All HDB apartments and private residences essentially all residential premises in Singapore will be required to have a Residual Current Circuit Breaker (RCCB) installed from July 1st.
In a press release on Friday (July 12), the Housing and Development Board (HDB) and the Energy Market Authority (EMA) said that homeowners will have a two-year grace period on July 1 to comply with the requirement.
The RCCB is an electrical safety device that cuts off the power supply immediately upon detection of current leakage that can cause electric shock.
“The penalty for non-compliance is a fine of up to S$5,000 under the Electricity (Electrical Installations) Regulations,” the authorities said.
Since July 1985, all new electrical installations, including those in new built homes, have been required to have an RCCB installed. Also, when most homes undergo renovations, their electrical circuits would be rewired and installed with an RCCB.
However, there is a small percentage of residential premises built before July 1985 that may be using their original electrical circuits without an RCCB installed, authorities said.
The EMA will notify the owners of HDB flats built before July 1985.
The HDB will cover the cost of the RCCB installation and necessary cabling work for the 1 and 2 bedroom HDB apartments. Work is ongoing to install an RCCB for these units, if they do not already have one.
For 3-bedroom and larger apartment types completed before the 1985 RCCB requirement began, HDB will be writing to owners to share more information about RCCB’s Installation Assistance Program. Under the program, the government will cover up to 95 percent of the cost of installing the RCCB and the necessary cabling work.
And for private residences, the EMA will notify homeowners to verify and install an RCCB in their home if they don’t already have one.
Category: Singapore
