No permit needed
Ask what the rate includes, not what the labour costs
Delivery, hoisting, installation and adjustment are all inside a proper rate. A quote that separates them later is repricing the same work.
hdb.gov.sg · read 2026-08-31
Carpentry, Singapore
Carpentry Singapore: cost, scope and how to specify it
Carpentry is priced per foot run, and a rate means nothing without the carcass material behind it. Documented carpentry lines have run from around S$1,500 on small jobs.
The short answer
Carpentry Singapore quotes are priced per foot run, meaning one linear foot of built carpentry at a stated depth, height and carcass material. Without those three things a rate is not comparable to any other rate. Documented small jobs have run from around S$1,500.
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01 PERMIT
Hacking always
needs oneAll demolition and hacking of walls, partial or complete, needs HDB’s prior written approval before anything starts.
hdb.gov.sg · read 2026-08-31
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02 HOURS
Mon to Fri
9am to 5pmRestricted works only. General works such as painting and screed run Monday to Saturday until 6pm.
hdb.gov.sg · read 2026-08-31
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03 DEADLINE
3 months for
a new blockFrom the date the permit is granted. Existing blocks get 1 month.
hdb.gov.sg · read 2026-08-31
Scope
What a carpentry job actually covers
Built-in storage and surfaces: wardrobes, kitchen cabinets, a television console, a shoe cabinet, sometimes a study desk or a feature wall. Made to the flat rather than bought for it.
- Measured on site, fabricated in a workshop, installed as units.
- Priced per foot run, at a stated depth and height.
- Finished in laminate, veneer or paint over a carcass you never see.
It is normally the largest single line in an HDB renovation, which makes it the line most worth understanding before you compare any two quotes.
Carpentry Singapore buyers are quoted this way whether they approach a workshop directly or go through a contractor. The vocabulary is the same, which means the comparison method is portable.
Money
How much does carpentry cost in Singapore
There is no single answer, because carpentry is sold by quantity rather than by job. What exists is a rate, a run length and a specification, and the three multiply out.
| Item | Reported range |
|---|---|
| 3-room BTO | S$25k to 50k |
| 4-room BTO | S$51k to 62k |
| 5-room BTO | S$40k to 115k |
Whole-project bands with their sources and dates. Carpentry is normally the largest single line inside these totals.
Sources interiordiary.com.sg 2026-08-31qanvast.com 2026-08-31moneysmart.sg 2026-08-31
Use the whole-project bands as context rather than as a carpentry price. A carpentry quote is only meaningful once you know how many feet it covers.
The same caution applies to any renovation cost Singapore guide that quotes a single carpentry figure. Ask what run length it assumed before you use it for anything.
The unit
How it is priced: per foot run
A foot run is one linear foot of built carpentry. On its own it says nothing, because a foot of shallow overhead cabinet and a foot of full-height wardrobe are different objects at the same length.
- Depth, because a 600mm unit is not a 350mm unit.
- Height, because full height costs more than a base run.
- Carcass material, which is the part you never see.
Ask for all three beside every rate. That single request turns two incomparable quotes into two comparable ones, and it costs you nothing but an email.
Finding one
Where can I find a carpenter in Singapore
Whoever you find has to be on one register. Any firm doing carpentry inside an HDB flat must appear in the Housing & Development Board’s Directory of Renovation Contractors.
- Direct carpenters, who fabricate and install and price by the foot.
- Renovation contractors, who carry carpentry inside a wider scope.
- Interior design firms, who subcontract it and coordinate it for a fee.
All three routes are legitimate and all three are bound by the same rule. Check the register before paying a deposit, whichever one you choose.
Firms advertising carpentry services Singapore-wide are covered by it too. So is any renovation contractor Singapore homeowners engage for a full fit-out, and so is an interior design firm subcontracting the work.
Labour
How much do carpenters charge for labour
In practice you are rarely quoted labour separately. The foot-run rate bundles material, fabrication, delivery and installation into one number.
Comparing
Carpentry Singapore: the specification a quote must state
Five things. A carpentry line missing any of them cannot be compared to the line beside it, and the cheaper one is usually just the one that left more out.
What has to be on the page
- Run length in feet Per unit and per room, not one figure for the flat.
- Depth and height Stated in millimetres, because they change the object.
- Carcass material Named. Plywood, moisture-resistant plywood, blockboard or MDF.
- Finish Laminate, veneer or spray, with the brand or grade where it matters.
- Hardware Hinges and runners named, because they are what fails first.
A provisional sum is acceptable for something genuinely unknown. It is not acceptable as a substitute for measuring the wall in front of you.
Put all five on the renovation quotation itself rather than in a chat thread. An itemised quote is the document you will be holding if anything is disputed later.
Rules
What HDB permits and what it never will
Carpentry itself is rarely the regulated part. What is regulated is anything it needs done to the flat first: hacking, wall removal, and works that touch structure.
