Jump to content
Find Professionals    Deals    Get Quotations   Portfolios

snoozee

Members
  • Content Count

    1,152
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    56

Posts posted by snoozee


  1. 18 hours ago, wersingaporeans said:

    Thank you snoozee for your detailed explanation and useful tips. I've gotten a quotation from TP Link and the sales person is extremely helpful. 

    These are the proposed models to get the strongest signal for my place, not sure if its too much

    L1 - ground floor (living, 1 bedroom)   - 2pcs AP EAP650
    L2 - mezzanine (study room) - 2 pc AP EAP650
    L3 - 4 bedrooms   - 1 pc AP EAP650, 2 pcs EAP615-Wall
    L4 - Attic -  2 bedrooms  - 1 pc AP EAP650, 2 pcs EAP615-Wall

    Ports Description Model
    10 Router ER7212PC
    24 Switch SG2428P
      AP EAP615-Wall
      AP EAP650

     

    For the "chunk of cables" in that area, I'm gonna build carpentry for the entire wall as I have more unsightly things to hide for that wall. Server racks are indeed good idea for me to consider for that section! My carpenter is very reliable so I hope that gives me a piece of mind 

     

    Best Regards

    I have no idea how is your house layout. But 10 APs for an inter terrace seems overkill. Eg: is your study so huge that you need to have two APs to provide the coverage? or is the product quality so bad that 2 APs are needed to cover the area of the study? Same as for your attic. Do you need 3 APs to provide the coverage for 2 bedrooms?

    Of cos the sales rep will propose a solution to you so that there will be no complaints for poor reception at certain areas and he get the flack for not proposing enough equipment. But then with additional equipment, how much are you going to pay more upfront in equipment cost and running costs to keep the equipment turned on 24/7? While the cost of having an AP run 24/7 is about 10 cents a day, if you multiple this by 5 APs, that's an additional $15 per month you need to pay in electricity.

    If you're planning to install APs on the ceiling, then you may not need to have 10 APs at all. You will likely need 1 AP for your mezzanine study. Whether the AP in your study can provide some coverage for you living room will depend on what material you have as the wall which overlooks your living room. So how many APs are needed in your living room will depends on the mezzanine location. eg: if you have an AP in the middle of the study at the mezzanine (which is located at the rear of the house), the AP may provide coverage for the area immediately below and around it. Then you will need another AP to provide coverage for the front living area and car porch. For your 2nd storey with 4 bedrooms, you could install 1 AP to cover 2 bedrooms so just 2 APs should be enough. For attic, 1 AP right in the middle should be able to cover both bedrooms. If later on you find that certain spots are really bad, then you could add on those wall APs which are plugged into the wall RJ45 ports to cover the areas.

    The router which is proposed seems overkill as well for a home use environment. You could make do with a lower cost model or even make use of the existing one you have right now. the 24 ports POE switch will be more to provide power for your APs. You need to ask yourself if 24 ports are enough? if not, then you may want to add on another 24 ports non-POE switch. Again whether to link up all your 50 LAN ports now or later is up to you.

     

     

     


  2. 10 hours ago, wersingaporeans said:

    Thank you so much for your wise inputs snoozee!

    The photo is my new house. The way it's left there it's telling me, I must do carpentry there to just hide everything.

    Thanks for also feeling my grief, I tell myself to just be happy that my rebuilding was completed eventually without the contractor going bankrupted. 

    Wifi setup wasn't planned during my consultation but they allowed me to add lan points for cctv, and points for each zone, rooms. 

    I also just found out that the lift also can be connected to a phone line. 

    I did not plan for using AP as I've thought that using mesh networks would be sufficient (and really never thought I had the need). My Malaysian colleagues have big landed houses and they do not require such complicated setup at home. They were also shocked to see my cables and told me to build a server room (🙄

    I will have to mount the data switch on the wall or have a small shelf/desk next to the bunch of cables to do the connections since I will be doing carpentry work. (My carpenter is very good so he will help me settle it once I get all my devices in)  

    I bought a Panasonic phone system (kx-tg7731) with 6 phones to serve as intercom for each room but have not wired them up. 

    What would be the brands of the AP or switch that you will be recommending as I'm not familiar with that. I choose TP Link as the nodes seems most reliable compared to the many brands that have failed me in the past. 

    I think I do not have to hook up all 50 lan points too so I guess at 24 port switch should do the job now and I can expand it further next time too right?

