A new-condo defect report needs more than photographs and a renovation deadline. Keep the contractual dates, evidence of notice and the developer’s response together. If you later want to appoint your own contractor, the prescribed purchase agreement sets out a further notice procedure; the first unanswered message is not the whole process.
This guide concerns new private strata homes bought from a housing developer under the prescribed sale and purchase agreement. It does not establish rights for every resale condo, HDB flat or individually negotiated completed-property sale. Updated 29 Sep 2026.
Check your agreement before starting the clock
Housing Developers Rules, rule 12(2), prescribes Form 5 for units intended to be strata lots. Rule 12(3) controls alterations. Read your executed agreement with your lawyer, including its applicable version and any approved changes. The current consolidation checked on Singapore Statutes Online on 29 September 2026 is a reference, not proof of the terms or historical version governing your particular purchase.
Under First Schedule, Form 5, clause 17.1, the 12-month defects period runs from the earlier of actual delivery of vacant possession or the 15th day after receipt of the item 3 documents. Item 3 comprises the TOP/CSC document and the specified completion-and-services notice. The TOP issue date alone is not the contractual receipt date.
Keep the full document packet and dated delivery record, then ask your lawyer to confirm the start and expiry dates. Delaying key collection is not a reliable way to extend protection. Add reminders well before expiry rather than planning one last inspection on the final day.
Understand the two-stage notice procedure
Form 5 clauses 17.2 to 17.4 provide this sequence: notice requiring rectification; one month from the developer receiving it to make good; then, if it fails, written notice enclosing a contractor’s quotation and stating the intention to arrange repairs if works are not carried out within 14 days immediately after the subsequent notice date. Failure after due notice can permit repair and cost recovery, including the stated stakeholder route. Separate deduction requirements appear in clauses 5.4 onwards.
Have the lawyer check service, calculation of time and the proposed recovery route before you commission replacement work or try to deduct money. A customer-service ticket is useful evidence, but ask whether it also satisfies the notice requirements in your contract. Do not confuse an appointment to inspect with completion of the repairs.
Make the defect identifiable
Number each item and name its exact location. Include a wide photograph showing the room and a close view of the problem. Describe what you observed without guessing the engineering cause. For example, “water appears below the basin connection when the tap runs” is more useful than “all plumbing is defective”. Record when it happened and whether it recurred.
| Record | What to retain |
|---|---|
| Observation | Item number, location, date, photographs and the conditions when the problem appeared. |
| Notification | Exact report, recipient, delivery evidence and acknowledgement. |
| Proposed work | Scope, access dates, contractor details and any agreed protection for surrounding finishes. |
| Follow-up | Before-and-after photographs, what was tested and items still unresolved. |
| Escalation | Lawyer’s advice, quotation, subsequent notice and proof of receipt where needed. |
Use the same item numbers in follow-up correspondence. If a bedroom window still sticks after an adjustment, reopen that entry with fresh evidence instead of creating several descriptions nobody can match. Keep original files and dated copies outside a chat thread that could be lost.
Inspect safely before work conceals the evidence
Walk through the home before covering surfaces with cabinetry or replacing finishes. Check visible walls, ceilings, doors, windows and supplied fittings. Operate accessible controls in ordinary use where safe. Record missing items against the agreed specifications. An owner checklist is not an engineering certification.
Do not remove electrical covers, open gas fittings, climb outside windows or perform improvised flooding tests. Ask an appropriately qualified professional to assess suspected electrical, structural or waterproofing problems. A sound from tapping a tile is an observation to investigate, not a diagnosis by itself.
Discuss the work sequence with both contractors if renovation cannot wait. Preserve evidence of the original condition, identify which areas must remain accessible and document who will return after each trade finishes. Avoid paying for built-in furniture that blocks the very area still under investigation.
Budget for disruption without assuming compensation
For an occupier, list the rooms needed for sleeping, cooking and bathing before agreeing a move. For an investor, do not promise a tenant a start date based only on a proposed repair visit. Obtain costs for storage, alternative accommodation and repeat contractor attendance where relevant, but distinguish your budget from amounts you are legally entitled to recover.
If the issue concerns a corridor, facade or another shared part of the development, coordinate evidence and access with the management team and obtain advice on the proper party and process. Do not instruct work on shared building elements simply because the fault affects your unit. Our condo leak and repair guide deals with the separate lot/common-property questions.
Regulatory action is a separate route
URA introduced developer sanctions effective 22 May 2026, including specified land-sale disqualification and sales suspension for up to five years. Its circular addresses serious or repeated conduct and, for major-defect rectification failures, sufficient and reasonable notice given on or after that date. These regulatory measures do not themselves settle your repair bill or contractual claim.
Keep the contractual process moving with advice while any complaint is considered. Do not assume the end of the defects period resolves every legal question about an earlier reported or later discovered problem. If timing, responsibility or the adequacy of a repair is disputed, take the contract and evidence to a Singapore lawyer promptly.
References checked 29 Sep 2026: Housing Developers Rules rule 12, First Schedule Form 5 clauses 17.1 to 17.5, payment schedule item 3 and clauses 5.4 onwards; URA circular COH26-01. This is general legal information, not a lawyer’s review of your agreement or a site inspection. No case outcome is assumed.
Photograph: The Interlace, photographed 10 January 2026. Photo: kallerna, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for web use; exterior context, not an inspection report.
