I bought the property with the unauthorised works already there. Am I responsible?
Usually, yes, for dealing with them. BCA's guidance states that owners with unauthorised additions or alterations commit an offence and are subject to enforcement action, and the Commissioner's orders for a completed building are served on the owner or occupier. Previous owners or contractors may also face action where there is evidence, but the practical burden of rectification or regularisation normally falls on the current owner. This is why pre-purchase inspection matters.
From the RRD Field Guide, checked against the sources cited in Unauthorised Building Works in Singapore: Penalties, Detection and How to Regularise. General information, not advice for your project.
The fuller picture
Unauthorised building works are works carried out without a required approval from BCA (plans or structural permit), SCDF (fire safety works) or URA (planning or conservation permission). They can attract fines of up to S$200,000 under each regime. To keep them, the owner appoints a Qualified Person to survey and assess the works and seek retrospective approval; otherwise they must be rectified or removed.
More questions on this topic
- What counts as unauthorised building works in Singapore?
- Can unauthorised works be approved after the event?
- Will my lawyer's legal requisition reveal unauthorised works?
- How are unauthorised works usually discovered?
- What does regularisation cost?
- Is a mezzanine in a warehouse unit a building work?
- Does the tenant or the landlord bear liability for a tenant's unauthorised works?