A fire door is not a place for a random bore hole

SCDF fire-code rules and SS 332 are why a digital lock shop cannot drill a fire-rated HDB or condo door as if it were a bedroom door. The lock has to keep the door’s rating. Gate clearance under about 65mm needs a slim handle. Mortise, rim and glass-door clamps are different holes. A 9V or USB-C jump-start is the plan when humidity kills the batteries. Tenants reinstate bore holes at S$160 to S$350 before handover.

HDB and many condo main doors are fire-rated. SCDF’s fire code, in the clauses owners meet as Clause 11.8, and SS 332, the standard for fire doors, are why the leaf, the frame, the closer and the ironmongery are a tested set. A lock that needs a larger mortise, a through-hole in the wrong place, or the removal of the closer can void that rating. The door still looks shut. It is no longer the door the building was approved with. A bedroom rim lock and a fire-door mortise are not interchangeable just because both are called digital. Ask for the lock’s fire-door statement before the carton is opened. If the seller cannot produce it, do not drill.

Measure the gap between the door and the metal gate. Under about 65mm, a standard handle fouls the gate and you will prop the gate open, which is its own security failure. Slim handles exist for that gap. Mortise locks sit inside the leaf edge. Rim locks sit on the face and need less edge cutting, which is often the better fire-door choice if the tested detail allows it. Glass-door clamps are a third product and do not belong on a timber fire door. Write down the thickness of the leaf as well. A lock specified for 40mm will not clamp a 55mm door honestly.

Batteries die faster in a humid common corridor, and a leaking cell destroys the keypad. Every lock you fit should have a published jump-start, a 9V terminal or a USB-C contact, that works from outside. Test it on the day. Tenants should photograph the original bore before they change a lock, because the handover will ask for the old ironmongery or a filled leaf. Filling a timber fire door so it is honest again is S$160 to S$350, and it is cheaper than a deposit argument about a raw hole. Homey Furnishing does the fit and the reinstatement. We do not drill first and read the fire statement after.

Homey Furnishing Pte. Ltd. (ACRA UEN 202018148K), 27 Mandai Estate, #06-10 Innovation Place, Singapore 729931, carries the permit-exempt portion of this work. V On Construction Pte. Ltd. (ACRA UEN 201611708H), listed on the HDB Directory of Renovation Contractors, carries any scope that needs an HDB renovation permit. Those two invoices are not interchangeable. SCDF fire-door rules and SS 332 govern the leaf and its ironmongery. A like-for-like lock does not need an HDB renovation permit. It still needs to preserve the rating. MCST by-laws may require the original look on a condo door.

Spend ten minutes with a torch, your phone camera, and a tape before you buy a product or book a hack. Write down what you see. The safe checks below do not ask you to open a live wire, cut a pressurised pipe, or lean out of a window. Door thickness, backset if a mortise already exists, and the clear gap to the gate. Photograph the closer and any fire label on the leaf edge.

Stop at the red-flag column. Stop if the lock needs a hole the fire statement does not allow, if the closer would be removed, or if the gate gap is unmeasured. The reason DIY fails is almost never a lack of effort. It is that the tool or chemical makes the next professional repair harder, or it hides a leak, a live conductor, or a deposit line until the damage is larger than From S$188 to S$320 to fit a lock you bought on an HDB fire-rated door, if the fire detail allows it. Supply and fit is S$280 to S$450. Reinstatement is S$160 to S$350..

This is the sequence a careful technician uses so you can tell a shortcut from a finished job. Tools stay in the van. Readings and photos go on the same worksheet as the price. Thickness gauge, the manufacturer’s jig only if the fire detail allows it, a slim handle where the gap is under 65mm, and a 9V or USB-C jump test. No improvised spade bit.

1. Step 1. Make the area safe and confirm the symptom still matches the photos. For A fire door is not a place for a random bore hole, that means Stop if the lock needs a hole the fire statement does not allow, if the closer would be removed, or if the gate gap is unmeasured.
2. Step 2. Measure before touching the finished surface. Door thickness, backset if a mortise already exists, and the clear gap to the gate. Photograph the closer and any fire label on the leaf edge.
3. Step 3. Set protection and lay out the tools that belong to this material. Thickness gauge, the manufacturer’s jig only if the fire detail allows it, a slim handle where the gap is under 65mm, and a 9V or USB-C jump test. No improvised spade bit.
4. Step 4. Carry out the repair in the order the material allows. a fire door is bored for a bedroom lock, the gate no longer shuts, or a tenant leaves an open hole at handover is the failure this order is written to avoid.
5. Step 5. Test in place. The gate shuts, the closer still closes, the jump-start has been demonstrated, and the fire statement is in the pack. Tenants get before-and-after photos of every hole.
6. Step 6. Clean, label the photographs against the invoice lines, and leave the statutory openings, weep holes, access panels and labels visible.

The order matters because a fire door is bored for a bedroom lock, the gate no longer shuts, or a tenant leaves an open hole at handover is what happens when a step is rushed. Handover is a measurement, not a handshake. The gate shuts, the closer still closes, the jump-start has been demonstrated, and the fire statement is in the pack. Tenants get before-and-after photos of every hole. If the reading or the water test fails, the visit is not closed and a second line is priced before anyone leaves. Permit work, if the diagnosis has moved into hacking, waterproofing, or a new layout, stops here and is repriced through V On Construction Pte. Ltd. UEN 201611708H.

The lock price and the door price are different. A cheap lock that voids the door is the expensive one. Reinstatement is a separate line at the end of a lease. Prices below are 2026 Singapore bands for the described scope. They are not a coupon and they are not a guess after an unopened door. A second trade, such as a PUB licensed plumber or an EMA licensed electrician, is named when the law requires it rather than buried inside the labour line. Compare rows by what they include. The planning-life column belongs to that row only.

2026 SGD scope bands

Brand, material and lifespan

Book through the digital lock service. Bring a photo of the gate gap and the door edge.

Three worked jobs show how the same symptom is priced differently in a new BTO, an older resale flat, and a private condo or landed house. The totals are the lines a household actually paid, not a national average. Permit-exempt invoices are issued by Homey Furnishing Pte. Ltd. UEN 202018148K.

Case 1: 4-room BTO in Punggol

The leaf was fire-rated and the gate gap was 58mm. A slim rim-style lock with a fire statement and a USB-C jump was fitted for S$420 including the lock. The closer stayed. The gate shut.

Case 2: resale flat in Clementi

A shop had specified a deep mortise the fire statement did not cover. Homey refused the drill. The inspection was S$90. A different rim lock was fitted the next week. The owner kept both statements in the flat file.

Case 3: condo tenancy in Bugis

The tenant’s lock came off at handover. Two bore holes were filled and the original ironmongery reinstated for S$240. The deposit photos showed a closed leaf. The MCST had wanted the original look, which the by-law guide had flagged at the start.

Photograph the door edge and the gate gap before you buy the lock. Send the photos and the measurements from the ten-minute check. The reply prices the band on this page against what the photos actually show.

• Book a fire-door-safe fit
• Who pays the handover holes
• Permit versus a lock