What You Can (and Cannot) Do With Your HDB Toilets During Renovations

Everything you need to know.

For such a small area, the toilet is one of the most important and practical spaces in the home. And, to the surprise of many homeowners, it’s also a place that can cause a fair amount of renovation-related confusion.

That’s because HDB toilet renovations come with a set of strict rules and regulations, which aren’t always obvious until you start planning in detail (or get an interior designer’s help with). So, before making any big decisions, here’s a clearer look at what HDB does and doesn’t allow for your toilet renovation:

Things that you CAN do with your HDB toilet:

1. Shift the sink out of the toilet

We get it, HDB toilets are small, which is why you see many homeowners these days choosing to shift the sink out of their toilets.

Aside from freeing up space inside, it also makes daily routines much easier; for example, one person could be inside showering while the other is brushing their teeth outside.

Note: while doing this is allowed, it must be done so in a way that prevents the floor slab from being damaged or tampered with in any way.

2. Extending the overall toilet using space from the adjacent room (e.g. bedrooms)

Another way you can create more room within your toilets is to extend the overall space, using an adjacent space like a bedroom.

In this corridor-less 5-room BTO flat, the homeowners even used part of the hallway to expand their toilets, giving them a more spacious layout that allowed them to accommodate a full-length storage shelf and a his-and-hers sink setup.

Going down this route will definitely involve wall hacking and alterations, so be sure that you/your interior designer gets HDB approval before proceeding.

3. Merging two toilets into one

If your HDB flat layout includes toilets that sit side by side, you might have wondered if they can be combined into one bigger bathroom. Well, you’re not alone – because it’s a question that has popped up on Reddit, too

There is, of course, a clear appeal: you get an overall larger toilet space that gives you more breathing room. The downside is that you’ll be left with only one usable toilet, so this may work better for smaller households like DINKs and singles rather than families.

4. Concealing pipes

Unless you’re into ‘rawer’ interior design styles like industrial or wabi-sabi, you likely won’t find the exposed toilet pipes the prettiest thing to look at. So, it’s understandable if you want to conceal them as much as possible.

If you decide to do this, note that you’ll still need to leave an access opening of 600mm by 600mm. This is so that the pipes can be easily reached for maintenance or repair work when needed; the last thing you want is to hack through everything just to deal with a leak or blockage later on!

5. Installing a bathtub

Despite them taking up a significant amount of floor space, bathtubs aren’t unheard of in HDB toilets. If you’re planning to get one, be sure it follows the required conditions.

The important thing to remember? You can’t extend the toilet just to fit a bathtub. That means it has to work within the original bathroom area – likely because it’s a fixture that has to be contained within the designated ‘wet’ area.

You’ll also need to make sure that the space underneath the tub remains accessible for inspection and drainage purposes.

Things that you CANNOT do with your HDB toilet:

1. Shift the wet area of your toilet

Every HDB toilet comes with a designated wet area, which is planned around waterproofing and drainage for water-heavy activities like showering. Because of this, it’s not something you can shift around wherever you like, even if you’re changing up the layout.

Doing so (which is illegal, may we add) increases the risk of water seepage, especially if water flows into areas that weren’t designed to handle it. And if leaks happen, you’ll likely be responsible for rectifying the issue (and dealing with one very unhappy neighbour below you).

2. Hacking your BTO toilet tiles within the first 3 years

For BTO homeowners, the original toilet tiles for both your walls and floors are something you’ll have to live with for a while – because newly-built HDB flats have a 3-year restriction period for removals to protect the waterproofing layer.

Breaking this rule means foregoing your BTO warranty, which means you won’t be able to ask HDB for help in the event of future leaks or damage to the waterproofing layer.

If you really want to change up the look, consider overlaying the original tiles with the finishes of your choice instead.

3. Custom-building a Jacuzzi or hot tub in your toilet

We know, we know – who has the space for a jacuzzi or hot tub in a HDB toilet? Still, we thought it was worth mentioning, since HDB does have guidelines for ‘spa pools’ (which basically refers to a jacuzzi/hot tub fixture with motors/water jet functions).

This is different from a standard bathtub, which comes with its own set of conditions which we’ve already highlighted above.

The main thing to note is that if you’re planning anything beyond a regular bath setup, you can’t custom build it using bricks or hollow blocks. A spa pool has to be bought ready-made, installed within the original toilet area, and kept within a weight limit of 400kg (covering the tub, motor, and accessories).