    Best Regards

     

     

    If the type of workmanship was for my house, I would have given a piece of my mind to the QP and contactor and ask if this is acceptable for their own house. I do not know what that big chunk of white "box" coming out from the floor is but for a brand new rebuilt house, there shouldn't be this type of funny things jutting out at wierd locations. Even if there's no choice but to have something to come out of the floor, at least something can be done to make it more aesthetically pleasing rather than leave it like this.

    By right all networking items should be part of the initial design of the house together with electrical wiring. There's requirements from IMDA on where the network points need to be installed and so on. The phone line in the lift is needed for safety reasons. Imaging if one is using the lift breaks down when no one else is at home. By right the lift should be self-homing and goes down to the first floor and automatically open the doors if there's a problem. But there's always a chance things don't work when they should and hence the phone is needed to allow the passenger to call for help.

    Not sure how big your colleagues landed houses across the causeway are. But in SG, everything is maximised in the plot of land and the walls causes the WIFI signal to degrade. With mesh setup, the mesh nodes will require line of sight to work well but with walls in between, mesh doesn't work well. So one will still require mesh nodes or AP with wired backhaul to get the best WIFI signal. When I did my house, I had already planned for all my network and AP locations. I have a server rack in a designated location to house all my network equipment as well so that things will be tidy. The server rack which I bought 2nd hand cost me less than $500 which would be cheaper than having custom furniture built.

    The phone system you bought is not really a full fledged phone system. I guess you could daisy chain the telephone cables at the termination point such that the base units are all connected to the main incoming line. The PBX I'm using is a Panasonic KX-TES824 which I placed in my server rack. The digital phone line from my ISP's ONR is then connected to the PBX as the incoming line.

    For network equipment, I prefer HP Enterprise models as they usually come with limited lifetime warranty and some models don't burn a hole in my pocket. Of cos if you're the type who wants to upgrade often to get the latest technology then the lifetime warranty don't matter much.

    I would suggest you just plug in all the network points at the start and save your headache in future. From your photo, it doesn't look like your contractor had labeled the cables as well so you will not know which cable is for which point in your house unless you spend time to trace them. If your CCTV recorder comes with network points with POE, you may want to connect the CCTV network cables to the recorder directly rather than to the switch. Unless you require the use of POE devices on your network, you can get a normal gigabit switch which will be slightly cheaper than a POE switch. Alternatively is to buy 1 normal and 1 POE switch such that your POE devices can be connected to the POE switch and other devices connected to the normal switch.


  3. On 10/4/2023 at 2:26 PM, wersingaporeans said:

    Hi all, Need some internet advice too! I'm in the midst of finalising my place too and I have this bunch of cables handle for my home internet setup. My internet provider will be StarHub (  2000Mbps Fibre Broadband ) as I will relocate my current internet service over. My current condo setup with TP-link 3 deco nodes are no longer sufficient (x60 AX3000 wifi 6 mesh).

     

    My new space is similar to Hermes76.

    My house consist of 4 levels.  

    L1 - ground floor (living, 1 bedroom)  
    L2 - mezzanine (study room)
    L3 - 4 bedrooms  
    L4 - Attic -  2 bedrooms

    I will be shifting to a landed and I see I have around 50 plus lan / phone lines cable to connect to.

    Can I know what kind of router can I use, prefer to use back TP-link if possible as it was good compared to other brands that I've tried. 

     

    96A0FD9E-20E5-4211-AF18-E997056875A7.jpg

    is your photo your existing (old) setup or new setup in your new house? Cos if this is for a newly constructed house, i would be giving the contractor a lot of grief for this type of workmanship.

    WIFI setup should actually be planned before construction start since the cables should be laid in optimal locations and doing it after would likely mean you need to pull cables or have more access points to make up for the limited coverage wall lan points may provide. eg: if an AP is mounted on a wall, a whole level could get the WIFI signal from this single AP. but if a AP is placed on a desk next to a wall in a room, you may need another AP on another end of the level to provide coverage for poor/dead spots.

    Also, LAN cable termination plays a part in how the network equipment can be placed. With reference to the photo above, the termination is very short, maybe about 1.2m. This means you will either need to mount your data switch on the wall or have a small shelf/desk next to the bunch of cables to do the connections. With longer termination length, there is more option on how/where the network equipment can be placed.

    There's 2 sets of cables, data cable for networking/internet and telephone cables for your telephones usage. Nowadays, contractors also use CAT6 cables for telephone cabling so your contractor should have labeled the cable ends properly so you can identify which cable is for what.

