BCA CRS registration and builder licensing
BCA CRS registration for construction businesses in Singapore.
Need BCA CRS registration to hire foreign construction workers? Whether you are applying for your first workhead or adding another, Golden Archway manages the entire registration, from the eligibility assessment through submission and BCA's questions, so you can get back to running your projects.
Initial workhead from SGD 1,688 at Grade L1 or Single Grade. Each additional workhead SGD 688. Higher grades are quoted after the assessment. BCA's own registration fee is payable separately.
To hire foreign construction workers in Singapore, or to tender for public sector building work, your company must be registered with the Building and Construction Authority under the Contractors Registration System (CRS), in a workhead that matches what your business actually does. Since 1 June 2025 this applies to every firm hiring foreign construction workers, whether or not it bids for public projects: without CRS registration you cannot apply for new Work Permits or renew the ones your workers already hold. Registration also decides which sector you sit in for foreign worker quota, which is the difference between roughly one foreign worker for every two locals and five for every one. At the entry grade the minimums are modest: around SGD 50,000 in paid-up capital and net worth, the latest unaudited accounts, and qualified technical personnel. We assess your eligibility at no charge, recommend the right workhead, and manage the application through to the outcome.
Why construction companies contact us
The problem is rarely the form. It is everything around it.
You need to hire foreign construction workers
Since 1 June 2025, a firm that is not registered in the CRS cannot apply for new Work Permits, and cannot renew the passes of the workers it already has. For most contractors this is the whole reason they are reading this page.
You are not sure registration even applies to you
Air-conditioning, renovation, fit-out, electrical and mechanical firms are often surprised to learn they are treated as construction. We tell you where you stand before you spend anything.
You do not know which workhead to apply for
There are about 50 workheads across five groups. Choosing one that does not cover your real scope of work wastes the fee and the weeks, and can leave you registered for work you do not do.
Your company is new and has no track record
A newly incorporated firm can still be registered, on a probationary basis, if it meets the capital and personnel criteria. Most contractors do not know this option exists until someone points it out.
You cannot afford a delay
An incomplete submission means queries, resubmission and weeks you may not have when workers are waiting on passes or a project has already been awarded.
You want one person to own it
Documents, forms, personnel records, financials and BCA's follow-up questions, handled by one consultant, instead of landing on your project manager's desk.
If any of these sound like your situation, the eligibility assessment is free and takes one conversation.
End to end
How we take you from enquiry to outcome.
Eligibility assessment
Free, and honest. We look at your company, your activities, your people and your accounts, and tell you whether you qualify now or need to fix something first.
Workhead recommendation
We match what you actually build, install or maintain to the correct workhead and to a grade your financials can support, so the registration covers your real scope of work.
Document review
ACRA business profile, financial statements, personnel qualifications and employment records, contracts and completion certificates, all checked before anything is submitted.
Application preparation
Forms completed, track record evidenced and the financial and personnel criteria set out the way BCA expects to see them, not the way they happen to sit in your files.
Submission
Filed through BCA's online system, with the registration fee for each workhead you are applying for, and a record of exactly what went in.
BCA follow-up
If BCA raises queries or asks for further evidence, we answer them and keep you updated, rather than leaving you to chase an application you cannot see.
Application outcome
You are notified of the result. Once you are registered we can also handle renewal, upgrading and any additional workheads you add later.
We never promise an approval. That decision rests with the Building and Construction Authority. What we promise is a complete, well evidenced application and no silence while it is being assessed.
Why Golden Archway
Licence and pass, planned as one.
In construction, the Employment Pass salary is benchmarked to a sector that often pays modestly, so the licence and the pass have to be planned together. Few providers handle both well. We do, and we build the real substance that makes the whole case credible.
We work with construction firms every week, so we know what BCA is checking now, not what it checked two years ago, and we know which gaps quietly sink an application before anyone at BCA has read it.
