HDB Renovation Guide Singapore: Window Grille Styles
Windows are where safety and looks meet, and HDB sets the rules. This HDB Renovation Guide Singapore for 2025 and 2026 walks through grille styles, the safety devices HDB has required since 2011, and why your installer must be BCA-trained.
grille styles that suit an HDB flat
Aluminium grilles are the standard for a reason. They are light, so they add almost no load to the window, and they do not rust in our humidity.
I prefer slim vertical bars spaced under 100mm. They read clean and still stop a child from slipping through. Wider spacing looks airy but fails the point of a grille.
Fixed grilles suit bedrooms. Casement windows get a grille that swings with the leaf so you can still wash the glass.
- Choose powder-coated aluminium to keep the colour through the years.
- Match the grille colour to the frame for a tidy look.
- Avoid thick steel bars; they weigh the window and strain the hinges.
HDB Renovation Guide Singapore: grille styles that pass HDB
HDB approves specific window and grille setups. Your contractor must be in the HDB Directory of Renovation Contractors to do the work under the Renovation Control Rules 2006.
Decorative patterns are fine as long as the bars stay close enough to be safe. A purely ornamental grille with wide gaps will not pass.
The grille is a surface fitting, not a structural change, so it does not need a separate hacking permit. The window itself does, because windows and grilles are controlled works.
- Confirm the design with your DRC contractor before order.
- Keep the openable leaf clear so the restrictor still works.
- Ask for the HDB-approved sticker on the installed window.
the safety devices HDB made mandatory in 2011
Since 2011 HDB requires window safety devices, usually restrictors, on all openable windows. They stop the leaf from opening more than a hand's width.
Homeowners must maintain these devices. If a restrictor fails and the window falls, the owner is liable. I check mine every few months.
The device is small but the rule is firm. No openable window in an HDB flat is exempt.
- Test the restrictor when you clean the window each month.
- Replace a stiff catch before it seizes fully.
- Do not remove the device to get a wider view.
why the installer must be BCA-trained
Windows and grilles must be put in by a BCA-trained installer. This is not a suggestion; it is the rule for HDB-approved windows.
A trained installer sets the anchor points into the RC frame correctly. A poor fix is how windows come loose, and that is how people get hurt and fined.
Keep the installer's certificate on file with your renovation papers. You may need it when you sell.
Pick the right grille and the right installer and your windows stay safe, legal and good-looking for the life of the flat.