    For network cables, you need to connect all the cable ends to a data switch. If you have less than 23 network cables, then a 24 port data switch will be enough. But if you have more than 24 network cables, then you need to decide if you want to buy a 48 ports switch or 2 sets of 24 ports switch. Note that a 24 port switch will need a "spare" port for the uplink which is to either connect between switches or connect to a router. So if you have 2 sets of 24 ports switch, you will need to cater for a total of 3 "spare" ports, 1 port on each switch to connect to each other and another port to connect to a router.

    TP Link is more of a small home use switch so it will work for your case but personally, I would prefer better brands of which some offer limited lifetime warranty. With limited lifetime warranty, you pay once and if the switch fails 5 years down the road, you get a replacement FOC (may get another model if existing model is no longer available).

    To get WIFI coverage, you will need at least one access point for each level. As I mentioned earlier, if you had not planned to have ceiling mounted APs at the start, you may need to buy more APs to provide more coverage. How many APs you need would be more of a trial and error testing now as you need to install an AP first, then use a mobile phone with a WIFI detection app to check the signal strength. If the signal strength is poor/low at certain areas, then you may want to consider adding another AP to provide coverage. At minimum, you would need at least 4 APs, one for each level. your level 2 with 4 bedrooms may require an additional AP if the WIFI signal is bad.

    Do note that a wireless AP (Access Point) is not the same as a router. Those equipment bundled by telcos are WIFI routers which have AP functionality built in. But a true AP simply receives and sends the network traffic to and from the router without doing any routing. While you can buy multiple WIFI routers to serve the same function, it would be best if you can configure these WIFI routers without the routing function so that they act just like an AP. Else if you have too many equipment performing the routing function, you may encounter performance issues and it's not easy to troubleshoot as well. As a general rule, one local network should have only one router.

    Now for the telephone cables. DO NOT connect your telephone cables to the data switches as they don't serve the same purpose. But you could technically convert the telephone point to become a data point if the correct ports/plugs are installed. By right each telephone cable can only be used for 1 telephone line. Meaning if you have 5 telephone cables, you will need 5 telephone lines to call out. However, you can use telephone line splitters to combine these lines and make do with one single outgoing telephone line. Another option is for you to install a PBX system at home. With a PBX, all telephone lines from the rooms will connect to the PBX. The PBX will then be connected to the main outgoing telephone line. With a PBX, you can also get the intercom, hold, call transfer functions etc. So it's basically like a office telephone system but installed at home. A small PBX system may cost a few hundred dollars so it's not that expensive to have one at home.

     


  4. if your neighbour does not rebuilt, then there's no need to construct any new IC at all. everything can remain as it. It's only when the house undergoes rebuilt (and maybe reconstruction) that PUB will stipulate that the owner/developer construct a new IC so that the existing shared arrangement can be terminated.

    As for how much the new sewer connection will cost, it is subjective since many factors will come into play.

    As I've mentioned many times, you have every legal right to disallow any contractor to access your property to do any works. Even if you said OK today and changed your mind tomorrow, the contractor will not be able to hold to your original consent since you've already changed your mind to withdraw the consent to access your property.

    • Like 1

  5. it does not cost that much to construct a new IC. When I rebuilt my house, I shifted my last IC to another location and constructed another IC to connect to the last IC as well. I think the cost to construct an IC would be just a few K which might be cheaper than redoing all your outdoor tiles for your house.

    in any case, if I'm not wrong, every landed house must have its own last IC built within its own land lot. So there's no way to save the cost of construction of last IC. The only question is where this last IC will connect to. PUB regulations state that as much as possible/feasible, the connection must be done to the public sewer on public land. So in this case, when the QP submits the plan to PUB for approval, it is likely that the plan will be to connect the last IC to the public sewer pipe outside the private land lots. Unless there's compelling reasons why the connection on public land cannot be done, then PUB will allow for connection to be done on private land subjected to the land owner's consent.


  6. I suppose you have the SIP on hand which is why you are able to provide the layout of your existing situation.

    As mentioned, you can deny them access. If I'm in your situation, I would not grant them access to hack my floor to do their sewer connection as well. However, since the existing sewer connection needs to be terminated properly, you have to grant them limited access to do this. Whether you want to let them open your manhole to perform CCTV survey is up to you.

    Your neighbour's new IC can be constructed in their driveway and then connect to the main sewer which is running through the public road/land.  How they can do it is another question as a sewer connection should be direct so it could be challenging. Anyway, doing the connection outside is the only way they can do it since they can't touch your property at all. Of cos they will need to submit the plans to PUB for approval first. With regards to sealing of the existing connection, there's some standard procedures from PUB on how it should be done.

