10 Things to Install Before Moving Into Your BTO

The things to install before moving into your BTO fall into a rough order, and getting that order wrong is what turns a tidy renovation into three rounds of touch-up paint. Aircon piping wants to go in before the false ceiling closes. Curtains want to go up after the dust settles. Window mesh sits near the end, but only because it's easy, not because it's optional.

What follows is the list most new owners end up assembling the hard way, sequenced the way trades actually work. A quick note on timing before we start: don't install anything until your 30-day defects reporting window is handled and rectification is done. Once you've hacked or drilled, HDB's contractor can fairly argue the damage was yours. Our BTO renovation timeline guide covers that first month in detail.

1. Aircon (do this early, or live with exposed trunking)

Aircon is first for one reason: the piping decides what the rest of your ceiling looks like. Refrigerant pipes and trunking need to be run before walls are boxed up and the false ceiling closes. Miss that window and your only option is surface trunking, which means a white plastic casing running across your wall for the next decade. (Lion City Aircon)

Most HDB owners put in two to four wall-mounted units on a multi-split system. Budget roughly $1,200 to $2,800 for units plus installation, with per-unit installation in the $120 to $400 range. (aircons.sg)

Book the aircon installer and your ID in the same conversation. When those two trades don't talk, someone pays for rework.

2. Electrical points and lighting

The most common regret among HDB renovators is not putting in enough power points. It is also the most expensive thing to fix later, because adding a socket after the fact means chasing new wiring through finished walls. (homegenie)

Rough numbers: lighting points run about $40 to $150 each, sockets $65 to $130 depending on whether the wiring is concealed or surface-mounted. Across a whole flat, electrical work usually lands at 10 to 15 percent of the renovation budget, or $3,000 to $5,500 for a typical 4-room. (homegenie)

All of it has to be done by a Licensed Electrical Worker. That's not an ID upsell, it's the Electricity Act.

Walk the empty flat with a floor plan and mark where you'll actually stand: bedside on both sides, either end of the sofa, the study desk, the kitchen counter where the airfryer will live. Add two more than feels reasonable.

3. Water heater

Your BTO comes with the point prepared but no heater fitted. Decide electric or gas early, because gas changes where things go.

In HDB flats a gas water heater has to sit in the kitchen or the service yard, so the exhaust flue isn't obstructed. City Energy quotes around $200 including GST for the additional plumbing on a new BTO, covering gas pipe plus hot and cold water points. Converting an existing electric unit to gas later runs closer to $660. (City Energy Life)

Installation needs a Licensed Gas Service Worker for gas, or a PUB licensed plumber and an LEW for electric. (Yeobuild HomeRepair)

4. Hob, hood, and the kitchen carpentry

Kitchen appliances get bought late and installed late, which is fine, but the cabinetry that holds them gets built early. Your carpenter needs the exact model dimensions before he cuts, not after.

Confirm your hob width, hood type (chimney, slimline, or downdraft), and whether you're going induction or gas before carpentry starts. Induction changes your electrical load and needs a dedicated point, which loops back to item 2.

5. Main door and gate

No permit is needed to replace the main entrance gate, provided the new one matches the original's width, panel count, and swing direction. If you're on a common corridor, you also need to keep at least 0.6m of clearance from the parapet wall when the gate is fully open. (HongRui Construction)

Two things people get wrong here. First, a digital lock on a fire-rated main door must itself be fire-rated with a valid Certificate of Conformity to SS 332 or EN 1634-1. This has been enforced since March 2024. Second, don't let anyone cut, weld, or drill your gate frame for a gate lock. Proper clamp or surface mounts leave no damage. (AN Digital Lock)

Plenty of owners install the digital lock during renovation rather than after, purely to hand contractors a temporary PIN instead of a spare key.

6. Window mesh

This is an item commonly skipped in the beginning and then bought within six months of moving in, usually after dealing with annoying insects and mosquitoes, or a close call with a pet jumping out the window.

The case for it is more concrete than "insects are annoying." In 2025, NEA carried out 565,730 inspections and found 20,469 mosquito breeding habitats, and within dengue cluster areas 65 percent of Aedes breeding sites were found inside homes rather than in public areas. Aedes will breed in a bottle cap's worth of water. (Pestopia) Living on the 14th floor doesn't help as much as people assume, since Singapore's high-rise density suits Aedes aegypti year-round. Then there are pigeons, a recurring HDB complaint serious enough that MND has fielded parliamentary questions on roosting at aircon ledges. (MND)

Mesh solves all of that while letting you keep the windows open, which in a Singapore flat is the difference between running the aircon every evening and not.

