Street Works Act
(CHAPTER 320A)

(Original Enactment: Act 30 of 1995)

REVISED EDITION 1996
(30th April 1996)
An Act relating to the construction, improvement, repair, maintenance and management of streets and back-lanes and other matters connected therewith, and the prevention of obstruction of five-footways and private footways.
[11/2003 wef 01/08/2003]
[1st September 1995]
PART I
PRELIMINARY
Short title
1.  This Act may be cited as the Street Works Act.
Interpretation
2.  In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —
“accredited checker” means a person who is registered as an accredited checker under section 16 of the Building Control Act [Cap. 29];
“annual value” has the same meaning as in the Property Tax Act [Cap. 254];
“Authority” means the Land Transport Authority of Singapore established under the Land Transport Authority of Singapore Act [Cap. 158A];
“back-lane” includes —
(a)every existing back-lane and any part thereof and any approach thereto;
(b)all land already or hereafter acquired or set apart for or laid out as a back-lane; and
(c)all channels, drains and appurtenances of a back-lane;
“bridge” includes any flyover, overpass and viaduct;
“building” means any permanent or temporary building and includes any structure or erection of whatever kind or nature (whether permanent or temporary) and in particular —
(a)a wall (including a retaining wall), partition, gate, fence, paling, platform, staging, post, pillar, shoring, hoarding or frame;
(b)a slip, dock, wharf, pier, jetty, landing stage or bridge;
(c)a culvert, crossing, bridge, underpass or tunnel; or
(d)a sewage treatment plant, sewer, control centre, pump house, substation, drain, swimming pool or tank for the storage of any solid, liquid or gaseous matter;
“Building Authority” means the Building Authority appointed under section 3 of the Building Control Act [Cap. 29];
“Chief Executive” means the Chief Executive of the Authority;
“competent authority” means any competent authority appointed under section 5 of the Planning Act 1998;
[3/98 wef 01/04/1998]
“dwelling-house” includes a building or tenement wholly or principally used, constructed or adapted for use for human habitation;
“footway” includes any footpath, verandah-way, open or covered walkway, pedestrian mall, plaza, square, and other related structures and facilities;
“holding” means any piece or parcel of land held or possessed under an instrument of title, capable of being registered under the Registration of Deeds Act [Cap. 269], or where applicable under the Land Titles Act [Cap. 157], relating exclusively thereto;
“house” includes any dwelling-house, warehouse, office, shop, school and any other building in which persons are employed;
“key structural elements” means culverts, retaining walls, bridges and such other parts of a street which are essential for the stability or safety of the street;
“occupier”, in relation to any premises, means the person in occupation of the premises or having the charge, management or control thereof either on his own account or as agent of another person, but does not include a lodger;
“owner”, in relation to any premises, means the person for the time being receiving the rent of the premises whether on his own account or as agent or trustee for any other person or as receiver or who would receive the rent if the premises were let to a tenant, and includes the person whose name is entered in the Valuation List prepared under section 10 of the Property Tax Act [Cap. 254];
[11/2003 wef 01/08/2003]
“premises” includes buildings, lands, easements and hereditaments of any tenure;
“private footway” means any footway that is not vested in the Government and that —
(a)is intended pursuant to a planning or conservation permission granted by the competent authority under the Planning Act [Cap. 232] to be used mainly for the movement or passage of people on foot, and is used or intended to be used —
(i)as a link either underground or at the second or upper storey level between 2 developments across their common boundary;
(ii)as a link either underground or at the second or upper storey level between a development and a station of the rapid transit system, a bus terminal or a bus interchange; or
(iii)as a link over or underneath a public street between 2 developments or parts of the same development;
(b)is connected to a station of the rapid transit system, a bus terminal or a bus interchange and is used or intended to be used as a means of access between such station, bus terminal or bus interchange and a public street;
(c)is on a bridge or underpass directly connected to and is over or underneath a public street; or
(d)is located in a single holding and fronting, adjoining or abutting a public street;
[11/2003 wef 01/08/2003]
“private street” means any street not being a public street;
“public bridge” means a bridge which carries a public street;
“public street” means any street over which the public has a right of way and which has become vested in the Government under this Act or the repealed Act, or in any other manner;
[11/2003 wef 01/08/2003]
“repealed Act” means the repealed Local Government Integration Act [Cap. 166, 1985 Ed];
“road related facility” includes any traffic sign, directional sign, street name sign, traffic light, bus shelter, place for the parking of bicycles, power-assisted bicycles or personal mobility devices, railing, lighting apparatus and any optical, electronic, communication, monitoring or computerised equipment necessary for the control and management of traffic, and any other road related structure and facility maintained by the Authority;
[11/2003 wef 01/08/2003]
[Act 3 of 2017 wef 20/06/2017]
“road structure” includes any bridge, underpass, tunnel, earth retaining wall and ancillary buildings;
[11/2003 wef 01/08/2003]
“street” includes —
(a)any road, bridge, underpass, tunnel, square, path, footway or passage, whether a thoroughfare or not, over which the public has a right of way; and
[Act 3 of 2017 wef 20/06/2017]
(b)any road, path, footway or passage, open court or open alley, used or intended to be used as a means of access to two or more holdings, whether the public has a right of way thereover or not,
[Act 3 of 2017 wef 20/06/2017]
and all channels, drains, ditches and reserves that are deemed to be part of the street;
“street works” includes works of levelling, paving, metalling, flagging, kerbing, channelling, draining, lighting, laying of cables and mains and other utility services and otherwise the making good of a street or part of the street;
“tunnel” means a tunnel which carries a public street or utilities;
“utilities” includes water pipes, gas pipes, sewer pipes, drainage facilities, electricity cables, telecommunication cables and any other pipes, cables and their related apparatuses;
“utility works” includes works of —
(a)breaking up or opening a street for the laying, repairing, adjusting, altering or removing of utilities or for the examining of sub-soil condition or existing utilities; and
(b)tunnelling, boring under a street or any other construction method which does not require the opening up of a street.
Exemption
3.  The Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, exempt any area or place from the operation of this Act or any provision thereof.
Authority to manage, maintain and repair public streets and administer this Act
4.—(1)  The Authority shall be responsible for the management, maintenance and repair of all public streets, including the footways and road related facilities thereof, and for the general administration of this Act.
(2)  The Authority may, subject to such conditions or restrictions as it thinks fit, appoint public officers and officers employed by other statutory bodies to carry out any of its powers, functions and duties under this Act.