    If I were you, I would request for a method statement from the contractor and signed by a QP on how they are going to do the sealing. This is just to protect yourself in case something happens in future with the termination point. As the termination will actually be done inside the IC, any hacking (if needed) will be done inside the IC. I'm not sure if any hacking inside the IC will be done but there could be some minor hacking to roughen the surface of the IC so the cement could adhere properly. The exact details on how the sealing will be done should be described in the method statement from the contractor/QP.


  7. if there's no tiles laid over the manhole and IC, then there's no need to hack the floor and tiles to access them at all. the IC cover and manhole cover can be opened freely and closed back without causing any damages unless you had laid tiles over them which will mean hacking will be needed.

    a manhole allows PUB or any authorised parties to access the sewer pipes so that pipe inspection could be done. IC connections are not done via the manhole.

    the IC in a house is the main connection point where all the sanitary pipes will connect to. If you have more than 1 IC in the house, there will be one last IC which will connect to the main public sewer pipe and all other ICs will connect to this last IC before discharge to the main public sewer pipe.

    Some old houses have shared last IC where 2 houses next to each other will share a common last IC to connect to the main public sewer (like in your case). If the house which is utilising the neighbour's IC undergoes redevelopment (as in your neighbour case now), the developer will need to create a new connection to the main public sewer and terminate the existing connection from the shared last IC. The connection to the main public sewer will be done in the new development and not via the neighbouring property. Unless you are so unlucky that the main public sewer does not run through your neighbour's property and only runs through your property then your neighbor's contractor will need to check the SIP on where the sewer pipe runs through and see if the connection can be done via public land behind the property.

    If you look at my drawing below, what could be the case is simply the contractor needs to open your manhole to do a pre-con CCTV survey now (and later a post-con CCTV survey). After their last IC is constructed, connected to the public sewer (NOT within your land) , your last IC will then need to be opened up so that the existing connection from the neighbour side to your last IC is terminated properly by pouring in concrete, etc to fill up the pipe.

    Again, IF you do not have tiles or any flooring sealing up the last IC and manhole in your house, there's NO need for the contractor to hack your floor at all to do their job.

    Before you jump into a fit and think of what you can demand on the contractor to fix your house, I would suggest you talk to the contractor and find out exactly what they need to do within your property. As I've mentioned, you have every right to deny them access to your house. The contractor will just have to find the next manhole to access to perform their CCTV survey and not bother you at all. However, as mentioned, if the termination is not done on your side, you may or may not be liable for your neighbour's property damage should the termination fail in future and your waste flows over to their side.

     

    2085591319_lastIC.png.a64d2d425894debbd6e5cd417516da79.png


  8. question is why is your manhole tiled over in the first place? the manhole doesn't belong to you even though it's in your property and anyone including PUB can request for access to the manhole for maintenance purpose. so if today the request if from PUB and not your neighbour's contractor, you would most likely need to hack the tiles to allow for the access to the manhole. On compensation, note again that the manhole and ICs should not be sealed up or tiled over since they are meant to be accessible. if you had chose to tile them over then it's your own fault for doing it in the first place. Imagine now your house has a sewage choke issue but because your IC and manhole is sealed up, you will be unable to open up either one to check and clear the choke.

    On your rights, owner consent will need to be obtained before any works can be done on your property. Since you are unlikely to grant consent, the contractor just have to suck thumb and find another manhole to access. I believe the contractor needs to access the manhole in your property mainly to do CCTV inspection of the sewer before construction begins. They will also need to do another CCTV inspection after the construction is completed as these CCTV footage needs to be submitted to PUB to show that nothing is damaged during the construction. Even if your neighbour is shifting or constructing a new IC, they can do the connection to the existing sewer on their side. the problem is the termination of the existing sewer connection from their side to your IC which in this case, will likely be only terminated on their side. However in the event of any chokes on your side in future and if the sewerage somehow goes through the termination point (failed), I do not know if you may be liable for any damages to their property since sewage will be flowing under their house due to the termination not being able to be done on your side.

    Even if you grant access for them to do the work, legally the contractor will only need to make good on what was damaged during the works. meaning if you want them to redo all the tiles for front and back yard, you need to negotiate with the contractor and pay them for the work and materials.


  9. according to BCA regulations, each residential flat unit is allowed to have only ONE loft per unit. since you already have one built by the developer, by right you cannot have another one built. Of cos you can always go by left instead and do what you want as long as you don't get caught.

