RCCB Requirement

Enhancing Electrical Safety in all Households

From 1 July 2023, all residential premises will be required to have a Residual Current Circuit Breaker (RCCB) installed. This is to enhance electrical safety in all households. Homeowners will be given a grace period of two years, till 1 July 2025, to install an RCCB.

What is an RCCB?

The RCCB is an electrical safety device that cuts off electricity supply immediately upon the detection of current leakages that may lead to an electric shock. Current leakages can be caused by factors such as ageing or exposed wires, faulty electrical appliances, and damaged insulation.

Homeowners with an Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker (ELCB) do not need to change it. Both the RCCB and ELCB are electrical safety devices that cut off the electricity supply immediately upon detecting leakages that may result in an electric shock.

Homeowners with RCCBs or ELCBs are advised to test that their circuit breaker is in working condition to ensure that the circuit breaker is functional and protects all electrical circuits in the home.

Follow these 3 simple steps to test your RCCB or ELCB by referring to this Leaflet or Poster (English, Chinese, Malay, Tamil).

How do households install an RCCB?

HDB will be writing to HDB homeowners whose flats were completed in and before 1985 and do not have an RCCB installed, to share more information on the RCCB Installation Assistance Programme. More details of the subsidies are found in the media release here.

For other homeowners, including private residences, they can engage a Licensed Electrical Worker via www.go.gov.sg/rccb-lew to check the working condition of their RCCB and install a new one if necessary.

Why is the RCCB a requirement for all households?

Since July 1985, all new electrical installations including those in new homes built have been required to have an RCCB installed. Over the years, most residential premises would have undergone renovations, and had new electrical circuits and an RCCB installed.

Residential premises built before July 1985 and have not undergone any substantive renovation, electrical rewiring or upgrading work may not have installed an RCCB. To enhance electrical safety for these premises, it is necessary to introduce this requirement for all residential premises to install an RCCB.

How will the RCCB requirement be enforced?

All residential premises will be given a grace period of two years from the effective date of the requirement, 1 July 2023, to install a RCCB. EMA or its appointed agent will conduct random enforcement checks after the 2-year grace period, focusing on pre-1985 HDB flats and private residential premises.

Any residential premise found without an RCCB will be issued a written warning and would be given 8 weeks to install an RCCB. The penalty for non-compliance is a fine of up to $5,000 under the Electricity (Electrical Installations) Regulations.