Pro Tips
New Defects Liability Period Rules: Your Handover Checklist
Joseph, Co-founder
Image Credit:
Unsplash / Otus.build
From 31 December, the defects liability period for common property in new private residential projects can run past the familiar 12 months. It lands on top of a May 2026 rule that lets the authorities weigh how long a developer took to fix major defects when deciding on sales suspensions. Put the two together and most site defect registers have a gap that nobody had much reason to notice before.
That gap is one missing date. The checklist further down closes it.
What the new defects liability period rules say
URA and BCA issued a joint circular on 30 October 2026 that strengthens the Housing Developers Rules. It applies to projects launched for sale on or after 31 December 2026. Four of the changes reach the site.
Change | What the circular says | What it means on site |
|---|---|---|
DLP start date | The DLP and buyers’ maintenance charges start on the 35th day after the TOP payment notice is received, or on actual vacant possession if that’s earlier | For a buyer who collects keys late, the clock starts on day 35 anyway. Defect records need to be in order from TOP, not from the last key collection. |
Common property DLP | 12 months from the start date, or 6 months after the first AGM, whichever is later | If the first AGM is held late, the window for common-area defects stretches with it. |
Who reports common-area defects | The extension lets the Management Council appointed at the AGM oversee defect reporting and rectification | You’ll answer to a council of owners as well as the developer’s team. Plan for formal defect lists. |
Plans given to buyers | Units must be built to the scaled unit floor plans and site plans given to buyers before the booking fee | The sales plans join the approved drawings as a reference people will check against. |
The DLP for individual units doesn’t change. It stays at 12 months from vacant possession.
The full list of amendments is in the Government Gazette. Read it with your contracts team. This post describes what the circular says and isn’t legal advice.
Why rectification time is now the number that matters
In May, URA and BCA issued a separate circular that allows the authorities to bar a developer from land sales, or suspend its sales, for up to five years. One trigger is consecutive projects with major defects.
The May circular defines a major defect as one that’s attributable to the developer, isn’t promptly rectified, and significantly affects liveability or functionality as classified under BCA’s CONQUAS. Its examples are ordinary handover items: missing or broken accessories, cracked windowpanes, shower screens, mirrors and visibly cracked tiles. Only defects where notice was given on or after 22 May 2026 count.
One of the factors the authorities consider is the time the developer took to rectify. So the question a developer will put to its main contractor during the DLP is simple. When were we told, and when was it fixed?
A typical defect register shows when an item was found and when someone marked it closed. It rarely shows when formal notice arrived, who checked the fix, or what the area looked like afterwards. That’s the missing date, and the missing proof.
CONQUAS has been moving in the same direction. When the refresh was announced in November 2025, EdgeProp reported that about 30% of defect categories that don’t significantly affect liveability would be removed, with more weight on problems like water seepage and ponding. More now rides on the leaks owners report in month 10.
Developers must also disclose their CONQUAS track record, banded from 1 (best) to 6, in sales brochures and on their websites. A weak band follows the developer into its next launch, and into its next tender with contractors.
What a rushed handover can turn into
Across the Causeway, the Johor Bahru High Court has ordered the developer of R&F Princess Cove, a waterfront condo, to pay RM10.56 million (about US$2.58 million) to the owners of 84 units, some of them Singaporean. The court found that splitting the first phase in two meant some buyers got keys in October 2017 while parts of the development and its shared facilities were unfinished. It treated November 2018 as the real completion date. One owner described it as “living in a construction site”. R&F disputed some of the facility complaints, and its lawyer said it intends to appeal.
That was a Malaysian project under Malaysian rules, and Singapore’s system is set up to prevent it. BCA inspects before TOP is issued, and CONQUAS assesses workmanship during construction and at completion. A handover like Princess Cove is very unlikely here.
The pressure behind it is familiar, though. When a programme gets squeezed to hit TOP, snags and finishing items don’t go away. They get pushed into the DLP, where owners find them and a Management Council keeps the list. Each one becomes a dated defect with a clock running. Building to BCA’s quality checks, instead of racing them, is the cheaper path.
