Refinement to CORENET X Process

Agencies acknowledge the industry’s concerns that projects may be delayed in the initial phases when the industry is still adjusting to the new regulatory workflows and requirements. To facilitate the transition, we had introduced a temporary 6-months extension to Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) remission and Project Completion Period (PCP) timelines. The ABSD and PCP are 2 separate regimes. As such, requests for ABSD remission and PCP extensions are assessed independently.

The ABSD remission timeline will be extended by 6-months for the commencement and completion of residential development, and sale of housing units in residential development projects in relation to the remission of the ABSD for qualifying licensed housing developers. To qualify for the ABSD remission extension, projects must meet the following criteria:

1. Projects must entirely undergo the CORENET X approval process for building works (i.e. submit and secure clearance for Design and Construction Gateways) to qualify for the extension;
2. The first submission must be made during the transition period from 18 Dec 2023 to 31 Dec 2025; and
3. Projects must have a minimum of 6 months left of its 2-year ABSD remission timeline for the commencement of development, at the point when the first submission is made under the CORENET X approval process for building works. For example, if a project’s ABSD remission timeline requires residential development to commence by 31 Dec 2024, the submission is to be made prior to 1 Jul 2024 to be eligible for the extension in the ABSD remission timeline.

Queries regarding the ABSD remission timeline for housing developers can be addressed to IRAS via myTax Mail on myTax Portal (https://mytax.iras.gov.sg/ESVWeb/default.aspx). 

The PCP timeline will be extended by 6-months for qualifying residential, commercial and industrial development projects. These include residential, commercial and industrial development projects on Government sale sites, or on land which was directly alienated or had their lease renewed by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), residential development projects under the Qualifying Certificate (QC) regime and other RPA approvals requiring the completion of all units in a residential development for foreign housing developers. To qualify for the PCP extension, projects must meet the following criteria:

1. Projects must entirely undergo the CORENET X approval process for building works (i.e. submit and secure clearance for Design & Construction Gateway) to qualify for the extension; and
2. The first submission must be made during the transition period from 18 Dec 2023 to 31 Dec 2025.

Queries regarding the PCP timeline / QC regime can be addressed to the respective Land Sales Agents (i.e. URA, HDB and JTC), SLA’s Land Transfer and Land Sales (LTSD) for directly alienated or had lease renewed by the SLA, and SLA’s Land Dealings Approval Unit (LDAU) at SLA_LDU@sla.gov.sg for sites under the QC regime.

Under today’s process, external works are required to different agencies as part of overall project submission to agencies at their respective DC and BP processes. Under CORENET X, LTA, NParks and PUB currently require the proposed building works of the projects (including its external works) to be submitted as a single submission. The intent of this is so that the proposed external works are coordinated with the main building works prior to submission and agencies could review them holistically. To guide the industry on the details required for external works, the agencies have worked together to align their regulatory objectives and requirements. Due care was taken to ensure that:

1. There are no direct conflicts in the rules between the agencies.
2. Various components of the road typology is holistically reviewed by the respective agencies within the same gateway.

Nonetheless, many industry practitioners have also raised concerns over potential project delay due to external works clearance. Hence LTA, PUB and NParks have conducted a review into this process. In cases where the external works may take longer than expected and hence affecting the overall project, agencies are agreed that full requirements for external works need not be cleared in CG. Instead, LTA, PUB and NParks have come together to agree that only the key interfacing details between the main development and external works need to be firmed up and cleared during CG.

The details of the external works may then be subsequently submitted to the relevant agencies as independent submission following the CG clearance. This delinking of the external works process from the main development process is meant to help mitigate the potential delays projected by many industry practitioners.


For more information on the External Works, please refer to page 158 of the CORENET X Code of Practice.

Under the new Regulatory Approval for Building Works (RABW) framework, project teams are required to collaborate upfront and submit a set of coordinated BIM models across various disciplines. On this, industry has raised feedback that while over design is done upfront, detailed structural calculations takes time. It is challenging to complete and submit detailed structural design of the whole project in one attempt, especially for large projects that require Accredited Checker or Accredited Checking Organisation’s endorsement.

To address industry’s concern, detailed structural design and calculations for eligible projects are allowed to be submitted in a limited number of part ST submissions.
Eligible project that qualify for Part ST Submissions are defined as:

1. Building Projects: Any project with a Gross Floor Area (GFA) > 40,000sqm is eligible for part ST submission if –
   1. The project consists of 5 or more blocks of building of at least 4 storeys high each; or
   2. The project consists of 3 or more blocks of building of at least 4 storeys high each, with common podium or basement.
2. Infrastructure Projects:
   1. Infrastructure works that function like a building with length > 150m (e.g. MRT stations, transport nodes/ interchanges);
   2. Infrastructure works that are mostly engineering works with length > 400m (e.g. railway tunnels, viaducts, large scale drains and sewers)

For projects that are unable to meet the above criteria and would still wish to submit as part ST submissions, please pre-consult with agencies early.

During submissions at the Construction Gateway, the coordinated BIM model capturing the overall design of the project must be submitted in full, including architectural, M&E and structural BIM models, as well as supplementary documents as per required in the Code of Practice.

For eligible projects that qualify for Part ST Submissions, full coordinated structural BIM carcass model must be submitted in the 1st CG submission. Detailed structural submissions (ST), including detailed calculations, AC/ACO reports, etc, may be submitted in parts. Each part ST must be sizeable, adhering to the guidelines.

Similarly for PG, Part ST submissions may be allowed for eligible projects, allowing part of the works to commence progressively on site.

Should there be any project specific queries about this, Project teams may submit a pre-submission consultation with BCA or write in to CORENET X enquiry.

With more emphasis on upfront design and coordination, consultants will be allocating more resources to the earlier stage of their projects, as compared to the practice today. In order to redistribute the progress payment so that it is commensurate with the upfront efforts rendered, BCA has updated the payment milestones in the Annex C of the Standard Consultancy Agreement for public projects. Details on the new Payment Schedule can be found in the Circular released on 22 December 2023, 

The industry Trade Associations and Chambers (TACs), Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (REDAS, Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA), Association of Consulting Engineers Singapore (ACES) and Institute of Engineers Singapore (IES), would similarly adjust the payment schedules for private projects, taking reference from the payment milestones used for public sector projects.

Currently agencies’ letters issued to the project teams are digitally signed using Netrust Digital Signer. The current digitally signing approach involve encryption of the documents before it is digitally signed. To access the document, users will need to first decrypt the file using Netrust software. This has led to many inconvenience to other non-QP project members who may not be familiar with the Netrust software or access to it.

Going forward, the agencies have worked with Netrust to overcome this. Under CORENET X, Agencies’ letters issued will not be encrypted and are digitally signed with a PDF digital signature. This allows users to view the letters directly without the need for any extra step (eg: decryption).