Saturday is not the same as a weekday when the work is noisy

Last updated 31 October 2026.

The timings are on HDB’s important information page, in the section on timings for carrying out renovations. General renovations should only be carried out between 9:00am and 6:00pm on weekdays and Saturdays. No renovations are allowed on Sundays and public holidays. Restricted renovations, which HDB describes as demolishing walls, removing wall or floor finishes, cutting tiles, and heavy and excessive drilling, can only be carried out between 9:00am and 5:00pm on weekdays. They are not allowed on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays, or the eves of New Year’s Day, Chinese New Year, Deepavali, Hari Raya Puasa and Christmas Day. “Can HDB renovation be done on Saturday?” is therefore yes for general renovation inside those hours, and no for the restricted list. A Saturday tile-cutting crew is the complaint the page is written to prevent.

DIY is a third clock. HDB says if you carry out do-it-yourself works, limit them between 7:00am and 10:30pm and keep noise to a minimum. That is not a licence to hack at 10pm. Hacking needs written approval before it starts. The same page says you may face prosecution for unauthorised demolition or hacking, and it sets out offences that, upon conviction, can lead to a fine of up to $5,000. We are not the prosecutor and we are not telling you that your job is one of those offences. We are telling you the quiet hours people ask about are this DIY window, and the noisy renovation window is shorter. Where you can complain is not a hotline we invent. HDB tells owners who are in dispute with their own contractor that they may seek CASE or the Small Claims Tribunals. A neighbour’s unauthorised hacking is an HDB matter. We are not the complaint desk, and we will not “finish the hack on Sunday because the neighbour already started”.

Notice sits beside the clock. You inform neighbours staying within a radius of 2 units, in writing, at least 5 days before renovations begin, and the contractor puts up the Notice of Renovation outside the flat for the period of the work. Close the main door when you can. Completion deadlines are separate from daily hours: 1 month from the permit for existing blocks, 3 months for newly completed blocks, and 2 weeks if you are only carrying out window works. Only two handheld power tools approved by HDB, or their equivalent, at a given time, and that work completed within 3 consecutive days. A permit-exempt hinge at S$60 to S$120 does not use that tool budget. A bathroom hack does. V On Construction invoices the permit scope. Homey Furnishing does not send a breaker on a Saturday to get ahead of the rule.

Condo and landed sites do not inherit this timetable automatically. An MCST can set quieter hours than HDB, and a landed house can still annoy a terrace neighbour. URA’s landed page is about planning permission, not about Sunday drilling. If we are booked for a patch, we still will not run a grinder on a Sunday because the flat is private. The safe assumption on a Homey visit is the HDB clock when the home is HDB, and the estate’s clock when the home is a condo. Say which building you are in when you send the photos.

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.

Match the tool to the day before you match the tool to the price.

1. Write down whether the work is general renovation, restricted noisy work, or a small repair.
2. If finishes come off or tiles are cut, keep it to weekday 9:00am to 5:00pm.
3. If it is general renovation, Saturday 9:00am to 6:00pm is the outer edge HDB wrote. Sunday is off.
4. Give the written neighbour notice at least 5 days before a renovation.
5. If the visit is one hinge or one silicone joint, say so, so it is not booked as a hacking day.

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

“Does HDB allow early renovation?” is asked by people who have a completion date but not the keys, and by people who have keys and want to start before the defects report. Possession is the completion guide. Defects reporting is the defects guide. The hours on this page apply once renovation is actually allowed to start. You still need the permit before the works that require one. HDB’s approval page says you authorise the contractor to submit, and you can see the permit on My HDBPage after it is granted. Starting the noisy week before that grant is the failure the fine table describes.

A handyman booking for a picture hook or a hinge can sit outside a renovation permit and still should not be a midnight drill. Send the time you want. If it falls outside the clock for the kind of work in the photos, the reply will move the day rather than “see you at 8pm with a cutter”.

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.
• A hinge visit is not a hacking day. If the job grows into tile cutting, it has to move to the weekday window and the permit company.

WhatsApp the photos to +65 8561 0630.

Hours do not change the band. They change the day. A Sunday hack is not a more expensive hour. It is a refusal.

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.

• What needs a permit
• Before completion
• Renovation permit
• Hacking, when it is allowed
• Defects before renovation
• Condo hours and deposits