Who needs facade inspection in Singapore depends on two Building Control Act tests: the building stands taller than 13 metres, and more than 20 years have passed since its last Temporary Occupation Permit. Landed homes used solely as residences and temporary buildings are exempt. BCA expected about 30,000 buildings in the first seven-year cycle. This blog walks you through each test and PFI compliance for building owners.
Which buildings in Singapore must undergo periodic facade inspection?
A building must undergo periodic facade inspection when its highest point is more than 13 metres above ground and it is more than 20 years old, counted from its last Temporary Occupation Permit. BCA can then serve a notice, and inspections repeat every seven years.
Three categories fall outside the regime. Section 27 of the Building Control Act excludes detached, semi-detached, terraced and linked houses used solely as residences, and temporary buildings. Section 27(3) then removes any building whose highest point is 13 metres or lower.
Everything else is in, regardless of use. The regime applies to condominiums, office towers, shopping centres, hotels, factories and HDB blocks alike. Building type only matters for the landed exemption.
Scale explains why BCA built the regime around notices rather than self-assessment. When BCA announced the rules on 21 October 2021, it estimated about 30,000 buildings would need facade inspection within the first seven-year cycle, which began on 1 January 2022. Eligibility is fixed by the Act; the notice tells you your turn has come.
Worth noting: an exempt building still carries the general duty under the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act to keep exterior features maintained and securely fixed, with fines of up to $10,000 for failing to do so.
How is the 13-metre height threshold measured?
BCA measures from ground level to the highest point of the building, whether or not that point is a roof. Rooftop installations such as antennas do not count.
The threshold was pitched at a familiar scale. Minister of State Zaqy Mohamad told Parliament on 6 March 2020 that the regime covers buildings “more than 13 metres high, or roughly four storeys” once they pass 20 years. Storey counts are only a guide, though. A four-storey shophouse with a pitched roof and a five-storey industrial block with low floor heights can land on either side of the line.
Rooftop structures are where owners get caught. Annex A of BCA’s PFI Guidelines for Competent Persons compares two numbers: how far a roof structure, such as a lift motor room or water tank enclosure, sits back from the building edge, and how tall that structure is. If the setback is greater than the structure’s height, BCA takes the main roof as the apex. If the setback is smaller, the top of the structure becomes the apex.
Run it on a real profile. A block with its main roof at 12.5 metres and a 3-metre lift motor room set back 2 metres from the edge measures 15.5 metres, so it is in scope. Move that lift motor room 5 metres back and the same block measures 12.5 metres, and it is out.
What if one address has several blocks, or linked blocks?
BCA’s FAQ confirms the notice covers every block over 13 metres at the address, while lower blocks stay exempt. Under section 26(2), physically linked blocks count as separate buildings if each can stand and be used independently, so a link bridge or shared basement does not pull a low block into a tall neighbour’s inspection.
How do you work out whether a building has passed 20 years?
Count from the date of the last Temporary Occupation Permit granted for the whole building. If no TOP was ever granted for the whole building, count from the last Certificate of Statutory Completion.
Section 27(4) uses the word “last”, and that matters for older developments. A building that received a TOP in 1998 and a fresh whole-building TOP after major works in 2012 counts its age from 2012. A TOP covering only an extension or a single phase does not restart the clock.
Buildings with no TOP or CSC for the whole building sit outside the age test altogether. Section 28(2B)(c) lets BCA serve a facade inspection notice on them at any time after the regime began on 1 January 2022.
The rolling effect is easy to miss. Every year, a new batch of developments crosses 20 years and joins the regime. A condominium with a whole-building TOP in September 2006 turns 20 this month, in September 2026, and becomes eligible for a notice from that point. Buildings with whole-building TOPs up to December 2008 will have crossed the line by the end of 2028.
Your MCST’s handover documents, or the building plans your Competent Person can purchase from BCA with proof of ownership, will show the TOP date.
Which buildings are exempt from PFI?
