Environmental Public Health (Cemeteries) Regulations

Environmental Public Health Act

(Chapter 95, Section 114)

Rg 9

REVISED EDITION 1990

(25th March 1992)

[1st June 1978]

Citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Environmental Public Health (Cemeteries) Regulations.

Definitions

2. In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires —

“ashes” means the cremated remains of a corpse;

“caretaker” means a person appointed by the owner of a private cemetery to take charge of the cemetery;

“cemetery” means a place of burial maintained by the Government or otherwise and includes every part of those premises in which such place is located;

“corpse” means a dead human body or its remains whether decomposed or otherwise, but does not include ashes;

“grave plot” means the area occupied by a grave and includes any tombstone or monument erected on or over it;

“owner of a private cemetery” means the person who is registered as the owner of the cemetery under the Registration of Deeds Act [Cap. 269] and includes any other person who manages or maintains the cemetery;

“public health officer” includes a superintendent of cemeteries and crematoria in the service of the Government.

Permit for burial

3. No corpse shall be buried unless a permit for the burial of such corpse has been issued by the Commissioner of Public Health and the death has been registered under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act [Cap. 267].

Period of burial

3A. Except as otherwise determined by the Commissioner, a permit issued under regulation 3 on or after 1st November 1998 shall permit a corpse to be buried in any cemetery for a period of 15 years.

[S 509/98 wef 01/11/1998]

Application to bury corpse

4.—(1) An application for a permit to bury a corpse and the permit to bury a corpse shall be in such form as the Commissioner may require;

[S 471/91 wef 01/12/1991]

[S 312/96 wef 01/08/1996]

(2) The application shall be made by —

(a)	an executor of the estate of the deceased person or the nearest surviving relative of the deceased person;
(b)	a person who is duly authorised to do so by any person referred to in sub-paragraph (a); or
(c)	any other person who has given sufficient reason to the Commissioner as to why the application is not being made by any of the persons referred to in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b).

(3) [Deleted by S 471/91 wef 01/12/1991]

Where permit to bury not required

5. A permit to bury a corpse shall not be required under regulation 3 if —

(a)	a Coroner has issued an order for or authorised such burial under section 274 or 275 of the Criminal Procedure Code; or
(b)	the corpse is that of a person who died outside Singapore and a certificate certifying the cause of death of the person has been issued by a competent authority of the country in which the death occurred.

6.—(1) A register of burials shall be kept in safe custody in every cemetery.

(2) The register of burials shall be in such form as the Commissioner may require and shall be kept up to date.

(3) The following particulars shall be recorded in the register of burials:

(a)	the serial number of each burial in the cemetery in which the register of burials is kept under this regulation;
(b)	the date of the burial;
(c)	the name, identity card, passport or birth certificate number, address, occupation, age, sex and marital status of the deceased person;
(d)	the date of his death;
(e)	where an application for the burial is made under regulation 4, the name, identity card or passport number and address of the person who applied for such burial; and
(f)	except where a Coroner has issued an order for or authorised the burial under section 274 or 275 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the registration number of the death certificate of the deceased person and, where the death certificate is issued in a foreign country, the name of that country.

(4) The particulars in respect of a burial shall be recorded under paragraph (3) immediately after the burial.

(5) A permit issued under regulation 3, an application made under regulation 4 and the particulars specified in paragraph (3) shall be preserved for a period of 5 years from the date of the burial to which they relate.

Depth of grave

7. No grave shall be less than 1.8 metres below the general surface of the ground.

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