Looking at MeshMates, a Singapore retractable mesh specialist, the practical decisions come down to two: the frame and the mesh.

On frames, they run five models. Base is the entry option, rated to hold 20kg or more and built around a pinch lock with automatic retraction. Core sits mid-range, Pro handles longer window spans, Sleek is frameless for tight reveals, and there's a door variant. Across the range the load rating spans roughly 20 to 70kg depending on model, which is the number that matters if you have a cat that leans on things. All models include a built-in lock so the mesh stays shut, which is the point for households with young children.

On mesh, MeshMates lists five materials: fibreglass is the cheapest and gives a slight privacy effect; polyester is highly transparent with strong airflow and is their most popular pairing on the Base; stainless steel is corrosion-resistant and aimed at cats that scratch moderately; pet mesh is a scratch-resistant PVC-coated polyester for more active cats; and there's a sunshade or blackout fabric that can be used as an alternative for curtains.

Two details make mesh a genuinely late-stage item rather than something to schedule around. Installation is usually drill-free, and the whole job takes under 2 hours with a one day cure. And the process starts with a WhatsApp photo for a rough quote, then a site visit that's usually under 30 minutes for measurements and product demo.

Warranty is 1 year, covering manufacturing defects and installation workmanship but not impact damage or normal wear.

7. Window film

Same logic as mesh, same stage of the job. Installers ask you to wait until dusty work is finished and the glass has been properly cleaned, because dust contamination affects adhesion. Most HDB jobs are done in a single day, and non-reflective film under 20 percent reflectance needs no renovation permit.

If your flat faces west, do this before you move in rather than after your first hot afternoon.

8. Curtains and blinds

Custom curtains take 2 to 4 weeks to fabricate once measurements are confirmed, so order early even though installation happens last. Measure after carpentry and flooring are finished, since both can shift your final room dimensions by enough to matter on a floor-to-ceiling drop.

Sequence mesh and curtains in that order. Mesh tracks sit on the window frame, curtain tracks sit above and in front. Installing curtains first means the mesh installer works around fabric he'd rather not touch.

9. Laundry rack

The service yard gets ignored until the first wash cycle. Retractable racks are the usual pick in BTOs because the yards are narrow. Basic units start around $60 to $80, automated ones from about $499. Installation runs roughly $120 to $130 on a concrete ceiling, or $180 to $220 if it's going into a false ceiling. (Everyworks)

Go stainless steel or aluminium. A painted mild steel rack in a Singapore service yard will show rust well before you're done paying off the renovation.

10. Bathroom accessories and mirrors

Last, and genuinely last. Towel bars, robe hooks, toilet roll holders, mirrors, shower caddies. They drill into tile, so they wait until tiling is signed off and you've lived with the layout long enough to know where your hand actually reaches.

For new BTO flats, bathroom floor and wall tiles cannot be hacked for the first three years to protect the waterproofing warranty, so whatever you drill is what you're living with for a while. Mark positions in pencil, stand in the shower, adjust, then drill.

The order, condensed

Items 1 through 5 are wet and structural. They involve permits, licensed trades, and things buried behind walls. Get them wrong and fixing them is expensive.

Items 6 through 10 are surface fittings. Cheap by comparison, fast to install, and easy to postpone into "we'll do it after we move in," which is how people end up sleeping with the windows shut through their first dengue season.

One thing worth doing with your neighbours

The second half of this list are perfect for groupbuys: your entire block is buying the same things in the same two-month window. Everyone collects keys around the same time, everyone finishes ID work around the same time, and everyone reaches mesh, film, and curtains at roughly the same point.

That's the one moment where a group order actually works. Installers save on travel and setup when they do a whole block in a day, and that saving is real enough that vendors will price for it. If you're at Nanyang Opal in Jurong West, Tanjong Tree Residences @ Hougang in Hougang or Garden Waterfront @ Tengah, there are existing mesh campaigns for exactly this. We've written more on how estate group buys work.

Sources referenced: MeshMates (product range, mesh types, installation, process, warranty); MyNiceHome / HDB; MND written answer on pigeon roosting; Pestopia on NEA 2025 inspection figures; Lion City Aircon; aircons.sg; homegenie; City Energy Life; Yeobuild HomeRepair; HongRui Construction; AN Digital Lock; Stickyworks; Zenith Films; Apex Blinds; Everyworks; TwoThree.