snoozee

I believe authorities will compel him to comply or risk a huge fine. I read somewhere quite sometime back on the fines which could be imposed on illegal works and it is a substantial sum as it is computed based on the size of the illegal GFA.

Rain gutter ban only came into effect in October 2005. So it is not that long. Most likely the illegal extension was done with a flat roof with slight gradient and then rain water will flow into the gutter and rain water down pipe. If the neighbour is a 3 storey house, more likely it was built within the last 30 years or so when there would have the proper setback regulations in place already. Many very old houses in 3 storey zone were only built up to 2 storeys

basically he knows that he has no case if the illegal extensions are brought up to the authorities which could be why he is behaving aggressively and trying to divert the attentions somewhere else

My guess is the line of sight that your neighbour sees the light which he is finding fault with. Even if he had stuck with the setback requirements, the line of sight to your flood light may still be there. It's like your rear neighbour look out of his house and see your bright light even though the light beam is not being cast into his house.

Today's PV panel systems cost maybe about 20 percent of what they used to cost almost 20 years ago. Whether it will further reduce in cost is something we won't know but I think is unlikely. Instead what we would most likely see is improvement in technology to make them more efficient. long time ago, these are called solar panels because they need the strong light from the sun to work. But these days, they are termed as Photo-Voltaic panels because they can work even if there is no strong light from the sun. With things MIC, it will always be cheaper to buy over there. When you ship over to SG, after factoring in all the costs associated with logistics, marketing, margin etc, the price will definitely be much higher.

assuming your lights are installed at the ceiling level of your 2nd storey, it means the light is about 8m high from ground level. Since it's so high, the beam will spread wider. Would it be possible to shift the light downwards to reduce the width of the light beam? Or can you angle the light away from the side where the 4 houses are? Of cos the other alternative is to put lights on the side wall and use these to illuminate your garden instead. While you are only turning on the lights in the evening when you are in your garden and not throughout the night, I can imagine the "disturbance" which is felt by your neighbours when the light gets into their backyard especially when they are in the area. Personally, I would be irritated if I'm in their shoes. Imagine yourself sitting down in your backyard to relax in the evening and whenever your raise your head, you are blinded by the lights from your neighbour.

@leechaorui I assume the neighbour you are having problems with is from the row of 4 houses on your side. Since you mentioned their houses are on higher ground, how much higher is their ground compared to your land? If it's more than 1.5m high, then I don't think there's any cause for concern over the roots. Also, plant roots usually go deeper to search for underground water. Since the neighbour had extended the backyard, most likely the backyard is already tiled up. With lack of water in their ground, the roots from your tree is unlikely to go upwards to get water from their land and damage their house in the process. How high are your lights being installed? Also, what is the purpose for these lights? Don't get me wrong but I'm just trying to understand the rationale of these lights. If they are installed for your own security, then you have every right to provide a safe location for yourself and your family. But if it's for aesthetics reasons, would less bright lights perform the same function? Possible to relocate the lights? Or can use solar lights and place them around the land to brighten the area?

even before envelope control was introduced, there were clear guidelines on setbacks of the house. illegal is illegal, doesn't matter which set of regulations were in place during the time when the house was construction. Unless the house was built way before there was proper governance then it's another different story.

with regards to reduce monthly electrical bills, it depends on how you look at it. a PV installation may cost about 20k and assuming useful lifespan is 20 years, this would mean the cost of the system is about 1k per year before factoring in any maintenance and parts replacement costs. so it's how much the PV installation can reduce off your monthly electrical bill. if every month one can reduce the bill by $100, over 1 year you will "save" $1200. But do note that you had already paid for 20 years of electricity up front when you first pay for the PV system. so your real savings from the PV system could be $200 a year. Multiply the $200 by 20 years, you will save $4k. But if over the 20 years the cost of maintenance and parts replacement is more than $4k, then essentially you are paying more for electricity compared to the so called savings.

i'm no botanist but is your neighbour's house constructed with wood with wooden foundation? I think normally plants' roots will grow around obstructions. Unless your neighbour's house foundation already has problems then of cos this would be a concern since the tree roots may get into the problem areas and cause further damage. How far is your tree from their main building? You can gauge how far the roots of your tree had spread out by estimating the height of your tree. Dried leaves flying over can't be controlled. Is your neighbour going to complain to NParks if the leaves from trees from outside his house fly into his house during windy days? One cannot control where the leaves are being blown to. I even had leaves from don't know where ended up on my attic balcony at times. My neighbour A has a huge tree at his backyard with leaves often dropping over to my side. I just pick up the leaves and throw into a corner of my garden as compost. There are also branches from the tree coming into the airspace on my side so once in a while my neighbour A will prune the branches. I have also seeked permission from him to prune away branches when they start growing too near to my upper storey bedroom windows. My other side neighbour B sharing a fence with me also has plants coming over to my side and my plants also sometimes grow over to their side. So leaves and flowers dropping is common and we just give and take. This neighbour B also grows bougainvillea on the other side of the house and the fallen leaves and bracts from the bougainvillea will sometimes fly/drop over to the other side neighbour C. What neighbour B told my mum is that neighbour C will sweep up all these dead leaves and then throw it back over the neighbour B side. for your light, is any part of the light beam shining over your neighbour side? If not, then I don't really see a problem and you neighbour is just being a PITA. Of cos you can try to adjust the light so that it shines further from your neighbour side or change the location of the light such that it is at the side of your house, meaning the backside of the light is facing your neighbour side so he cannot complain that the light is too bright. For my house, my garden lights are positioned in this manner such that they are casting the light towards my house and back of the lights are facing the neighbours. Anyway, we are all living in a community in the same area so sometimes have to give and take.

