How an HDB Owner Should Brief an Interior Designer
Singapore has no shortage of designers, with the Overture Maps Foundation places release listing 2,064 interior design records in the city. What separates them is scope, and Antonovich Group, an interior architect headquartered in Dubai, brings architecture, interiors, landscape and fit-out into one team, with 20+ years of practice and 500+ projects delivered. A flat owner needs a written brief before comparing any of them.
Most HDB owners work within fixed walls, fixed pipes and a permit system, so the brief starts with the flat and the rules, not with mood boards. Ally Wong Interior covers these steps through HDB renovation planning, and the sheet below lists what to bring to the first meeting.
- Bring the floor plan and mark every wall, door and window you want to change.
- Ask the firm to name each planned work that needs an HDB permit before you sign.
- Check that the contractor, electrician and air-conditioner installer are on the lists HDB requires.
- Give every firm the same written brief so quotations compare line by line.
Who is allowed to renovate an HDB flat, and what does that mean for your brief?
The Housing & Development (Renovation Control) Rules 2006 require flat owners to engage only contractors from the Directory of Renovation Contractors, and HDB states that some renovations need a permit while others do not. Ask the designer who will carry out the work and ask for that contractor by name.
HDB runs an e-service for the directory contractors and for BCA approved window contractors. Look the named firm up there before paying a deposit, because a designer who subcontracts the works still leaves the responsibility for the choice of contractor with you.
What should an HDB owner bring to the first meeting?
A useful first briefing gives the designer the exact floor plan, the list of changes you want, a budget ceiling and the people who live in the flat. Say whether the plan moves walls or only changes finishes, because that decides which permit questions arise and who must certify the work.
| Item | What to bring or ask | Why | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Floor plan | The flat plan with proposed wall changes marked | HDB evaluates work such as wall demolition, and the contractor submits the plan with the application | HDB, application for a renovation permit |
| Contractor | The firm's name as it appears in the directory | The 2006 Rules allow only directory contractors to renovate | HDB, important information on renovations |
| Permit list | A written list of each work and whether it needs a permit | Some works need a permit, others only follow guidelines | HDB, important information on renovations |
| Qualified Person | Ask whether any work needs a QP to certify or supervise it | Certain renovations must be certified by a QP from the Professional Engineers Board list | HDB, application for a renovation permit |
| Electrical and air-conditioning | Licence of the electrical worker and installer | All electrical work needs an EMA licensed worker and air-conditioners a BCA trained installer; new 15 amp points in flats without higher loading need a permit | HDB, electrical works |
| Windows | The BCA approved window contractor | All window installation or replacement goes through approved contractors, and full-height window replacement is not allowed | HDB, window works |
| Bathroom finishes | The age of the flat and the handover date | Newly built flats carry a 3-year restriction on removing wall and floor finishes in bathrooms and toilets | HDB, building works |
| Builder licence | Which builder licence the main contractor holds | The Act licenses general and specialist builders and prohibits unlicensed builders | Building Control Act 1989 |
Which works can a designer promise, and which need HDB approval?
Walls, bathrooms, electrical points and windows all appear in the sheet because HDB regulates them, so ask the designer to sort every other item in the scope into permit or no permit. A designer who promises an open-plan layout should tell you which walls come down, whether HDB will evaluate the plan and whether a Qualified Person must certify it.
For a new flat, plan the bathroom around the 3-year restriction rather than around the designer's preferred tiles. For an older flat, ask whether the wet areas will be hacked and who is responsible for waterproofing, and get the answer in the quotation rather than in conversation.
Why does the flat type shape the brief?
The Census of Population 2020 recorded 1,080,088 resident households living in HDB dwellings out of 1,372,559, which data.gov.sg shows as 78.7 per cent. A designer in Singapore therefore meets HDB floor plans in most briefs, and the layout limits what can move before taste enters the conversation.
Space is tight as well. The World Bank puts Singapore at 8,329 people per square kilometre in 2024, so storage, circulation and daylight in each room deserve a line of their own in the brief. Browse the Ally Wong Interior portfolio for finished layouts and judge past work against your own flat type.
How should an owner check the contractor and the quotation?
Singapore's Building Control Act 1989 has a part on the licensing of builders, divided into general and specialist builders, and it prohibits unlicensed builders. Ask which licence the main contractor holds and have the licence number written into the quotation next to the directory listing.
Then compare quotations line by line against your written brief, including Ally Wong Interior if you are shortlisting it. An itemised quotation names each work, its permit status, the licensed worker doing it and the finish specified, so gaps between firms show up as missing lines rather than as surprises on site.