Landed houses used solely as residences, temporary buildings and buildings 13 metres or lower are exempt. No other exemption exists by building type, age of refurbishment or ownership.
The landed exemption turns on use. The Act exempts detached, semi-detached, terraced and linked houses only when their owners or occupiers use them solely as a residence. A semi-detached house run as a childcare centre or office no longer qualifies under that limb, and has to rely on staying at 13 metres or lower. Strata landed houses in a cluster development keep the exemption, but apartment blocks over 13 metres in the same estate do not.
What counts as a temporary building?
The Act’s definition is tight. It covers buildings of no more than 2 storeys built of short-lived materials, buildings of no more than 2 storeys permitted for up to 36 months, and structures linked to building works such as workers’ quarters, site offices, show-flats and builders’ sheds. Structures used only to display outdoor advertisements also qualify. A 20-year-old two-storey steel shed on a permanent permit is not temporary.
BCA’s FAQ closes the other doors too. Partially refurbished facades still need inspection, and a pending sale does not remove the duty. Owners planning demolition can write to BCA with the demolition date for consideration.
Exempt owners are not off the hook for maintenance. Landed homes develop the same spalling balconies and cracked plaster as tall buildings, and concrete repair for landed homes follows the same diagnosis as a PFI “Require Repair” item, minus the report to BCA.
Do condominiums need PFI, and who has to comply?
Yes. A condominium block over 13 metres and more than 20 years past its last whole-building TOP needs PFI, and the management corporation (MCST) receives the notice and appoints the Competent Person.
The Act’s definition of “owner” splits a strata development three ways. The MCST is the owner of the common property, which normally includes the external walls. Each subsidiary proprietor owns their lot. Where a mixed development has a subsidiary management corporation, that body is the owner for the limited common property it controls, such as the external walls of a retail podium.
Individual unit owners rarely deal with BCA directly. BCA’s FAQ says a unit owner who wants their own unit’s facade checked can ask the MCST to arrange it with the appointed Competent Person, subject to the Competent Person’s discretion.
Non-strata buildings with several owners work differently. Where a building of 2 or more flats is not subdivided, section 28(4) requires the flat owners to jointly appoint one Competent Person within the time in the notice. BCA’s FAQ confirms a single owner in such a building cannot appoint a separate inspector for their own share.
In practice, funding is the hardest part for an MCST. PFI fees and remedial works come out of MCST funds, usually the sinking fund, and council members who see condo facade seepage problems years before the notice arrives have time to budget both.
Are commercial, industrial and mixed-use buildings covered?
Yes. The PFI regime has no use-based exemption apart from landed homes, so offices, malls, hotels, factories, warehouses and mixed-use developments over 13 metres and 20 years old all qualify.
What changes across these buildings is who the owner is and what the facade is made of. A single-owner office tower, whether held by a company or a REIT trustee, has one owner answerable to BCA. A strata-titled industrial development such as a flatted business hub has an MCST, exactly like a condominium. Subdivided buildings registered outside the strata scheme are owned, for common property, by every registered proprietor, which is why joint appointment rules matter for older commercial buildings.
Facade make-up drives inspection effort. Curtain walls, aluminium composite cladding, metal roof sheeting on factory blocks and large signboards all fall within scope, and the Competent Person must inspect at least 10% of every elevation at close range. Older commercial buildings also carry decades of added features: signage frames, air-conditioning brackets and plant screens bolted on long after the TOP.
The cleaner approach for commercial owners is to align PFI with planned envelope works. Sealant replacement and waterproofing commercial external walls use the same access equipment as a close-range inspection, and BCA itself encourages owners to schedule external maintenance around the PFI.
Do HDB blocks need facade inspection?
Yes. HDB blocks over 13 metres and 20 years old fall under the PFI regime, but flat owners do not appoint anyone. Section 26(1A) of the Building Control Act makes the Town Council the owner for facade inspection of common property in HDB estates, and HDB itself where no Town Council applies.
