An HDB renovation permit is written approval for a named list of works in a named flat, granted before anything starts. All demolition and hacking needs one, your contractor files it, and once granted you have 3 months to finish in a new block. Skipping it risks a fine of up to S$5,000.
-
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
-
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
-
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
Which works need an HDB renovation permit and which do not
Demolition and hacking always need written approval. So does anything that alters the structure, the drainage or the external appearance of the flat.
- Hacking any wall, including a non-structural one.
- Removing or replacing floor or wall finishes in wet areas.
- Altering plumbing or drainage positions.
Painting, laying an overlay floor and installing freestanding furniture generally do not. They still have to be done by a registered firm, which is the part people conflate with the permit and should not.
An hdb renovation permit application is made by the firm, so the phrase people search for is slightly misleading: there is no homeowner form. What you are really asking is which works need HDB renovation approval at all.
Who files it: the contractor, not you
Homeowners do not apply for this themselves. The firm you appoint files it, which is one more reason the appointment has to come before any work is scheduled.
The order it actually happens in
- You appoint the contractor From the register. That step comes first and cannot be skipped.
- The contractor files Homeowners do not apply for this themselves.
- HDB grants it The works window opens on this date, not on the day work starts.
Ask to see the granted permit rather than being told it is in hand. It names the works and the flat, and the dates on it are the dates your programme has to live inside.
If you want to check permit status for your own flat, ask the firm for the granted document. There is no public lookup for a permit the way there is a renovation permit Singapore register for contractors.
How long approval takes, and how long the works window lasts
Approved works must be completed within 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.
Does this work need an HDB permit?
Sources HDB 2026-08-31HDB building works 2026-08-31
What the window actually covers
- Three months, new block For a newly completed block, counted from the grant date.
- One month, existing block Shorter, and the reason resale timelines feel tighter.
- Neighbours noticed Five days written notice within a two-unit radius, before works begin.
That window is why a renovation timeline should be built backwards from expiry. Whether you are pricing a bto renovation cost band or a single room, the clock is the same length.
How to check if a neighbour has a renovation permit
The Notice of Renovation is displayed outside the flat for the duration of the works. That is the document to look for, and its absence is the thing worth asking about.
- It should be visible without knocking on anybody’s door.
- It names the works that were approved and the period they cover.
- No notice displayed is the first question, before any complaint about noise.
If works are running outside permitted hours, that is a separate matter from whether a permit exists. Note the times and the dates before raising it with anybody.
Permitted working hours: general works versus restricted works
Two classes of work, two different windows. This is the part almost every other page on this topic gets wrong, including the AI answer currently served for it.
Permitted renovation hours, as HDB publishes them
Sources MyNiceHome by HDB 2026-08-31
General renovation 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 run Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm only.
- General works: Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm.
- Restricted works: Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
- Neither class runs on a Sunday or a public holiday.
Restricted renovation works means demolition, removing wall or floor finishes and cutting tiles. They are the class that gates hacking, and therefore the class that gates everything downstream of it.
The five festival eves restricted works are banned on
On top of Saturdays, Sundays and every public holiday, restricted works are banned on five named festival eves.
Restricted works are banned on five named festival eves
The eves of New Year’s Day, Chinese New Year, Deepavali, Hari Raya Puasa and Christmas Day. No competitor page in the crawled top 10 states this.
Neighbour notice: five days, two-unit radius
Neighbours within a radius of two units must be given written notice at least five days before renovations begin.
Written notice at least five days before works begin
Within a two-unit radius, with the Notice of Renovation displayed outside the flat throughout the works.
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.
or email hello@btorenovation.sg
What HDB never permits, whatever the paperwork
Structural walls, beams and columns may never be removed. There is no approval route, no engineer’s letter and no budget that changes it.
Structural walls, beams and columns may never be removed
Get every wall classified from the floor plan before a design is agreed. A layout contingent on removing a structural wall is not a layout.
The penalty, and who it attaches to
Contravening the Housing and Development (Renovation Control) Rules 2006 carries a fine of up to S$5,000 on conviction plus other penalties.
The penalty attaches to the flat owner as well as the contractor
This is the clause most people miss. Using a firm outside the Directory of Renovation Contractors is an exposure you carry personally.
What happens if works overrun the window
The practical answer is that a compressed schedule costs money. Overtime, split crews and trades reordered around each other all carry a price.
Plan the programme backwards from the expiry rather than forwards from the start. It is the only version of the schedule that has to be true.
