Defects in a New Condo or Landed Home Bought from a Developer: The 12-Month DLP, Your Rights and How to Claim

Collecting the keys to a new home is the start of a 12-month clock that most buyers do not realise is running. Within that period, the developer must fix defects you report, and you have a statutory-form contract that tells both sides exactly what to do if it does not. After that, your leverage drops sharply: the money held back for defects is released, the contractors move to other projects, and every remaining issue becomes a negotiation or a claim.

This guide explains the defects regime for private homes bought from a licensed housing developer in Singapore, using the prescribed Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) in the Housing Developers Rules. It covers the 12-month defects liability period (DLP), the one-month rule, your right to rectify and deduct, common-property defects and the management corporation’s role, what BCA can and cannot do, CONQUAS and the Quality Mark, how to document defects, and the routes to resolve a dispute through the Strata Titles Boards or the courts.

Two points of scope. HDB flats bought from HDB are not sold under these Rules and are outside this guide. And clause numbers below are those in the current prescribed forms; SPAs signed under earlier versions of the Rules may number clauses differently, so check your own agreement.

The legal framework: the Housing Developers Rules and the prescribed SPA

Licensed housing developers must use the SPA forms prescribed by the Housing Developers Rules:

• Form 4 for a unit not intended to be a lot in a strata title plan (typically landed homes in a non-strata development); and
• Form 5 for a unit intended to be a lot in a strata title plan (condominiums, apartments and strata landed homes).¹

The forms cannot be changed except with the Controller of Housing’s prior written approval, or where the form itself permits it; unapproved changes are void (rule 12(3)–(4)). The Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) acts as stakeholder under both forms (rule 12(5)).¹ That makes the defects clause a statutory-standard term: buyers of different projects get the same core protection.

The key definitions in Form 5:

• The developer must build the unit and the common property “in a good and workmanlike manner” according to the Specifications and the approved plans (cl 9.1).¹
• A defect is any fault in the building due to defective workmanship or materials, or to the building not being constructed according to the Specifications.¹

The 12-month DLP: when it starts and what it covers

Clause 17.1 of Form 5 requires the developer to make good, at its own cost, any defect in the unit, the housing project, the common property or limited common property that becomes apparent within the DLP. The DLP is 12 months after the earlier of:

• (a) the date the developer actually delivers vacant possession; or
• (b) the 15th day after the buyer receives the documents in item 3 of the Payment Schedule, namely the TOP or CSC (or a certified copy) and the notice that the building, roads, drainage and sewerage are complete and utilities connected.¹

So the DLP does not always start on key collection. If you delay collecting keys after receiving the TOP papers, the DLP still starts on the 15th day. When vacant possession is delivered, the developer must give a Notice of Vacant Possession stating the date (cl 12.3).¹ Maintenance charges start on the same trigger date (cl 13.1).¹

Form 4 for non-strata homes has the same 12-month structure for defects “in the Building”.¹

What counts, and what does not

BCA’s CONQUAS fact sheet notes that some things owners see as defects may not be treated as major defects in BCA’s assessments: subjective views (for example the tonality of timber or natural stone), design preferences and material durability outside CONQUAS scope, and damage from failing to protect or maintain the unit after completion.⁶ Under the SPA, the test is the contractual one: defective workmanship or materials, or departure from the Specifications. A hairline variation in stone colour is unlikely to qualify; hollow tiles, water seepage, faulty windows and failing sealant usually will.

The developer’s duty to rectify and your right to step in

Clauses 17.2 to 17.4 of Form 5 set out a precise sequence.¹

Source: Housing Developers Rules, Form 5, cl 17.¹

Two cautions from the courts. First, a defects clause does not take away your right to damages at common law unless it says so expressly. Second, a buyer who unreasonably blocks the developer’s attempts to rectify can breach the clause. In Thio Keng Thay v Sandy Island Pte Ltd [2019] SGHC 175, the buyer of a Sentosa bungalow under the prescribed SPA alleged 492 defects, of which the developer admitted over 200. The High Court found the developer in breach, but also held that the buyer had breached the defects clause by unreasonably rejecting rectification method statements, which was relevant to how much he could recover.⁹ Follow the sequence; do not short-circuit it.

