Bedrooms and living areas: walls, floors, ceilings, power and aircon

Bedrooms and living areas are where layouts change and finishes get chosen. The rules are mostly about the structure you can’t touch, the weight you put on it, and who wires the power.

Walls

HDB flats

• All hacking and demolition of walls, partial or complete, needs HDB’s prior written approval. Lightweight block, brick, drywall and Ferrolite walls can come down with a permit, working from the top down and only up to the underside of the beam or slab above.
• Taking down a non-load-bearing reinforced concrete wall also needs a Professional Engineer to supervise. Structural walls, columns, beams and slabs can’t be removed at all.
• New walls of 63mm hollow block, 80mm glass block or gypsum board need no permit. Partitions of combustible or toxic materials, such as plywood or plastics, aren’t allowed.
• Wall fixings: screws, nails and bolts no more than 6mm in diameter and 40mm deep. Ferrolite walls take up to 50kg per bolt.

Condos and landed homes: demolishing a wall that carries only its own weight is an insignificant building work, with no plans to BCA, though a condo’s by-laws may require approval. Structural walls need a Professional Engineer and BCA approval. URA needs no planning permission to enlarge rooms in a landed house.

Floors

HDB flats

• Replacing floor finishes (tiles, marble, timber and others) needs a permit.
• Laying vinyl, carpet or linoleum, or new finishes over the existing floor with adhesive, needs no permit, as long as the total thickness including adhesive is no more than 13mm.
• Timber or laminate laid over existing finishes must not form a raised platform or use cement screed, and the old finishes can’t be hacked for it.
• Where floors are replaced, finishes plus screed can be no more than 50mm, using pre-packed screed. The floor slab can’t be loaded with more than 150kg per square metre.

Elsewhere, replacing floor finishes is an insignificant building work for BCA; check your condo by-laws.

Ceilings

In HDB flats, a false ceiling needs no permit but must be non-combustible and at least 2.4m above the finished floor (outside bathrooms). Plastering ceilings isn’t allowed, and gas pipes must never be hidden in a false ceiling. Lightweight false ceilings are on BCA’s insignificant-works list, with conditions.

Power and lighting

• All wiring must be done by an EMA-licensed electrical worker. In HDB flats, most extra lighting points, fan points and 13A sockets need no permit.
• Since 1 July 2023, homes must be protected by 30mA RCCBs on socket and lighting circuits. If your board is older, ask your electrical worker about it.

Air-conditioning

• Units outside the building must be installed by a BCA-trained installer, on a stainless steel bracket or a purpose-designed concrete ledge. BCA asks owners to check the supports at least every 6 months.
• In HDB flats: condensing units can’t go along the common corridor, the ledge is for the condensing unit only, piping must run inside the flat, no holes may be hacked through concrete for it, and an installation report goes to your HDB branch within 14 days. A new 15A power point for an aircon needs a permit in flats without higher electrical loading.

Gas and bedrooms

In HDB flats, a space with gas pipes can’t be converted into a bedroom, and gas appliances aren’t allowed in sleeping areas: worth knowing before you move walls around the kitchen.

SpaceToReno is run by the team behind Junk to Clear, which also handles renovations. Where a guide links to Junk to Clear or a sister site, it’s because that step calls for the service, and the sentence says so. Enquiries sent through the form go to the same team. How SpaceToReno works