What can you keep in an HDB corridor?

HDB corridor rules: what SCDF allows

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) sets out what may stay in a common corridor in its fire safety guidelines for residential estates. It can allow two kinds of items along common corridors: shoe racks and foldable clothing racks. Both come with conditions.

For a shoe rack, SCDF sets two conditions. The rack is only for keeping shoes, and a minimum clear escape passage of 1.2m must be kept, measured from the parapet wall to the rack. Before you buy a shoe rack, corridor width is the first thing to measure. The rule covers shoes only, so umbrellas, bags and boxes do not belong on it.

For a clothing rack, SCDF requires one that can be easily folded or removed in an emergency. The 1.2m clear passage applies to it as well.

Anything outside these two items, such as a cabinet, a bicycle or a stack of boxes, is not covered by SCDF's allowance. It must still leave the 1.2m passage clear and follow your Town Council's by-laws, so check with your Town Council before you place it.

Why 1.2m matters

SCDF's guidelines on the use of common areas in HDB estates, produced jointly with the Town Councils and the National Fire and Civil Emergency Preparedness Council (NFEC), explain why the width matters. An ambulance crew and a wheelchair user need at least 1.2m of clear width for access, and a constricted corridor obstructs emergency crew access.

Picture a stretcher being carried out of a flat, or a neighbour in a wheelchair leaving during an emergency. Each rack, pot or bag that sticks out narrows the path a little more, and the narrowest point decides whether they can get through.

Fire is the second reason. SCDF says there are hundreds of fires at common areas every year, and that obstructing common corridors and firefighting equipment, such as dry risers and hose reels, can seriously hamper firefighting and evacuation.

Plants, bulky items and the staircase

Plants depend on your estate. SCDF says potted plants may be placed only if the Town Council or Management Corporation allows them, and the corridor must still keep an unobstructed passage at least 1.2m wide throughout. So even a pot your estate allows cannot narrow the walkway at any point.

The staircase is stricter. SCDF says there must be strictly no placement or storage of objects at staircases and their immediate landing. It also rules out storage in dry or wet riser compartments and hose reel compartments, and says access to landing valves and breeching inlets must not be obstructed.

Corridor clutter tends to build up slowly: boxes after a move, an old mattress waiting to go, a broken chair. SCDF's fire safety at home leaflet asks residents to keep a clear passageway of at least 1.2m, to avoid discarding items along corridors, lift lobbies, escape passageways and staircases, and to call the Town Council to remove bulky objects.

Who makes the rules

SCDF notes that Town Councils, under the Town Councils Act, and Management Corporations, under the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act (BMSMA), are empowered to make by-laws to control and manage the use of common areas. That is why plants depend on where you live.

In an HDB estate, HDB says Town Councils are autonomous legal entities formed under the Town Councils Act. They control, manage, maintain and improve the common property of HDB residential flats, and that common property includes corridors, void decks, lifts and open spaces. Our guide to who maintains what in an HDB estate sets out who handles what.

For a condo, the Management Corporation makes the by-laws on common areas instead. Our guide to condo renovation rules is the place to start.

Your own main gate counts too. HDB's renovation guidelines for building works say the gate swing must not obstruct public escape. Units along a common corridor need at least 0.6m clearance from the gate to the corridor parapet when the gate opens perpendicular to it.

Corridor works and decorations

HDB lists painting external parts of the building, for example common corridor walls and ceilings, among disallowed building works, along with installing an awning or other fixtures outside the flat.

For festive decorations near your door, read our guide to festive lighting safety and keep the 1.2m passage clear while they are up. For the rest of your home, work through our home fire safety checklist. If you need help with a job inside your flat, find the right service to see which trade fits.

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