How a handyman charge is built in Singapore

Last updated 30 October 2026.

The question “how much does a handyman charge” expects one number. The published hour is S$45 and the single-task call-out is S$55. A hinge that has dropped, a valve that weeps, a hairline crack after a leak has been stopped, and a hollow tile still have their own bands. Use the band when it matches. Use the hour only for permit-exempt time that has no band. The price list is the index.

Read the sentence beside the money. “Door alignment or hinge tightening, S$60 to S$120” means the door that is sagging or squeaking, not a new leaf and not a closer. “First grab bar, you supply the bar, S$65 to S$80” means the bar is already in the flat. “Mouldy silicone zone, cut out and reseal, S$80 to S$150” is the defect-calculator line for a zone, not a whole bathroom of joints. “Regrouting a typical HDB bathroom, S$400 to S$900” is the tile-page line when the field is that size. If your bathroom is a long landed one, do not force the HDB sentence.

Time on site is inside the band when the page says so, and it is not a rate you multiply yourself. The hollow-tile page says a typical patch of four to ten tiles is about three hours at S$350 to S$750. That is not S$350 divided by three as a wage. The concealed-cistern diagnostic is S$80 to S$120 because the work is through the flush plate. Opening the wall is a different trade and a permit. Multiplying a guessed hourly rate by a guessed duration is how both sides argue later.

Access changes the visit without creating a secret surcharge. HDB noisy drilling sits in weekday daytime hours. A condo may require a water shutdown window and lobby protection. A landed roof is not the same approach as a service-yard tap. Where a page already prices access, use it: a high-ceiling lamp from 3.6m to 4.8m is S$220 to S$380 on the high-ceiling lighting page, because of the ladder, not because the lamp is fashionable. Where no page prices the access, the line is quote on inspection rather than a fuel or height fee made up in chat.

The charge stops being a handyman charge when the statute changes the person. New or relocated water points are a PUB licensed plumber. New cables and a DB are an EMA licensed electrician. Piped Town Gas is a Licensed Gas Service Worker, with the published attendance at S$188 to S$320 on the hob pages. Hacking is V On Construction Pte. Ltd. UEN 201611708H. Homey Furnishing Pte. Ltd. UEN 202018148K keeps the permit-exempt lines. Two invoices are normal. One blended “handyman package” that hides the licence is the quote to walk away from.

Homey Furnishing Pte. Ltd. (ACRA UEN 202018148K), 27 Mandai Estate, #06-10 Innovation Place, Singapore 729931, invoices the permit-exempt visit. V On Construction Pte. Ltd. (ACRA UEN 201611708H), on the HDB Directory of Renovation Contractors, invoices hacking, a new layout, windows that are not exempt, and the household shelter. Homey Furnishing is not a MOM-licensed employment agency and does not place helpers, nannies or caregivers.

Use this order before you ask for a discount. A discount on the wrong scope is not a saving.

1. Write the symptom, not the trade you think you need.
2. Find the page whose sentence matches the photo.
3. Note whether parts are inside the band or named as extra.
4. Separate any line that needs a licence or a permit.
5. Send the photos. Unmatched lines come back as quote on inspection.

HDB flats add the town council and, sometimes, a permit. The permit guide is the matrix. Condo owners add the by-law: many estates ban Saturday noisy work, which the condo guide on this site already says. Landed houses add height and external drains. None of those sentences is a new price by itself.

A tenant should also read who pays. The tenancy guide on this site describes minor-repair caps that appear in common Singapore tenancy forms. A handyman band is not automatically the tenant’s bill or the landlord’s bill. The clause decides that. We do not rewrite the lease.

A 4-room flat with a sagging room door, a weeping angle valve and a mouldy shower joint is three rows, not a day rate. The door, if it is alignment, is S$60 to S$120. The valve set is S$110 to S$180 if it is the spray, hose and brass valve. The silicone zone is S$80 to S$150 if it matches the defect-calculator sentence. Nothing in that sum is a call-out stacked on top, because no call-out is published. If the door is actually a failed pocket roller, swap in S$180 to S$380 and do not keep the hinge figure.

Add a water heater only if the photo is a heater. An instant unit on a sound 20A point is S$180 to S$450. A 15 to 30 litre storage change is S$450 to S$900, and a missing hatch is a further S$180 to S$350 on the ceiling page. If you cannot see whether it is instant or storage, do not average the two bands. Send the badge on the unit. Averaging is how a quote looks precise and is wrong.

How you're charged

These four lines are the published handyman charges. A job that already has its own band uses that band. The hour is not added on top of a band unless the written scope says so. There is no fuel surcharge.

Small, medium, and large visits

Times are planning estimates for the work itself. They are not a promise of when someone arrives.

What a handyman can't do

Permit-exempt fittings stay on the Homey Furnishing invoice. These do not:

• A new cable, a new circuit, or a consumer unit. That is an EMA licensed electrician. A socket on an existing circuit is the S$55 row. A dedicated appliance circuit stays S$220 to S$450.
• A new or relocated water point, or a hacked chase. That is a PUB licensed plumber. Tap labour on the existing outlet is S$55.
• Piped gas. That is a Licensed Gas Service Worker.
• Hacking, a new layout, or the household shelter. That is an HDB renovation permit through V On Construction Pte. Ltd. UEN 201611708H.
• A hole in a fire-rated door that the fire detail does not allow.
• Common-corridor lights, stacks, and letterbox banks. Those follow the town council on the S&CC bill, or the MCST in a condo.

Handyman vs licensed contractor

Questions to ask before you book

• Which published sentence is this, and which page is it on?
• Is the S$55 call-out the whole visit, or is further time at S$45 an hour?
• Are parts included, or am I buying them?
• Who holds the licence if the job is a new cable, a new pipe, or gas?
• Will anyone drill a fire door or the household shelter?
• What will be written down before someone comes?

How to hire

1. Send one photo per task and the block number.
2. Match the reply to a row on the price list. Unmatched work should say quote on inspection.
3. Confirm the scope before the visit. Do not pay a corridor offer that starts with a drill.
4. Keep the town council or MCST for common property.

Company vs freelance

A company visit from this site is an invoice from Homey Furnishing Pte. Ltd. UEN 202018148K for permit-exempt work. The electrician or plumber is named when the law requires that licence. A freelance handyman is a person you hire yourself. Ask the same questions: who invoices, who holds the licence, and whether a fire door will be drilled. This page does not rank freelancers.

Ways to keep the bill smaller

• Put several tasks on one visit. The S$55 call-out is one task. Extra permit-exempt time is S$45 an hour, not a second trip.
• Buy the part when the row is labour only. Tap labour is S$55. Toilet-bowl labour is S$168. Instant-heater labour is S$108 to S$260. Exposed storage-heater labour is S$188 to S$380.
• Send the photos first, so the reply can use a published band instead of a vague hour.

WhatsApp the photos to +65 8561 0630.

These are examples of the reading method. The full index is the price list.

Anything not in that table is quote on inspection. A second trade, when the law requires one, is named. It is not folded into a handyman hour.

WhatsApp the photos to +65 8561 0630. The reply uses a band already printed on HomeySG, or it says quote on inspection. It does not invent a third number in the chat.

• Published price list
• Hourly rate, and why it is not one number
• Handyman service
• Who pays under a tenancy