Can I add an attic to a shophouse?
URA allows new roof mezzanines within the building envelope, set back at least 1.5 m from the inner face of the front façade, or 2.5 m if the floor is lower than the top of the uppermost window or fanlight, without dormer windows, generally in timber. SCDF's Fire Code adds conditions for timber-floored shophouses: the attic is limited to 50% of the floor below or 50 m², whichever is less, per compartment, and the floors below need fire-rated lining.
From the RRD Field Guide, checked against the sources cited in A&A Works to Conserved Shophouses in Singapore: URA's 3R Rules, Permits and Fire Safety. General information, not advice for your project.
The fuller picture
Any work to a conserved shophouse needs URA Conservation Permission before it starts, even repainting. URA's rule is maximum Retention, sensitive Restoration and careful Repair: the roof, party walls, front façade, five-foot way and (in historic districts) timber floors must be kept. Rear extensions and roof mezzanines are allowed only within set limits, and Fire Code clause 9.9 governs timber floors and stairs.
More questions on this topic
- Do I need URA approval to repaint a conserved shophouse?
- Which parts of a conserved shophouse must be kept?
- Can I build a rear extension to a conserved shophouse?
- What happened at 32 Desker Road?
- Does SCDF allow timber floors and staircases to stay?
- Can a conserved shophouse be converted to a hostel or co-living use?
- Can a contractor do conservation works without an architect?