The plans you hand buyers are now the plans you build to
The circular says developers “must construct units in accordance with scaled unit floor plans and site plans provided to home buyers.” Changes need the buyer’s consent, unless a new authority requirement after the option to purchase forces them.
That turns plan revision control into a handover risk. Floor plans given to buyers must now show the number and location of aircon condensers, and site plans must show refuse chute chambers and ventilation shafts. If a condenser ledge moves on revision C and nobody checks it against the sales plan, the owner will find it at handover with the brochure in hand.
Ask the developer for the scaled plans issued to buyers and keep them beside your current drawing set. Recording site walk photos on the plan makes that comparison much faster than flipping between PDFs.
A defect evidence checklist for the longer DLP
Use this for every defect raised during the DLP, from any source.
Defect ID, unit or common area, and exact location pinned on the current plan
Date notice was received, and who gave it
Photo of the defect, with the direction the camera faced
Category in CONQUAS terms where possible, such as water seepage or cracked tile
Party assigned to rectify, and the date they were assigned
Dates rectification started and finished
After photo from the same position and direction as the first
Name of the person who verified the fix, and the date
Date the owner, developer or council accepted closure
For common areas, whether the item was raised before or after the first AGM
Rectification time is the gap between item 2 and item 9. If either date is missing, you can’t show it.
The after photo matters as much as the dates. A matching before and after pair settles most “it was never fixed” arguments in one look, and good photo records cut rework long before DLP starts.
What to do this week
List which of your projects launch for sale on or after 31 December 2026, and which already fall under the May 2026 major defects framework.
Ask your contracts team how your main contract’s defects period lines up with the new common property window.
Add “notice received” and “verified by” fields to your defect register if it doesn’t have them.
Get the scaled floor plans and site plans issued to buyers and file them with your latest drawing revision.
Agree a photo rule with your subcons: every rectification gets an after photo taken from the same spot as the defect photo.
Keeping the record without the extra admin
Otus was built for this kind of record. A defect is captured as a photo pinned to the plan, with the direction the camera faced. It’s assigned to the responsible subcon, who closes it with photo proof from their own phone, and every step is logged with its date. Here’s how Otus Issues tracks a defect from capture to close.
Plan revision updates keep pins on the current drawing, and unlimited seats per project let every subcon work in the same record. When the Management Council asks for a status update, a PDF or PowerPoint report takes under 5 minutes, and finding past photos is 94% faster.
Start your first project on Otus.
FAQ
When does the new common property defects liability period start?
It starts on the 35th day after the buyer receives the TOP payment notice, or on actual vacant possession if that comes first. The common property DLP then runs 12 months from that date, or until 6 months after the first AGM, whichever is later. It applies to projects launched for sale on or after 31 December 2026.
Has the defects liability period for individual condo units changed?
No. Under the strengthened Housing Developers Rules, the DLP for individual units stays at 12 months from the date of vacant possession. The extension applies to common property, so a Management Council appointed at the first AGM can oversee defect reporting and rectification for shared areas.
What counts as a major defect under the May 2026 URA and BCA framework?
A major defect is attributable to the developer, isn’t promptly rectified, and significantly affects liveability or functionality as classified under BCA’s CONQUAS. Examples include broken accessories, cracked windowpanes, shower screens, mirrors and visibly cracked tiles. Only defects with notice given on or after 22 May 2026 count.
Sources
Strengthening the Housing Developers Rules to enhance protection of home buyers’ interests, URA and BCA circular, 30 October 2026
New measures to enhance protection of home buyers’ interests through strengthening deterrence of errant developer behaviour, URA and BCA circular, 22 May 2026
CONQUAS: Construction Quality Assessment System, Building and Construction Authority
New rules to safeguard homebuyers, boost liveability and functionality, EdgeProp Singapore, 13 November 2025
JB developer ordered to pay US$2.58 million to condo owners, including Singaporeans, over delays, CNA, 5 November 2026
This article draws on the URA and BCA circular of 30 October 2026, and on reporting first published by CNA on 5 November 2026 for the Princess Cove section.
Header image: photo via Unsplash, caption by Otus.build.