More about how we work ›- Construction licensing specialists, not a general corporate agent
- Fixed professional fees, quoted before we start work
- A transparent process, with no add-ons appearing later
- One dedicated consultant from assessment through to outcome
- End-to-end management of the whole application
- Straight guidance before submission, including when to wait
- Updates throughout, while BCA has your file
Professional fees
What it costs, and what is included.
Our fee is fixed and quoted before we begin, so you know the number going in. It covers our work on the application: the assessment, the workhead strategy, the documents, the drafting, the submission and every reply to BCA until the outcome.
Two costs sit outside our fee. BCA charges its own registration fee for each workhead, which is set by BCA and paid to BCA. And if you do not yet have a Singapore company, or your intended technical personnel needs a recognised qualification, those are separate services: company incorporation and academic upgrading.
The SGD 1,688 fee is for registration at Grade L1 or Single Grade, which is where most firms start. If your goal is a higher grade, the work involved is greater and we will quote it once we have seen your financials and track record. Quoted fees exclude GST, and we will tell you the current BCA fee for your grade before you commit to anything.
Your first workhead at Grade L1, managed end to end.
- Free eligibility assessment
- Workhead and grade recommendation
- Full document review and preparation
- Application drafted and submitted
- Replies to BCA queries until the outcome
This fee covers registration at Grade L1 or Single Grade. Higher grades carry heavier financial, track record and personnel requirements, so they are quoted individually after the assessment. Each additional workhead applied for at the same time: SGD 688. BCA's own registration fee is payable separately, per workhead. Prices exclude GST.
Get a free eligibility assessmentBefore you enquire
Do I qualify for BCA CRS registration? +
Most active construction firms can qualify at the entry grade. BCA looks at four things: your financial standing, meaning paid-up capital and net worth, your track record in the specific workhead, your registered technical personnel, and workhead-specific requirements such as licences or certifications. If you fall short on one of them there is usually a route through it, including probationary registration for newer firms. The eligibility assessment is free and tells you exactly where you stand.
Can a newly incorporated company apply? +
Yes. A firm that cannot yet show the required track record can be registered in the CRS on a probationary basis, provided it meets the paid-up capital requirement of SGD 50,000 and the personnel and workhead-specific criteria. Probationary registration runs for one year, during which the firm needs to demonstrate around SGD 100,000 of relevant completed work. Meet that, and the registration continues for a further two years. It is available at the entry or single grade, and a firm that has used it cannot apply again within four years, so it is worth using at the right moment. This is one of the most useful and least known routes for new construction companies.
What documents will you need from me? +
In outline: your ACRA business profile, generated within one month of the application, your latest financial statements or management accounts, evidence of paid-up capital and net worth, the qualifications, employment records and salary details of your technical personnel, and your track record evidence, meaning letters of award, work orders or purchase orders together with completion certificates and proof of payment. We send you a tailored checklist after the assessment so you are not guessing.
How long does BCA CRS registration take? +
BCA indicates that an application containing all the required information and properly completed documents may be processed within about two weeks. Applications that need overseas verification, and applications for the higher grades, take longer. In practice the slow part is usually assembling documents, not BCA's assessment, which is exactly where having someone manage it saves you weeks.
My documents are incomplete. Can you still help? +
Usually, yes. Incomplete records are the normal starting point, not the exception. We tell you what is genuinely missing, what can be reconstructed from your own project files, and what has to be obtained from a client or a former employer. Where a gap cannot be closed yet, we say so plainly and recommend either waiting or applying on a probationary basis, rather than submitting something that will come back with queries.
Do I need a Technical Controller? +
It depends on which of the two things you are doing. A Technical Controller is a requirement of the builder's licence, the qualified person under whose supervision the building works are carried out. CRS registration has its own personnel requirement: registered technical personnel who are full-time employees with recognised qualifications relevant to the workhead. A Singaporean or PR technical employee must be paid at least SGD 2,400 a month, and foreign personnel need a valid work pass. Many firms need both, and often the same person can satisfy both roles if the qualification is right. If nobody in your company qualifies yet, we can arrange a relevant diploma through a recognised Singapore Private Education Institution as part of our academic upgrading service.