Not allowed
Structural walls, beams and columns may never be removed
A carpentry design that assumes a wall is coming out is a design contingent on approval nobody has yet. Confirm the classification before the drawings are agreed.
hdb.gov.sg · read 2026-08-31
Hours
Permitted working hours this trade must fit
Installation is general renovation works, so Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm. Any hacking that precedes it is restricted works, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm only.
Permitted renovation hours, as HDB publishes them
Sources MyNiceHome by HDB 2026-08-31
- Restricted renovation works: hacking, removing finishes, cutting tiles.
- Also banned on five named festival eves, on top of Sundays and public holidays.
Those restricted works gate this trade, because hacking has to finish before installation can start. Any electrical alteration behind a unit needs a worker holding an Energy Market Authority licence as well.
The clock
The permit window this work has to finish inside
Three months in a newly completed block, one month in an existing one, counted from the day the HDB renovation permit is granted.
Why carpentry feels the window most
- It goes last Everything else has to be finished before units go in.
- It is fabricated off site Weeks of lead time that the flat shows no sign of.
- It cannot be rushed at the end A rushed install is the one you look at every day.
Get a free quote
Tell us the flat type and when you collect keys. You get a scope discussion and an indicative cost band within one working day.
Get a free quote
or email hello@btorenovation.sg
Order
Where this trade sits in the renovation sequence
Late, and dependent on everything before it. Wet works and first fix have to be complete before a single unit is delivered.
Carpentry, start to finish
- Site measure After key collection, in the actual flat. Nothing is ordered before this.
- Drawings agreed Elevations, not a mood board. This is where run length becomes a number.
- Workshop fabrication Weeks off site, invisible from the flat and entirely on the critical path.
- Delivery and install Days on site, after wet works and first fix are finished.
- Adjustment and handover Doors aligned, drawers running, then the defects list in writing.
That dependency is why carpentry absorbs upstream delay. When tiling slips a week, this is the trade that loses it.
Build the renovation timeline with that in mind. If you kept the Optional Component Scheme flooring the sequence shortens, because there is no floor to remove before anything else can begin.
Materials
Materials, and the two that change the price most
The carcass and the hardware. Everything else is visible, comparable and much less consequential than it looks in a showroom.
- Plywood holds screws well and is the usual baseline.
- Moisture-resistant plywood is the correct specification under a sink.
- Blockboard is lighter and cheaper, and not a wet-area material.
- MDF takes a finish beautifully and swells once water reaches it.
Hinges and runners are the other half. They are the components you operate several times a day, and they are the components that fail first when a rate has been cut.
Ask for both to be named on the quote. A brand you can look up is a specification; a phrase like quality hardware is a description of nothing at all.
Timing
Lead time, and why it is not the same as install time
Lead time is weeks in a workshop. Install time is days in the flat. A schedule that quotes only the second number is describing a fraction of the wait.
Ask for both as separate figures, and ask when fabrication actually starts. It starts after the measure and after the drawings are signed, not after the deposit clears.
- Lead time: weeks in a workshop, invisible from the flat.
- Install time: days on site, which is all most schedules quote.
Slippage upstream eats the fabrication window rather than the installation window, which is why a late tiling job quietly becomes a late carpentry job three weeks later.
The measure
The site measure, and why nothing is ordered before it
Built work is made to the flat as it actually is, not to the floor plan. Walls are rarely exactly where the drawing says, and a few millimetres over three metres is a visible gap.
- Measure, then draw, then fabricate.
- A drawing signed before the measure is a wish, not a specification.
This is also why a carpentry quote given before key collection is an estimate. It can be a good estimate, and it is not a price.
Failure
What goes wrong, and how it shows up later
Almost nothing goes wrong on installation day. The failures in this trade are patient, and they surface in year two or three.
- Swollen carcass under a sink, where the wrong material was used.
- Delamination at an edge that was never sealed properly.
- Doors dropping because the hinges were the cheapest available.
All three trace back to a specification nobody wrote down. That is the whole argument for insisting on one before you sign.
After
Warranty, defects and making good
Get the defects liability period and any workmanship warranty in writing, with what each covers and for how long.
No permit needed
Making good is priced work, not a courtesy
S$110
Repairing a wall after a unit is removed or repositioned takes materials and labour. If it is not a named line, it was not priced.
hdb.gov.sg · read 2026-08-31
Fit
How this trade interacts with the rest of the fit-out
Carpentry depends on wet works, first fix and floor level. It is depended on by nothing, which is why it goes last and why it absorbs every delay upstream.
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Scope and measure
We walk the flat after key collection, measure every run, and write down what you want changed and what HDB will let you change.
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Permit and drawings
Your contractor files the electronic application. Wall demolition needs the flat’s floor plan submitted with it.
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Hacking and wet works
Demolition, tiling and anything touching the bathroom happen first, inside the restricted-hours window.
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Carpentry and finish
Kitchen and wardrobe carpentry is fabricated to a fixed specification, then installed, then painted.
Money
Payment milestones for a trade package
Tie payments to fabrication and installation stages you can verify, never to dates.
What each payment should be tied to
- Deposit on signing Before fabrication starts, tied to the agreed drawings.