The 5% stakeholding and the notice of deductions

The last 15% of the purchase price is paid around completion and CSC. Under the Form 5 Payment Schedule, part of it goes to the SAL as stakeholder, and 5% is held until the Final Payment Date: 12 months after the same trigger that starts the DLP. On that date the stakeholder pays the developer the 5%, or the 5% less all authorised deductions.¹ The exact flow depends on whether legal completion and the CSC come before or after the Final Payment Date; in some sequences the buyer pays the 5% directly after the developer’s notice of the Final Payment Date, with any notified deductions going to the stakeholder instead. Either way, the deduction mechanism is the same.¹

To make a deduction:

• Serve a notice of deductions on the stakeholder and the developer on the same day, and at least 7 working days before the Final Payment Date (cl 5.4–5.5).¹
• If the developer disputes all or part, it must serve its own notice on the stakeholder and buyer at least one working day before the Final Payment Date (cl 5.6–5.7).¹
• The stakeholder then pays the undisputed deductions to the buyer and keeps the disputed amount pending settlement of the dispute (cl 5.8).¹

Illustrative example: on a S$1,500,000 condominium unit, the 5% stakeholding is S$75,000. If the buyer has validly rectified window-seal and bathroom-waterproofing defects at a quoted S$9,800 after the developer failed to act, a notice of deductions served in time can recover that sum from the stakeholding instead of through a lawsuit. Miss the 7-working-day deadline, and the S$75,000 is paid out to the developer on the Final Payment Date.

Defects found after the DLP

The DLP is not the end of the developer’s liability.

• Notified but unfixed defects stay with the developer. BCA’s guidance for condo owners says a defect reported during the DLP remains the developer’s responsibility if it is still unresolved after the period.⁸ The SPA also provides that unfulfilled terms remain in effect after completion (cl 16.8).¹
• New defects after the DLP can still found a claim for damages for breach of the developer’s building obligations, since the defects clause does not exclude common-law damages without express words.⁹
• Time limits apply. An action founded on contract or tort must generally be brought within 6 years of the cause of action accruing. For negligence and breach of duty, the period is the later of 6 years from accrual or 3 years from the date the claimant had the required knowledge, subject to a 15-year long-stop.¹⁰ For construction defects, the Appellate Division has described damage as occurring when defects manifest as physical damage to the building, and the knowledge required as “reasonable rather than absolute or certain”.¹¹

The defects liability and retention guide explains these limitation rules in more detail.

Common-property defects and the MCST’s role

Defects in lobbies, roofs, façades, car parks, pools and external walls are often more expensive than anything inside a unit. Several layers of law apply.

The SPA. Form 5 clause 17.1 expressly covers defects in the housing project, the common property and limited common property, so each buyer can notify them during that buyer’s DLP.¹ Because each buyer’s DLP is triggered by their own vacant possession or document date, start dates can differ across the estate. Owners and the management council should coordinate so that common-property notices are served while the earliest DLPs are still running.

The Building (Strata Management) Act 2004. This Act was formerly called the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act; its short title changed on 1 October 2025.² Relevant provisions:

• Section 21: appointing a managing agent to run the maintenance fund does not relieve the developer of its obligations towards purchasers to repair common property and make good defects in it, or to carry out works so that the development complies with the approved plans and with authorities’ requirements before the CSC.²
• Section 85: where owners are jointly entitled to take proceedings about the common property, the proceedings may be taken by the management corporation, but it must not institute them unless authorised by an ordinary resolution of the general body.²
• Section 86: gives the management corporation power to take proceedings as agent for an owner in certain cases of structural defects affecting support or shelter.²

Negligence. In RSP Architects, Planners & Engineers v Ocean Front Pte Ltd [1995] 3 SLR(R) 653, the Court of Appeal allowed a management corporation to recover pure economic loss for defective construction of a condominium, and RSP Architects v MCST Plan No 1075 (Eastern Lagoon) [1999] 2 SLR(R) 134 extended this to the building consultants.¹² In MCST Plan No 4099 v KTP Consultants [2024] SGHC(A) 32, the Appellate Division allowed an MCST’s negligence claim against a structural engineer to proceed to trial on the limitation question.¹¹

Leaks between units are a special case. Under the Strata Management Act, in Strata Titles Board proceedings about a defect, dampness or water penetration on a ceiling raises a presumption that the defect is in the lot or common property above (s 101(8)).² See inter-floor water seepage in condos.

BCA’s role and its limits

Buyers often expect BCA to order the developer to fix defects. That is not how the system works.

The answer also notes that TOP and CSC depend on the building meeting regulatory requirements, such as SCDF fire safety, BCA structural safety and PUB drainage and sewerage.³ A TOP is not a certificate that every tile and window is free of workmanship defects.

BCA’s influence on workmanship is indirect but real:

Sources: Housing Developers Rules Form 5;¹ Building (Strata Management) Act;² MND;³ BCA;⁴⁶ URA/BCA circular.⁷

The May 2026 measures against developers with major defects

On 22 May 2026, URA and BCA announced measures to strengthen deterrence of errant developer behaviour. Developers with consecutive projects with major defects, or with severe safety-related non-compliances, may be disqualified from land sales with a residential component, or placed on a sales-suspension list, for up to five years. The measures can extend to directors, substantial shareholders and related parties.⁷

“Major defects” here means defects attributable to the developer that were not promptly rectified and that significantly affect liveability or functionality under CONQUAS, such as broken window panes, shower screens, mirrors and glass, and visibly cracked tiles. The measures apply to defects the developer had sufficient and reasonable notice to rectify on or after 22 May 2026.⁷ For buyers, the practical point is that prompt written notice now matters beyond the SPA: it is the start of the record that regulators look at.

