclosing involves the erection of a cover above, submission of plans to BCA is required to carry out this work.

The enclosing of the balcony, yard or terrace shall comprise window and glass panels only. No wall shall be erected to enclose the space. If the enclosing involves the erection of a wall, submission of plans to BCA is required to carry out this work.

Full height window and glass panels are deemed to be barriers, and submission of plans to BCA is required to carry out this work.

URA has mandatory requirements pertaining to the enclosure of a balcony. We advise owners to refer to and abide by URA’s requirements before installing such enclosures.

The following building works are considered insignificant building works:

1.   Building works carried out for or in connection with —

(c)   any boundary wall, boundary fence or gate.

The following building works are considered insignificant building works:

1.   Building works carried out for or in connection with —

(e)   any awning, windowhood or cantilevered roof constructed of lightweight material, or glass not exceeding a thickness of 13 millimetres, and having a horizontal projection not exceeding 3,000 millimetres.

There have been instances where owners of non-landed residential units and commercial developments enclosing the space below such roofs to create sheltered spaces. The creation of such spaces without an approval by BCA is not permitted.

URA has requirements pertaining to the erection of such shelters (partially opened or enclosed — abutting a building— or shelters over an opening within the building). We advise owners to refer to and abide by URA’s requirements before installing such structures.

The following building works are considered insignificant building works:

1.   Building works carried out for or in connection with —

(d)   any awning, windowhood or cantilevered roof constructed of tiles, and having a projection not exceeding 1,400 millimetres.

There have been instances where owners of non-landed residential units and commercial developments enclosing the space below such roofs to create sheltered spaces. The creation of such spaces without an approval by BCA is not permitted.

URA has requirements pertaining to the erection of such shelters (partially opened or enclosed — abutting a building— or shelters over an opening within the building). We advise owners to refer to and abide by URA’s requirements before installing such structures.

The following building works are considered insignificant building works:

2.   Replacement or changing of windows and doors.

The following building works are considered insignificant building works:

1.   Building works carried out for or in connection with —

(c)   any boundary wall, boundary fence or gate.

The following building works are considered insignificant building works:

1.   Building works carried out for or in connection with —

(c)   any boundary wall, boundary fence or gate.

The following building works are considered insignificant building works:

10.   Erection of any single storey lean-to extension with roof covering of tiles, or of any lighter material, in any bungalow, semi-detached, terrace or linked house.

The erection of lean-to extensions with roofs using reinforced concrete requires the submission of plans to BCA.

The creation of new usable space on the roofs of existing lean-to extensions, such as a sheltered balcony, requires the submission of plans to BCA.

URA has mandatory requirements pertaining to the erection of lean-to extensions. We advise owners to refer to and abide by URA’s requirements before erecting such structures.

The following building works are considered insignificant building works:

1.   Building works carried out for or in connection with —

(v)   any loft that —

(i)    has only timber flooring; and

(ii)   does not exceed an area of 5 square metres.

The following building works are considered insignificant building works:

1.   Building works carried out for or in connection with —

(f)   any single storey open-sided shelter, gazebo and the like (whether erected on the ground or on a roof), not exceeding an area of 10 square metres.

The “area” refers to the floor area below the coverage of the roof or the floor area occupied by the structure, whichever is larger.

URA has mandatory requirements pertaining to the erection of open-sided shelter / pavilions. We advise owners to refer to and abide by URA’s requirements before installing such structures.

The following building works are considered insignificant building works:

1.   Building works carried out for or in connection with —

(u)   any pre-fabricated swimming or wading pool placed on the ground, provided that —

(i)    the maximum depth of water contained in the pool is not more than 1,000 millimetres; and

(ii)   where the pool is located on higher ground, the distance between the pool and any retaining structure or slope is more than 3,000 millimetres and the difference in elevation of the ground levels is less than 1,500 millimetres.

The following building works are considered insignificant building works:

1.   Building works carried out for or in connection with —

(s)   the replacement or reinstatement of any railing, balustrade or similar barrier constructed of any material other than non-laminated glass, using the same material, design and fixing details.

The “non-laminated glass” refers to glass other than laminated glass.

The following building works are considered insignificant building works:

1.   Building works carried out for or in connection with —

(q)   any retaining wall or earth retaining structure that is constructed with structural steel or reinforced concrete and with a visible height of not more than 1,500 millimetres, or any other retaining wall or earth retaining structure with a visible height of not more than 1,000 millimetres.

The following building works are considered insignificant building works:

9.   Installation of any roller shutter or grilled door.

The following building works are considered insignificant building works:

1.   Building works carried out for or in connection with —

(fc)   any single storey shed or hut not exceeding an area of 10 square metres for housing fuel tanks, mechanical or electrical equipment.

The “area” refers to the floor area below the coverage of the roof or the floor area occupied by the structure, whichever is larger.

The following building works are considered insignificant building works:

5.   One to one replacement of timber roof or other roof covering not involving any replacement of roof trusses.

The following building works are considered insignificant building works:

2.   Replacement or changing of windows and doors.

Owners are required to make a submission of plans to BCA for any window that is used as a barrier to prevent people from falling from heights (i.e. from a vertical drop of a height of 1.0m or more).

The installation of windows is to be carried out by an approved window contractor registered with the BCA Contractors Registry under the Regulation Workhead (RW01 – Window Contractors) or a licensed builder.

Please click here for more information on window installation.