Whether you need a permit depends strictly on what you touch:
* **Removing Just the Door Leaf / Frame:** If you are only unscrewing the bedroom door hinges or dismantling the timber door frame without breaking the surrounding wall, **no HDB permit is required**. Internal bedroom doors are not fire-rated and do not affect building safety.
* **Widening the Opening or Hacking Surrounding Wall:** The moment your contractor cuts, chips, or hacks into any part of the wall surrounding the door frame to make it wider or more open, **written HDB approval is mandatory**. Doing any masonry hacking without a permit risks fines up to S$5,000 and forced reinstatement.
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### How to Check What Can and Cannot Be Changed
1. **Purchase the Official Floor Plan (S$5 on HDB InfoWEB):**
* **Thick Solid Black Lines:** Load-bearing reinforced concrete (RC) columns, beams, and structural walls. **Never hackable** under any circumstances.
* **Thin Solid or Double Lines:** Non-structural internal partition walls. Hackable **only with prior HDB permit approval**.
* **Household Shelter (Bomb Shelter):** The RC walls, ceiling, and steel door are strictly prohibited from alteration.
2. **Verify on HDB's Renovation Portal:**
Review the official **"Guidelines on Renovation"** via My HDBPage under the Flat Dashboard. HDB classifies all activities into: (a) *Permit not required*, (b) *Permit required*, and (c) *Prohibited works*.
3. **Check the Directory of Renovation Contractors (DRC):**
Never let a contractor self-declare that "it should be fine." By law, only contractors listed on the **HDB Directory of Renovation Contractors (DRC)** can carry out renovations in an HDB flat. Your contractor must submit the annotated floor plan via the HDB e-Portal and receive written approval before commencement.
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Gan Eng Joo Onassis 颜荣裕, REALTOR®
MSc BIT (Middlesex, England, United Kingdom); BBA (South Australia)
CEA Reg No: R021244C | Singapore Line:
(+65) 88899918
Email: onassis@sgagent.com
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