The seven-year interval was designed with public housing in mind. In his 2020 speech, Minister of State Zaqy Mohamad said the cycle aligns with the typical Repair and Redecoration cycle for HDB estates and condominiums, to save costs and reduce inconvenience to residents.
For an HDB flat owner, the practical point is simple. External walls outside your flat are common property handled by the Town Council, and any facade concern goes to the Town Council rather than to a private Competent Person.
Proof-Tech does not carry out work on HDB properties. This article covers HDB only so condominium, commercial and landed owners can see where their duties differ.
Which parts of a building count as the facade?
The facade covers the building’s exterior, anything attached to it, and parts located on or near the exterior. BCA’s Guidelines list 17 categories, and several surprise owners.
Glass and openings sit at the top of the list: windows, skylights, glass bricks, louvres, glazed doors and grilles or shutters. Wall finishes follow, including tiles, cladding, curtain walls, plaster, cornices, masonry veneer and brackets. So do gutters, rainwater downpipes and parts of the roof.
The less obvious items drive most scoping surprises. Section 5 of the Guidelines includes signboards and skysigns with their frames, clothes drying racks, green walls with their brackets and irrigation, and suspended ceilings under porches or covered walkways that are exposed to rain and span a public space. It also includes brackets and cables supporting air-conditioning condensers, photovoltaic panels, solar water heaters and dish antennas.
Where this breaks down is the building where tenants installed hundreds of air-conditioner brackets over 20 years. Those brackets belong to the facade inspection even if the MCST never approved them.
Every one of these elements has to be reached for close-range checks, and later repaired. Gondolas cover flat elevations well, while rope access for high-rise maintenance suits recessed bays and scattered brackets. Failed joints found during inspection usually lead to external wall waterproofing as part of the remedial scope.
How will you know when your building is due for inspection?
BCA tells you in writing. It sends an advisory at least one year before the building is due, then serves the facade inspection notice, which starts a two-month window to appoint a Competent Person.
The notice names the building and the period for completing the inspection. Your duties, and the fines for missing them, start from that notice. BCA’s FAQ also allows owners to write in and request an inspection before the notice arrives, reviewed case by case.
Our position: start at the advisory, not the notice. Two months is enough to appoint a Competent Person but short for an MCST to call a general meeting, approve the fee and plan access equipment. A year’s lead time also lets owners fold the inspection into R&R works.
Competent Person supply has grown with demand. BCA reported 149 Competent Persons in September 2021. The list BCA publishes on its periodic facade inspection page, downloaded on 16 September 2026, contains 324 names. Inclusion on that list is voluntary, so the real number of qualified Competent Persons is at least 324.
Conclusion
PFI eligibility is mechanical once you know the building’s true apex height and the date of its last whole-building TOP. The hard cases sit at the edges, such as a set-back lift motor room or a landed house run as a business. Settle those facts before BCA’s advisory arrives and the notice becomes a scheduling exercise rather than a scramble.
Send Proof-Tech your development’s TOP year, height and facade type for a site assessment of existing facade defects and a repair quotation, so remedial budgets are ready before your Competent Person reports.
Frequently asked questions
Do we still need PFI if part of our facade was recently refurbished?
Yes. BCA’s PFI FAQ states that a building whose facade was only partly refurbished must still undergo periodic facade inspection. Owners who completed addition and alteration works on the facade can write to BCA for a waiver, attaching drawings and a description of the works, and BCA reviews each request individually.
Can we do a facade inspection before BCA sends the notice?
Yes, with BCA’s agreement. The PFI FAQ lets building owners write to BCA requesting an early inspection, which BCA reviews case by case. This suits owners with Repair and Redecoration works already scheduled, who would otherwise wait for the advisory BCA sends at least one year before the due date.
Is a building scheduled for demolition exempt from PFI?
Not automatically. BCA’s PFI FAQ asks owners planning demolition to write in with the planned demolition date, and BCA considers the request. Once the building is demolished, owners should inform BCA so no future facade inspection notices are issued for that address under the Building Control Act.
