The developer’s defects list and the MCST are not the same permission

Last updated 31 October 2026.

Buyers collect condo keys and search with HDB language. The walk-through feels the same. The office that answers is not. HDB publishes the 1-year period, the one-month report, and the “usually less than 2 weeks” repair note for newly completed HDB flats. A condominium developer owes what the sale and purchase contract says they owe. People Also Ask repeats “what is the 12 month defects liability period?”. Twelve months is a phrase in the search box. It might match your contract and it might not. This guide will not help you by pretending it always matches. Ask the developer’s defects team, in writing, what they still rectify, and do it before a renovator covers the wall. Homey Furnishing does not file that form. A private inspection company, if you hire one, sets its own fee. That fee is quote on inspection here, and we do not call any firm the best.

The MCST is the second door. By-laws can require notice, a deposit, protection for the lift, and a refusal of facade changes, bathroom hacks, or certain floor build-ups, whether or not the developer is still fixing chips. The condo by-laws guide already on this site walks through deposits and handyman limits. Use it when the question is “may I renovate?”. Use this guide when the question is “is this chip still the developer’s, or is it now mine, and is the council a third party?”. The answers can differ. A chipped tile in the unit can be a defect. A chipped tile in the corridor can be common property. Painting the corridor is not your viewing touch-up. A bathroom hack can be both a defects mistake, if you cover their work, and a by-law breach, if you never asked the council.

URA’s notes on renovating landed houses are a third system: planning permission for some landed changes, and no planning permission for replacing windows and doors when area, setback and position stay the same. A condo is not a landed house. Do not show a landed owner that window sentence and assume a condo management will accept a new facade frame. BCA’s window rules still exist when the window type needs an approved contractor. Interior silicone at S$80 to S$150 does not replace a frame. A hinge at S$60 to S$120 does not replace a council consent. A half-day of closed defect items at S$480 to S$780 is a repair day, not a renovation permit.

Legal phrases that appear beside these searches, including latent defects and protections after a defects period, are for a lawyer if you think the contract was breached. We do not interpret the contract. We also do not advise on CPF renovation withdrawals, on what a condo is worth after 50 years, or on which developer to buy from. If a crack looks structural, stop and use a qualified person. Our hairline band of S$150 to S$400 is a dry, stable paint crack only. Common-property leaks are the MCST’s report, the same way an HDB stack leak can be the town council. Pay us for an in-flat fitting that matches a row after the right party has been told.

Homey Furnishing Pte. Ltd. (ACRA UEN 202018148K), 27 Mandai Estate, #06-10 Innovation Place, Singapore 729931, invoices permit-exempt maintenance. V On Construction Pte. Ltd. (ACRA UEN 201611708H), on the HDB Directory of Renovation Contractors, invoices hacking, a new layout, and other work that needs an HDB renovation permit. Homey Furnishing is not a Council for Estate Agencies licensed estate agent and does not sell, rent or market flats. It is not a Ministry of Manpower licensed employment agency and does not place helpers.

Curtains, blinds and roller shades are not part of this booking. This page also does not sell or rent the home, and it does not place a domestic worker.

Write two headings on the photo list: developer, and MCST. Do not merge them into one WhatsApp album without labels.

1. Find the defects clause and the deadline in the sale contract.
2. Report unit defects to the developer before paint or silicone.
3. Read the by-laws before any hack, facade film, or noisy work.
4. Label common-property photos for the MCST, not for us.
5. After an item is closed, match a published band or send the PDF.

The building changes the permission. It does not invent a second price.

The developer’s letter says what to bring to key collection. We will not add a universal list of marbles, moisture meters and blue tape as if it were official. A phone photo of each mark is what you will wish you had. If their officer walks with you, let them see the mark. Filling it the night before is the same mistake as on an HDB defects month.

Once you are allowed to renovate, noisy work follows the by-laws, which may be stricter than HDB’s Saturday rule. Do not import HDB’s 9am to 6pm as a right. Ask the management office. Our booking will follow the stricter hour. Curtains, blinds and roller shades are still not part of the booking, even when a defects letter mentions window coverings the developer did not supply.

How you're charged

A job that already has a sentence on HomeySG uses that sentence. The hour is not added on top of a band unless the written scope says so. There is no fuel surcharge. A whole-flat repaint, a private defect-scan fee, and a litre of a named paint brand are not in the catalogue.

Who is allowed to do the work

HDB’s important information on renovation says renovation in a flat, including some work that does not need a permit, is carried out by a contractor from the Directory of Renovation Contractors. The same page says failing to use a listed contractor for renovations, or breaching the renovation rules, can lead to a fine of up to $5,000. That sentence is HDB’s. It is not a ruling on your flat. Read the page before you treat a handyman visit as a renovation.

• Permit-exempt maintenance that already has a band, such as a hinge, a silicone joint or a small hole patch, stays on the Homey Furnishing invoice.
• Hacking, a new layout, and replacement of toilet finishes inside HDB’s restriction period move to V On Construction Pte. Ltd. UEN 201611708H. The price of that permit scope is quote on inspection.
• A new cable or a consumer unit is an EMA licensed electrician. A new water point is a PUB licensed plumber. Piped gas is a licensed gas worker.
• Window installation and replacement on an HDB flat is a BCA approved window contractor on HDB’s directory, with a renovation permit first. BCA describes workhead RW01. Homey Furnishing is not that contractor.
• Selling, renting or marketing the flat is estate agency work. CEA registers property agents. We do not do that work.
• A weekly cleaner on this site is not a migrant domestic worker placement. We do not hire out helpers.
• Curtains, blinds and roller shades are not part of this booking.

Ways to keep the bill smaller

• Photograph every mark before you book a full repaint. A hole that matches the S$150 to S$280 sentence does not need a whole-flat price.
• Put several permit-exempt tasks on one visit. The S$55 call-out is one task. Further permit-exempt time is S$45 an hour, not a second trip.
• Report a new-flat defect to HDB, or the developer if the contract says so, before you pay anyone to cover it.
• Do not hack a bathroom floor to “save” a later leak. HDB’s three-year restriction exists so the flat below stays dry.
• Do not hack a bathroom because the defects period is open. An open period is a reason to wait, not a reason to strip the floor.

WhatsApp the photos to +65 8561 0630.

Nothing in the contract period is priced as if the developer had already refused it. Ask them first.

Anything not in that table is quote on inspection.

WhatsApp the photos to +65 8561 0630. The reply uses a band already printed on HomeySG, or it says quote on inspection.

• Make-good after the developer
• By-laws and deposits
• Minor works
• PDF rectification
• HDB timetable, for comparison
• HDB hours are not a condo right