    In any case, the minimum ceiling height required by BCA is 2.4m meaning your floor to bottom of loft must be at least 2.4m. Assuming your loft decking is 25cm thick, this will leave you 2m in height from the loft floor deck to the bottom of your actual ceiling.

    Even if you do not require authorities submissions for less than 5sqm loft, please still get a professional engineer to design the structure of the loft. Make sure you see the drawing plans signed off by a professional engineer with the registration number. You don't want to engage a contractor who alibaba the structure and then one day find the loft collapsing on you due to it not being designed properly.


  10. Nothing much you can do on your own about it unless you get the telcos to put an antenna on your roof.

    Mobile phone signals depends on the proximity to the cell station and if you're just nice on the boundary of the cell coverage, you will encounter poor receptions. You can always feedback to the telco which you're having issues with and see if they can sort it out.

    is the issue just with your phone or your family members as well? if just yourself, maybe try using another phone and test.


  11. 7 hours ago, Nomadicsettler said:

    Hi snoozee, besides DIP & SIP, as well as title  deed, are they any other information we should check on before considering purchasing a landed property please? Thanks for your kind advice. 

    since your intention is to buy a landed house and redevelop it, those information should be enough. But if the target house is located along a main road (meaning not nested within a landed estate), you may want to buy the road line plan from SLA as well to see if there's any restrictions. Some houses which are situated along the main road may also need to vest portion(s) of the land for road infrastructure like bus-stops or future widening.


  12. it is common for houses along a road to look the same since they are likely built by a developer.

    as long as the unit you are eyeing is a single landed title deed and not a deed where the land is shared among the houses along the street, you can do whatever you want with the building on your land. if the land title deed is shared, you may need to consult a lawyer or experts for more advice.

    with the shared roof, you can remove yours on your side and later on when you rebuilt the house, the neighbour roof is joined back to your house or just remained on their side but with proper water proofing done (at your cost). the shared car porch roof can also be demolished on your side. if there is no column to support their side of the car porch roof, you will likely need to see their permission to see how an additional column can be constructed to support their car porch roof on their side. again this is at your cost.

    For now, you should just get the property agent to check and confirm if the house is sitting on a single landed title deed by itself. the seller can download the information from SLA free of charge to proof it as well.

    after that, you can go to PUB website and purchase the SIP and DIP for the house to check if there's any public sewer running through the land and whether the land is subjected to drainage reserves as well. if there's sewer line running through the land, you may need to spend money to build a trench to protect the sewer when you rebuilt the house. any drainage reserves will mean you cannot built over that part of the land and it will need to be vested to the state for free as well.


  13. 18 minutes ago, Topline said:

    Thanks - I decided to ask him to use plaster to touch up the gap instead of silicon. Hope the contractor can do it. This main con also said that he will silicon the edges of my glass top stove mounted on my kitchen counter top. I have not really seen silicon so near to fire ... do you guys have the glass top stove siliconed around the edges too?

    if your down lights is using separate bulbs which can be removed without removing the whole enclosure then should be fine. else as mentioned, the plaster patch may break off in future when you need to change the downlight.

    I'm using ceramic cooker and I installed it myself without applying any silicone around the edges.  Not sure why you want to add silicone around the edges. if you're concerned about the heat affecting the silicone sealant, then ask the contractor to use high temperature silicone sealant instead.


  14. 1 hour ago, Topline said:

    Can I check if you guys encountered this… I’m installing ceiling down lights in living and bedroom and I can see gaps between the downlight and the false ceiling, probably cos the hole for the downlight wasn’t cut properly. The contractor said they will clean up by applying silicon around the downlight. Do u see that before? Want to know if that is usual.

    the workers messed up by cutting the hole in the ceiling board too big which is why there is a gap. by right the hole should be just big enough for the downlight to fit into it such that the frame of the light is covering the hole.

    silicone/culk is like a band-aid which will settle the issue now but when you need to replace the downlight, the silicone/caulk will likely come off so you will end up with the same problem unless silicone/caulk is applied again to fill the gap.

    stopping compound can be used to make the hole smaller but a proper backing needs to be added behind so that the stopping compound has something to adhere to. Of cos in future if the downlight is removed, this patched part may also break off and you're back to square one.

    more extreme solution is to cut out a bigger portion of the ceiling board and then replace it with a new piece of board and cut a new hole for the downlight. this new board should be secured at least on 2 ends with proper frame and screws to the rest of the ceiling board so that it will be stable. The downside is that if the ceiling board expands/contracts over time due to temperature change, you may end up seeing the seams of the replacement board due to the plaster cracking.