CONQUAS and the Quality Mark

Both are BCA schemes, and both are often misunderstood.

Sources: BCA CONQUAS page;⁵ BCA CONQUAS banding fact sheet;⁶ BCA Quality Mark page.⁴

Points worth knowing:

• Banding reflects track record. A firm’s band is based on its average CONQUAS scores over the past six years. BCA’s data show Band 1 projects averaging 0.6 dwelling units with major defects per 1,000 units.⁶
• Homeowner feedback counts. BCA validates homebuyer feedback on major defects after inspection, and that feedback is considered in project bands.⁶ A project’s QM rating may also be downgraded if BCA receives valid complaints about major workmanship defects.⁴
• CONQUAS keeps changing. BCA enhanced the scheme on 1 June 2022 to address water seepage, ponding at common areas and glass shattering, introduced a 3-tier scheme for private residential applications from 9 October 2019, and launched CONQUAS (Private Residential) in November 2025.⁶⁵
• Neither is a warranty. CONQUAS assesses at the point of inspection, mostly on a sample; minor and aesthetic defects can still arise, and latent defects such as seepage or unexplained glass shattering may appear after the DLP.⁶

How to document defects

Good evidence turns a disagreement into a deduction. The standard is simple: a stranger reading your file a year later should be able to see what the defect was, where, when you reported it, and what the developer did.

Specific defect types have their own tests and failure patterns. See popped and hollow tiles, tempered glass breakage and glass railings, cracks in walls and ceilings and façade and window leak diagnosis. If you plan to renovate in the first year, read condo renovation and MCST approvals first so that renovation work does not muddy the defects record.

Routes to resolve a dispute

1. Negotiation under the SPA

Most defect disputes are resolved by following clauses 17 and 5 properly. The written notices, quotations and deduction notice are themselves the escalation path.

2. Mediation

Clause 20 of Form 5 says the parties shall consider mediation at the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC) before going to arbitration or court, but clause 20.2 makes clear this is not a legal obligation to mediate.¹ Under SMC’s Mediation Procedure Rules fee schedule from 1 March 2026, disputes up to S$60,000 carry a non-refundable filing fee of S$27.25 and a mediation fee of up to S$400 per party per session; disputes above S$60,000 up to S$250,000 carry a filing fee of S$272.50 and a mediation fee of S$1,000 to S$1,350 per party per full day (all including GST).¹³ MND has also referred to the REDAS Conciliation Panel for disputes arising during the DLP; check the current scheme and eligibility with REDAS before relying on it.³

3. The Strata Titles Board

Under section 101 of the Building (Strata Management) Act, a Strata Titles Board may make an order to settle a dispute or rectify a complaint about any defect in a lot, a subdivided building, or its common property or limited common property. Applications may be made by the MCST, a subsidiary proprietor, a mortgagee in possession, a lessee or an occupier, and orders may be made on any of them or on the MCST’s chairperson, secretary, treasurer or council.² Except for orders about the MCST’s exercise of its powers, an order may include damages up to the amount a District Court could award, currently S$250,000.²¹⁴

That makes the Board well suited to disputes within the estate: a leak from the unit above, or an MCST’s refusal to repair common property. It is less suited to claims against a developer as seller under the SPA, which are contract claims.

4. Court or arbitration

Contract and negligence claims against a developer go to court, or to arbitration if the parties have agreed to arbitrate. In the State Courts, the Magistrate’s Court hears claims up to S$60,000 and the District Court up to S$250,000; larger claims go to the High Court.¹⁴ The Rules of Court 2021 require parties to consider amicable resolution, and to make an offer of amicable resolution before starting an action unless there are reasonable grounds not to (Order 5, rule 1).¹⁵ See the renovation and construction disputes guide for how the courts, tribunals and mediation compare.

Summary

• The prescribed SPA gives a 12-month DLP from the earlier of actual vacant possession or 15 days after you receive the TOP/CSC papers, covering your unit, the development and the common property.¹
• The developer must fix a notified defect within one month. If it does not, serve a second notice with a contractor’s quotation; after 14 days you may rectify and recover the cost.¹
• 5% of the price stays with the Singapore Academy of Law until the Final Payment Date. Serve a notice of deductions at least 7 working days before that date.¹
• Reported but unfixed defects remain the developer’s responsibility after the DLP, and later defects can found a claim within the limitation periods.⁸¹⁰
• BCA cannot intervene in private contractual disputes, but CONQUAS, the Quality Mark and the May 2026 land-sales measures give developers strong reasons to fix defects promptly.³⁷
• Common-property claims run through the MCST with an ordinary resolution; disputes within the estate can go to the Strata Titles Board.²