- Before delivery Once the units are built and you have seen them, not before.
- After installation Fitted and operating in the flat, adjustments made.
- Final balance Held until the defects list is closed. It is your only leverage.
A carpenter asking for most of the money before fabrication is asking you to fund the workshop. That may be normal for them and it is still a risk sitting with you.
Get a free quote
Tell us the flat type and when you collect keys. You get a scope discussion and an indicative cost band within one working day.
Get a free quote
or email hello@btorenovation.sg
Comparing
Comparing two quotes for this trade
Normalise the specification before you compare a single number. Match run length, depth, height, carcass and hardware, then look at the totals.
- Same feet, same depth, same height.
- Same carcass material, named on both quotes.
- Same hardware, or a stated difference you have agreed to.
Nine times out of ten the gap shrinks to something small and explicable. The tenth time you have found a real difference worth paying for or walking away from.
The hdb renovation guidelines do not govern how carpentry is priced, so this discipline is entirely on you. Nobody is checking the quote except the person paying it.
Limits
What this trade cannot fix
Carpentry cannot correct a bad layout, a floor that is out of level or a wall that should have come down and did not.
It can hide some of those things, expensively and temporarily. Fixing them upstream is always cheaper than building around them.
Neighbours
Living with the work while it happens
Installation is noisy in short bursts rather than continuously, and it produces less dust than any wet trade. It is the easiest stage to live beside.
Neighbours within two units still get written notice at least five days before works begin, and the Notice of Renovation stays displayed outside the flat throughout.
Method
How every figure on this page is sourced and dated
Every number carries a named publisher and its publication date. Regulatory claims cite HDB directly with the date the page was read.
Rates observed in the market are treated as observations with a date, never as a benchmark. The BTO renovation package page explains how the same figures behave once they are bundled.
Honesty
What we do not claim
No licence number, no accreditation, no review, no rating and no photograph captioned as our own completed project. None exists for BTO Renovation SG.
Every image here is a generated illustration and says so. Check any firm, including us, against the register described above before you pay anything.
Next
What happens after you send the form
Tell us the flat type, when you collect keys, and roughly which walls you want built into. Photographs of the empty flat help more than you would expect.
You get a reply within one working day with a scope discussion and an indicative band. A firm carpentry number waits for the site measure, because that is what the trade requires. See ideas that do not need carpentry.
Questions people ask about carpentry
How much does carpentry cost in Singapore?
Reported bands for this work are published as ranges by named third parties and are shown on this page with their publication dates. They are reported ranges, not a quote. A number for your flat comes from a site measure and a scope discussion.
What does a carpentry job include?
The line items are named on this page precisely so two quotes can be compared. A foot run is one linear foot of built carpentry at a stated depth and height, in a stated carcass material.
What must the quote state to be comparable?
The specification, not a description: materials named, quantities stated in the unit the trade is priced in, and any provisional sums called out as provisional. A quote produced without a site measure is a guess.
Why do two quotes differ so much?
Almost always because they are not quoting the same specification. Normalise the specification first, then compare the totals.
Who is allowed to do this work in an HDB flat?
Only a firm listed in HDB's Directory of Renovation Contractors, under the Housing and Development (Renovation Control) Rules 2006. Contravening the rules carries a fine of up to S$5,000 on conviction, and the liability attaches to the flat owner as well.
What are the permitted working hours?
General works such as plastering, painting and laying floor screed run Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm, and never on Sundays or public holidays. Restricted works such as demolition, removing finishes and cutting tiles run Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm only, and are additionally banned on the eves of New Year’s Day, Chinese New Year, Deepavali, Hari Raya Puasa and Christmas Day.
How long do I have once the permit is granted?
Three months for a newly completed block and one month for an existing one, counted from the date the permit is granted rather than the date work starts.
What is the lead time before installation?
Lead time is fabrication and delivery; install time is days on site. They are different numbers and a schedule that conflates them will slip.
Why is nothing ordered before the site measure?
Because built work is made to the flat as it actually is, not to the floor plan. Ordering before measuring is the most expensive mistake in this trade.
Which payment should I hold until the end?
The final balance. It is the only leverage you have once the work is substantially done and the defects list is being argued over.
Do you publish a price list?
No. This site publishes sourced, dated cost ranges as editorial content. A price for your flat comes from a site measure and a scope discussion after you send the form.
Do you publish reviews or ratings?
No. No review, rating, testimonial or completed-project photograph exists for this site, so none is shown. Check any contractor, including us, against HDB's register instead.
Where is carpentry worth paying more for?
The kitchen, because it is used hardest and cheap carcasses and runners fail there first. Storage walls are next. Feature walls are the easiest line to remove when a quote comes back too high.
Why does carpentry have such a long lead time?
It is fabricated off site to measurements taken on site, so it cannot start until the walls are final and the wet works and tiling are done. That puts it at the end of a chain of decisions and near the end of the job.
Sources
Related on this site
Checked against primary sources · updated 2026-09-01