    Most extreme solution is just replace the entire big piece of ceiling board.

    of cos you can always change to another downlight with a bigger frame which can cover up the gap nicely.


  15. I've said before that installing PV (photovoltaic) panels is basically paying for the electricity cost for the next X number of years up front and I still stand by this view as the area that is possible to use for install of PV panels in a landed house is quite limited.

    Anyway I've just had my grid-tied PV installation commissioned last week and officially is generating electricity off my roof and exporting excess back to the grid.

    Here's some of the key takeaways in my PV installation journey.

    1. research, research and do more research, if you have the time and interest in it. Cos it's better to have some basic knowledge rather than relying on the contractor and believing everything they say.

    2. roof profile matters as well as the direction of your house's facing. it's best to have a relatively flat roof as PV panels will have the maximum efficiency when it's almost at full flat facing to the sky. But not to say that angled roofs cannot install panels as well but really depends on your house facing direction. Do note that due to rotation of the earth, the area where the sun hits your roof will shift a bit as well through the year. If your house is north south facing (this is commonly mentioned as the ideal facing due to wind direction), you will also be able to get full sun throughout the day since the run rises from the east and sets in the west. For my house, it is facing almost east west so there's a part of my roof which does not get sun in the afternoons due to the sun getting lower as it starts to set. However I also installed panels on that part of the sloping roof since it gets sun during the mornings and the early part of the afternoon. Same for my car porch roof which I installed panels as well which will get the sun only just after around noon. While efficiency for these panels which does not get full sun throughout the day is lesser, they still generate electricity at certain times of the day so these panels increased my PV array by another 30 percent which will translate to a faster ROI period. One contractor told me they don't bother to do on sloping roofs since the efficiency is bad but to me it don't make sense since the sloping roof still gets light. While this may be true as a single panel in the array can affect the entire array's performance, I'm the paymaster so I decide where I want to have the panels installed.

    3. Type of roof material matters. If you have a metal roof, it will be easier to install since the panels will be installed to a stainless steel structure which is clamped to your roof panels. But if you have tiled roof, then it will be more troublesome as drilling will be involved which is a potential for leaks. One neighbour had tiled roof and installed PV panels which led to leaks. End up they also had to replace the roof as well to sort out the leaks. For RC roof, the steel structure for the panels will need to be installed by drilling to your RC roof which will mean the waterproofing membrane will be broken and potentially lead to leaks in future.

    4. Get quotations from as many contractors as you can for price comparison and then do a research on the parts they propose for your installation. Different contractors will use different parts and the specifications and warranties also vary. The panels available in the market since late 2022 ranges from about 400Wp to 435Wp (size about 1.1m by 1.8m) depending on the brand and model. Panel technology is always evolving and back in 2017/2018, another member had a proposal for panels which generates about 260Wp for similar sized panels. With this said, one can see that the panels performance improved by about 60 percent (from 260Wp to about 420Wp) just in about 5 years. This will also imply that the ROI will be shorter since the panels can generate more electricity. Also panel manufacturers give power performance warranty as well as panel workmanship warranties for up to 30 years now. For PV inverters, I used Huawei's inverter which comes with a 10 years warranty. The funny thing is that one contractor only stated a 5 year warranty for the inverter in his proposal even though other contractors indicated 10 years for the same model inverter.

    5. If you're renovating/rebuilding your house now, I would suggest doing it together to avoid any inconvenience in future. If you're not sure if you want to do now but maybe in future, then provide for either the electrical conduits for pulling cables from your roof to the DB or install a 3 phase isolator (connected to DB) near your roof area and reserve a space for the PV inverter to be installed. This will avoid needing to drill holes in your house to pull cables. Also if you're doing it later, you will also need to pay for scaffoldings to be erected so that the panels and/or cabling can be installed. The scaffolding cost will be another few thousand dollars which can be saved if you're doing the panels when your house is undergoing construction since the scaffolding is already there.

    6. Authorities approvals. When doing grid-tied PV installation, SP Group will need to be informed and the normal electricity meter changed to a two way meter so that any electricity export can be tracked. The meter will cost $$$ so doing it during the construction phase if you're upgrading from single phase to 3 phase power will save you some money from needing to pay for the meter twice. Also the lead time for SP to install the meter and do inspection is also quite long (about 2 months from initial submission) so if you're going to do an add on of PV panels, tell and chase your contractor to submit it early. My project was delayed by months because the contractor failed to submit the paperwork to SP early even though I had kept mentioning many times that they need to do it early to reduce the delay and wait times. If your house is a 3.5 storey or 2.5 storey with mezzanine (aka, physically has 4 or more floors), then there is a need to inform SCDF as well for fire safety clearance. During construction, this will be done by your QP. But if you're doing PV panels afterwards, then either you need to find a QP or your contractor will charge you to do the submission for you. Please do not try to avoid doing this submission as there may be issues with insurance claims in the event something happens after you install the PV panels. Even if the cause is not due to the PV panels, the insurance company may refuse the claim since you have done modifications to your house without the approval of SCDF.