- Permit validity is fixed at grant, not at handover.
- An extension is a fresh decision, not an entitlement.
- Overrun costs land on the trades that were scheduled last.
Around key collection this matters more than people expect. The window opens once, and a flat left waiting on a decision is a flat spending its own permit.
The three-year bathroom restriction on new flats
Newly completed flats carry a restriction on removing bathroom floor finishes, which protects the original waterproofing during the period when defects would surface.
Bathroom floor finishes in a new flat carry a three-year restriction
Overlay is normally the route within it. Check whether it applies to your flat before planning a bathroom at all.
How the permit shapes the renovation sequence
The permit is not a gate you pass and forget. It sets the outside date that every trade afterwards has to fit inside, which is what the week-by-week schedule has to be built around.
What the window has to contain
- Permit granted Nothing regulated starts before this.
- Hacking Restricted works, the tightest hours in the week.
- Wet works and first fix Waterproofing, tiling, then points before the walls close.
- Carpentry and painting Late, and dependent on everything above being finished.
Read any programme against that order. A schedule with carpentry before the site measure was written to look short rather than to be delivered.
Carpentry Singapore firms and kitchen renovation Singapore specialists both work inside this window, whoever coordinates them. The permit does not lengthen because more trades are involved.
Common permit mistakes
Starting hacking before the permit is granted. Assuming a small job is exempt. Treating the window as the contractor’s problem rather than the constraint on the whole project.
- Ask for the granted permit, not a promise that it is coming.
- Check the dates on it against the programme you were given.
- Confirm the works listed match the works you actually agreed.
The fourth is assuming a permit says anything about workmanship. It says the works were approved, and nothing whatsoever about how well they will be done.
If works next door breach the hours, the town council is where a noise complaint goes. The permit itself is an HDB matter and the two routes are not the same.
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.
or email hello@btorenovation.sg
The permit rules in one place
People search for this in a dozen phrasings, and they are all one question. Do I need a renovation permit, and if so, for which works?
- Renovation permit hdb grants: written approval naming flat and works.
- Hdb permit for renovation is filed by the contractor, never the owner.
- An hdb hacking permit is the same document listing hacking among the works.
- There is no online permit check for a neighbour’s flat.
The hdb renovation permit conditions that matter to a homeowner are short. A renovation permit is required for anything structural, wet or external, the window is fixed, and the hours are split by class of work.
That is the whole guide. How long a permit takes to grant is measured in days, and how long it lasts is measured in weeks, which is the pair most people have backwards.
How every figure on this page is sourced and dated
Every rule above links to the Housing & Development Board page it came from, with the date it was read. Nothing here is written from memory.
Where a published answer conflicts with the HDB source graphic, the graphic wins and the page says so. That is the whole method, and the HDB renovation hub applies it across the site.
What we do not claim
There is no accreditation badge on this site, no star rating and no customer quote, because we have not earned any of those yet and will not borrow them.
The pictures are generated illustrations, labelled as such. Every rule instead carries the HDB page it came from and the day it was read.
- No licence number is published, because none has been issued.
- No completed project is shown, because none is ours to show.
- Every rule is linked to the HDB page it was read from.
BTO Renovation SG works across Singapore and publishes no reviews, because none exist. Any renovation contractor Singapore homeowners engage can be checked the same way.
What happens after you send the form
Tell us which BTO project, which flat type and when you collect keys. We reply within one working day with a scope discussion and an indicative cost band.
- Which BTO project and block, so the works window can be dated.
- Flat type, because it sets the scope before it sets the price.
- Key collection date, or your best estimate of one.
If you are still choosing, the bundled package guide covers what a scope does and does not include, and how it reads against a quotation.
Bring the renovation quotation you already hold if you have one. An itemised quote tells us more in a minute than a description does in ten, and it is also how an hdb renovation loan should be sized.
Questions people ask
Who is allowed to renovate an HDB flat?
What are the permitted renovation working hours?
Are there days when noisy work is banned outright?
How long do I have once the permit is granted?
What is the penalty for breaking the renovation rules?
Can a structural wall be removed?
What notice do my neighbours get?
How do I check any of this myself?
What does this cost in practice?
Do you publish package prices?
What are the permitted renovation hours for HDB?
How to check if a neighbour has a renovation permit?
Does HDB renovation require a permit?
Do I apply for the HDB renovation permit myself?
Sources
Every rule above, with the page it came from and the date it was read.