Plumbers by home type and urgency
HDB plumber
An HDB plumber handles the pipes, fittings and chokes inside your flat, while the town council looks after the common stack and other common property. Knowing which side of that line your problem sits on saves you a wasted call-out.
Typical price
$50–$200per job, standard hoursTypical job time
30 min–2 hours
Estimate, confirm on WhatsApp
When to call
- A toilet bowl, floor trap, sink or basin in your flat is choked and only your flat is affected.
- A tap, mixer, flexible hose or exposed pipe is leaking, or your water meter keeps moving with every tap closed.
- A wall near the kitchen or bathroom stays damp or the paint is bubbling, which can mean a concealed pipe leak.
- You need a toilet bowl, storage water heater, tap or shower set changed, or grab bars put in for an elderly family member.
- Your BTO flat is past its 1-year defects liability period and something has started leaking or choking.
Common jobs
- Clearing chokes in toilet bowls, floor traps, kitchen sinks and basins, usually from grease, hair or wet wipes.
- Replacing worn taps, mixers, flexible hoses and cistern parts.
- Repairing leaks on exposed pipes, or abandoning a leaking concealed pipe and running new exposed piping along the wall.
- Replacing storage water heaters and toilet bowls, which must be done by a PUB Licensed Plumber.
- Installing grab bars, foldable shower seats and bidet sprays.
Before you call
Safe things to try first
- Find your main stop valve. It is at the water meter in the meter compartment along the common corridor, and there is often a second valve inside near the kitchen or service yard.
- If a floor trap or toilet is choked, ask the neighbours directly above and below whether theirs is slow too. If it is, call the town council first.
- With all taps closed, read the water meter, wait 30 to 60 minutes and read it again. If it has moved, water is escaping somewhere after the meter.
- Take a photo or short video of the problem and note your block and floor before you WhatsApp.
Stop and call if
- Water keeps flowing after you close the stop valve at the meter.
- Dirty water comes up through the floor trap when you are not using any water, which points to the common stack.
- Water is dripping from your ceiling. That follows HDB's ceiling leak process, starting with the owner upstairs.
- Your BTO is still within its defects liability period. Report the problem to HDB's Building Service Centre before any plumber touches it.
What we do
- 1Look at your photos or video and ask whether neighbours on the same stack have the same problem, so a town council job is caught before anyone is sent.
- 2Give you a price range for the likely job, with transport and any after-hours charge, before the visit.
- 3On site, find the cause and confirm whether it is within your flat's pipes and fittings or in common property.
- 4Agree the final price with you before starting, then do the repair. Toilet bowl, storage heater and water pipe replacement must be done by a PUB Licensed Plumber.
- 5Test the repair, clean up, and tell you what caused it and how to stop it happening again.
How much it costs
Most hdb plumber jobs in Singapore cost $50–$200 (per job, standard hours). This is an estimate; the final price is confirmed on WhatsApp or on site before work starts.
- Toilet bowl or floor trap choke$70–$200
- Tap replacement, labour only$50–$70
- Exposed pipe leak repair$80–$200
- Toilet bowl replacement, labour only$80–$150
HDB, condo and landed
HDB
The town council maintains the common stack and other common property. You maintain the branch pipes, floor traps and fittings that serve only your flat. Do not tamper with floor traps, and keep renovation debris out of drains, because chokes it causes are cleared at your expense.
Condo
Condos work differently. Common pipes and stacks are maintained by the MCST through its managing agent, and by-laws set when contractors can work. Our condo plumber page covers this in detail.
Landed
A landed house has no town council or MCST sharing the load. Everything after the PUB meter at the gate, including underground pipes and inspection chambers, is the owner's to maintain.
HDB plumber: common questions
Who fixes what in an HDB flat: me or the town council?
You look after anything that serves only your flat: the toilet bowl, floor traps, sinks, taps, water heater and the branch pipes up to the common stack. The town council maintains the common stack and other common property. On the water side, PUB looks after the supply up to and including your meter, and the pipes after it are yours.
My BTO flat is new. Should I call a plumber or HDB?
New flats have a 1-year defects liability period. During that year, report leaks, chokes and faulty fittings to HDB through your estate's Building Service Centre before anyone else works on them. New flats also come with a 5-year warranty against ceiling leaks, which is void if the floor tiles are changed or the waterproofing is tampered with.
What happens if water is leaking through my ceiling from the flat above?
Speak to the upstairs owner first. The floor slab between flats is the joint responsibility of both owners, and your HDB Branch can help if the two owners cannot agree. For wear-and-tear leaks, HDB's Goodwill Repair Assistance pays 50% and each owner 25%; if the upper flat's renovation caused it, the upper owner pays in full. Our ceiling leak page explains the full process.
Do I need HDB approval before plumbing work?
Simple repairs such as clearing a choke or changing a tap do not. Work that involves hacking walls or bathroom floor tiles falls under HDB's renovation rules on permits, contractors and working hours, so check those rules before agreeing to any job that involves hacking.
Can a leaking concealed pipe be replaced with exposed piping?
Yes, and in older flats it is a common fix. The leaking concealed run is abandoned and new pipe is run along the wall surface, which avoids hacking tiles. Replacing water service pipes must be done by a PUB Licensed Plumber.
Get a price for hdb plumber
Send a photo or short video, your home type and postal code. We reply with a price range and the earliest slot.
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