     

    • Like 2

  16. 1 hour ago, wildfaye29 said:

    Hi all, I intend to do a re-construct of my aged parents inter terrace and have some questions. Hope to get some insights here.

    Basic Info

    Land size 2000 sqft / Build-in - 1800 sqft (approx)

    Build year: 1990 - Bedok Planning area (URA states 2 storeys)

    Intended build: 3.5 storey (0.5 will be attic with partial open roof for bbq/washing clothes)  (not sure if 3.5 storey is allowed) - 3,000 to 3,500 sqft (not going for max envelop)

    Loan

    Pty is in my parents names (77 y.o.), hence I believe that it is not possible to obtain a construction loan even with my/wife name as co-borrower/guarantor. Please let me know if my understanding is incorrect. As such I intend to reconstruct using cash. However, if there is an avenue to go for a loan I will be most delighted.

    Cost of reconstruct

    I do not need an atas rebuild. I only require quality and long lasting materials. I read that current build cost is abt 400psf. How much is the variance for this cost?

    I also understand that I need various other fees such as Architect/QE/Surveyor/Fees to URA & BCA/Soil testing/Interior designer, etc.

    Is a combined 1.5m sufficient for inter terrace reconstruct?

    Who to approach for the job?

    Been trying to find online resources to provide a quotation for the job but all I see are Ads on builders.

    Should I start by looking for an architect? I dont feel comfortable to find a turn-key builder.

    Is there any reliable list of reconstruction people whom I can find information and reach out.

    Looking forward to reading your replies!

    Thanks in advance!

     

     

     

    look at your neighbours along your stretch who had rebuilt and see if they are rebuilt to 2.5 storey or 3.5 storey. but best is check URA master plan to confirm since houses on different sides of the road can be based on different zoning.

    if you checked URA master plan on landed residential zone and yours fall within 2 storey mixed landed, that means you can only built up to 2.5 storey. however based on envelope control, you can add in a mezzanine storey within hence making it a physical 4 storey building. with this said, a physical 4 storey building will mean you need to get SCDF fire clearance certificate as well for TOP.

    Whether can take loan or not you need to talk to a banker. Just send some enquiries to the banks and see which ones want to answer your queries. But before you can take up any loan, you are likely to need to have a quotation from a builder first since the loan quantum is based on the quotation.

    Today's cost for an inter-terrace rebuilt is about 1.6M based on my conversation with a contractor who is doing a project near my place.

    a simple way to look for architects/builders is to go ask your neighbours who had done rebuilt recently and get contacts. get a few architects contacts and then arrange for meetings to see which one you want to work with eventually. make sure the architect do a proper tender to invite builders to quote for your project.

     


  17. There is no ready made ones for landed house especially if it’s integrated with the meter box. You will need to get your contractor to customize the entire thing. 
    Easiest way for you is to just go to google maps street view for landed housing area and see which design you like. Then take photos or screenshots of those you like and talk to your contractor. 
    note that letter box need to adhere to certain height and dimensions as well so talk to your architect as well


  18. I suggest you remove the image of your project board for you own privacy.

    has your lawyer and/or architect provided you a solution on how to resolve the issue?

    I'm not sure when your project was first mooted and quoted for but I guess your contractor is also blindsided by COVID and the increase in construction costs and manpower issues.

    Not sure how much work had been done over the last 6 months but I estimate your project will take another 6 to 8 months or work before it can be fully completed. If you have already decided to change contractor, do check on whether your lift has been ordered from the supplier or not and if yes, you will need to take over that contract as well. If the lift has not been ordered then you will need to find another lift contractor who can supply the lift for you as well. The procurement of lift will take time as they are built to order so this is one of the first thing you should look into after changing the contractor. If your main roof is already completed then it's just working on the interior which will be easier and faster since you're no longer constraint by weather conditions.

    I guess you are not taking any bank loans to finance the construction as paying to another party other than the builder which the contract is signed with will raise a red flag with the bank's lawyers. In any case, I think it will be a good practice to pay only to the company which the contract is signed with and insist on a receipt of payment. Keep these records properly as well in case there is a need to use them one day.

