Checklist for landed home-owners from URA and BCA

The Singapore government has released a set of guidelines in August forlanded home-owners covering subjects that are becoming increasingly relevant asgreater numbers of Singaporeans either make additions to their homes orcompletely tear down and rebuild them.

These are the guidelines:

•!--[endif]-- xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"Inform your neighbours of your plansand how long you expect construction to take. If they have any concerns,resolve them.

•!--[endif]-- xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"Get your neighbour's written consentif you require access to his property during the construction.

•!--[endif]-- xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"Remind your builder to minimisenoise, to not work at night and to ensure debris does not fall onto yourneighbour's property.

•!--[endif]-- xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"Remind your engineer to check ifasbestos is present in your building. Inform your neighbours if it is, so theycan stay away while it is being removed.

•!--[endif]-- xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"Get your engineer and builder toselect micro piles or jack-in piles. These generate less noise.

•!--[endif]-- xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"If excavating to build a basement ora pool, get your builder to avoid excessive ground movements. Ask your engineerto check that any additional load from adding a pool does not affect thestability of your neighbour's boundary walls.

•!--[endif]-- xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"Avoid using highly reflectivematerials on your roof or facade. They may cause glare and discomfort to yourneighbours.

•!--[endif]-- xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"Locate your air-conditionercondensers in the attic or roof, or at least 2m from the boundary shared withyour neighbour, as they generate a lot of heat and noise.