You will also need to get the existing plans from BCA as well as download the cadastral plan from SLA website. The cadastral plan will be needed by the surveyor to conduct the survey. Can also go to pub website and buy the DIP and SIP drawings as well. anyway surveying is usually completed in one day unless there are things which are missed out. The surveyed plan can be obtained within one month. once you confirm your architect, he/she will advice you more.

what are you planning to do for your house? If you just need to confirm the existing land boundary, take invert levels of existing drains and IC, measure top level of party walls, existing level of 1st storey land and external road and driveways it shouldn't cost that much. All these info would be sufficient for you to get the data required for architects and PE to work on design for submission to authorities. once you get the topo survey plan, the existing building's levels, etc can be computed based on the certified plans you buy from BCA. have you also engaged an architect or PE? if yes, can ask the QP for recommendation of a surveyor as they would have contacts which they have worked with for landed projects.

the question is how much will you end up paying for the installation? Assuming that there is a minimum commitment period, what will happen if you decide to sell the house before that commitment period is up? while zero initial outlay sounds attractive, the finer details of the deal must be looked into before one can determine if it is indeed a good deal or not.

Most polycarbonate is see through so you get the light and also the heat. Aluminum composite panels would have some form of insulation built in so you cut down the heat as well. for long term maintenance wise, composite panel would be better rather than polycarbonate. With polycarbonate panels, if the end cap come loose, you are going to get water ingress inside the panels. That's what happened with my in-laws car-porch roof which panel to use will really be your planned usage. if you are planning to use the area very often during the day, then choose composite panels since you won't feel the heat. If the main purpose is just to have extra area and not going to be used that often in the day, then do polycarbonate.

nope. only owners or the authorised party by owner can purchase the floor plan. the only way is for you to wait until the sale and purchase is completed and the title deed of the land in SLA records shows your name

if you are asking about topo survey for your land/house, it should be around 2k or less. previously my house survey was done by CAK & FG

not good time to start physical work but should be ok to start with the search for architects and PE for design of the house and structure. also do some prep work like buy SIP, DIP, doing topo survey, buy original plans from BCA, soil investigation so the appointed architect and PE can work on their design. all these could take about 6 months (if take time to do slowly) and if URA and BCA doesn't approve at first submissions, it could be at least 8 or 9 months before the necessary approvals are obtained for start work. after got approvals then source for builder could take another 2 months to confirm builder. So all in all, it would be 1 year from now already and things might have gotten better and prices come down a bit.

manpower cost may drop when borders open up and workers can start coming into Singapore. for raw materials, it would depend on the global recovery. prices are always based on supply and demand. when supply is low and demand remains constant, prices will go up. Singapore imports raw materials from overseas and if the supply is low due to factory closure or reduced production then prices will go up. Also cost of delivery of raw materials from manufacture country to Singapore has also increased. Shipping rates had increased due to COVID and this will directly affect the cost of shipping in the raw materials into Singapore.

just to give a view of cost of raw materials based on BCA data Jan 2020 (Ordinary Portland Cement) ($/Tonne) - $84.60 Steel Bars (16-32mm High Tensile)($/Tonne) - $715.00 Ready Mixed Concrete ($/Cubic Metre) - $96.00 Sept 2021 (Ordinary Portland Cement) ($/Tonne) - $95.00 Steel Bars (16-32mm High Tensile)($/Tonne) - $1105.00 Ready Mixed Concrete ($/Cubic Metre) - $104.00 from the prices, steel bar prices has increased by more than 50%, cement about 12% and concrete about 8%

350psf was pre-COVID. now COVID everything increase by about 20 percent

if any water fitting at the highest point in your house exceeds 25m in height (referenced from the Singapore height datum), you will require a water tank for your house as PUB water supply may not have enough pressure to reach beyond 25m height.

Yes, my point is just to clear your earlier post that one must always do a RC roof in order to achieve the maximum floor to roof height and maximize the GFA.

Mine is similar to your attic design. Just that my lower roof also has a roof eave which extends further out (yellow highlight)

I had emailed URA on this before. below is their official reply "In general, solar panels not exceeding 1m high (ie. non-elevated) do not need planning permission, and can be allowed to protrude beyond the envelop control in the context of a landed house. This is provided the landed house is not located in areas where planning permission is required for contextual assessment."

I did a lower roof over the balcony within the 45 degrees envelope so I can extend my attic room outwards to maximize the floor area.