    Don't believe what anyone tell you that you don't need to pay GST. Even though you don't see the GST component in your invoice, you are technically paying for GST in the amount already since your contractor is likely to be buying the supplies from a GST registered company hence GST is already paid. It's just that a non-GST registered entity cannot send you a TAX invoice with GST component and they cannot get GST refund from IRAS. eg: I buy a tin of paint which costs $10.80 from a hardware store which 80 cents is the GST. I resell the tin of paint to you at $12 and say no need GST since I'm not GST registered. But I'm technically making $1.20 from you as profit while you have indirectly paid for the GST to the original hardware store through my initial purchase.

    Hope you can get the whole situation resolved fast and maybe there could be a chance you can see the house being completed by end of 2023 and I can drive by and look at your beautiful house.

     


  19. My neighbour's house has been undergoing minor A&A for close to 2 years and house hasn't been handed over yet. Similar situation as yours on workers doing bits and pieces every few weeks.

    Unfortunately your best course of action is to find another builder to take over. While it will cost you more, continuing on with this contractor will cost you more money in terms of loans and IRAS property tax. IRAS property tax remission is only for 2 years and you will likely be forking a 5 digit sum in property tax due to the remission expiry.

    Since you have a proper contract signed with the builder, consult a lawyer on the contract terms and see if you can seek legal recourse over compensation for the delay. As to how to fire/discharge your existing contractor, this should be handled by your architect whom I presume is acting as your project manager as well. Just make sure all the relevant documentations are properly handed over by the contractor as there are quite a bit of submissions needed for TOP and I think every batch of concrete delivered to site needs a test report which needs to be submitted.

    I don't think any government agencies will be concerned about the contractor's practice and such unless he is working on government projects. For the workers staying on your site, legally you are the one allowing them to stay on site as if you go to MOM site, you can check the particulars on foreign workers staying on your site.

    I think the lesson learnt is that don't trust anyone's, even the architect's recommendations. There was a previous thread which is now deleted where there was some form of "collusion" between the architect and builder and it was quite problematic as well. Anyone who is building a new house should insist on the architect doing a proper tender process where multiple parties can bid for the project. In this way, the process is transparent and client can get the best deal as opposed to hearing someone saying "trust me, he is good".


  20. 2 hours ago, hermes76 said:

    Thanks much for the knowledge share... I suppose u in the building industry? And have projects near my area? Any comments on my house? 

    not in the construction industry. gained the knowledge when going through the process of my own house rebuilt.

    If the location is correct, then I had gone to that area several times so a bit familiar with the surroundings. Haven't seen your house yet so can't comment on it.


  21. 15 hours ago, hermes76 said:

    Thanks @snoozee

    So I can extend my wall at the boundary line, BUT the shelter has to setback 1m from that wall. 

    Yes, I'm the place in the east. 

    technically your wall can be built all the way to the boundary line. but your builder may set back by about 5cm from the boundary line just in case of construction errors so that the post construction survey will still show the wall within your boundary instead of over.

    the shelter roof edge must be at least 1m away from the boundary line. if your wall is set back 50cm from the boundary line, your shelter must still be 1m away from the boundary line meaning the gap between the edge of your shelter and the outside edge of the wall is just 50cm as opposed to 1m. the guideline reference is the boundary line and not where your wall is.

    i guess i know where your house is 😁


  22. 5 hours ago, hermes76 said:

    Hi, I have an enquiry here regarding rear shared boundary with a global school. 

    Referring to the pic, we have a shared slab of concrete, the boundary line is on the slab. My side is marked A. There's a drain just beyond the fence on side B. 

    I want to erect a wall where the canvas is with a sloping shelter to direct rainwater... 

    1. Can my shelter cross the boundary line? And I erect my wall up to the boundary line? 

    2. Can I do rectification works on the concrete slab? I'm thinking of adding an incline on the slab to direct water flow to the drain. 

    Thanks. 

    IMG_20230219_114432.jpg


     Since this is the boundary wall, your shelter should be set back at least 1m away from the boundary line. You CANNOT have your shelter protruding over your wall due to this set back requirement. 

    you cannot built over your boundary line as well since it is considered encroachment. If the government does a site survey in future, you will be asked to remove any encroachments and make good at your own cost as well  

    you can get your builder to add cement to create a slope on your side of the boundary line to help redirect the rain water. 
     

    btw, your place is somewhere in the east?

×