Need help with your BCA CRS registration?
Book a free eligibility assessment. We will tell you which workhead fits your business, what you are missing, and how long it should realistically take.
The complete guide
What is the BCA Contractors Registration System?
The Contractors Registration System, usually shortened to CRS, is Singapore's national registry of construction firms, maintained by the Building and Construction Authority. A firm registered in the CRS appears under one or more workheads, which describe the kind of work it does, and at a registration grade, which reflects its financial capacity and therefore the value of work it may tender for.
For most of its life the CRS did one job: it decided which contractors could tender for public sector construction projects. Government agencies call tenders against particular workheads and grades, and only firms registered accordingly could bid. That is still true. What changed in 2025 is that the registry became national in scope, so it now matters to a large number of private sector firms that will never bid for a government project in their lives.
There are around 50 workheads, spread across five groups, and each workhead has its own Specific Registration Requirements covering financial standing, track record, personnel and, in some cases, certification. The higher the grade, the higher the tendering limit, and the more demanding the requirements become.
Who needs BCA CRS registration?
Two groups of companies need it, and they overlap less than people assume.
The first is any firm that wants to tender for public sector construction work. That has always been the case, and the workhead and grade you hold determine which tenders you are eligible for.
The second, and now much larger, group is any firm that hires foreign construction workers. Since 1 June 2025, all firms hiring foreign construction workers need to be registered in the CRS, even if they have no intention of bidding for public sector tenders. If you employ Work Permit or S Pass holders in construction work, this is you.
The catch is that "construction work" is broader than many business owners think. Air-conditioning and ventilation, electrical installation, plumbing, renovation and fit-out, waterproofing, scaffolding, demolition and a long list of specialist trades all sit inside the CRS workhead structure. A firm that describes itself as a services or maintenance business can still be treated as construction for these purposes. If you are unsure which side of the line you are on, that is the first thing our assessment settles.
Registration requirements are set by BCA and change from time to time. We confirm the current position for your workhead before you apply.
Why some construction companies now require CRS registration.
On 1 June 2025 the Building and Construction Authority expanded the CRS into a nation-wide registry of construction firms. The practical effect is blunt: from that date, all firms that hire foreign construction workers need to register with the CRS, even if they do not intend to bid for public sector construction tenders.
The consequence of not registering, or of being deregistered, is not a fine. It is manpower. A firm that is not registered cannot hire new foreign construction workers and cannot renew the work passes of the foreign workers it already employs. The company can continue to operate in Singapore, but as each existing pass reaches its expiry date the workforce simply drains away.
That is why the timing matters more here than in most licensing exercises. If your workers' passes come up for renewal in three months and you have not started, you are already close to the edge. Registration is not something to attend to after the next project.
In short: no CRS registration means no new Work Permits for construction workers, and no renewals for the ones you already have. The company keeps trading; the workforce does not.
Government projects versus private construction work.
It helps to separate the two reasons for being in the CRS, because they lead to different decisions about grade.
If you are registering in order to tender for public sector projects, the grade matters enormously. Each grade carries a tendering limit, and government agencies call tenders against a specific workhead and grade. Registering at a grade below the work you want to win is pointless. Grades rise with paid-up capital, net worth, track record and, at the upper end, mandatory audited accounts and management certifications.
If you are registering in order to hire foreign construction workers for private sector work, the grade matters far less. What matters is being registered at all, in a workhead that genuinely describes your business. Many firms in this position register at the entry grade, where the financial thresholds are modest and audited accounts are not required, and simply maintain it.
Plenty of firms start in the second position and move to the first later, once the company has a few completed contracts behind it. Registering at the entry grade now does not prevent an upgrade later, and it starts the clock on the track record you will need.
| Tendering for public projects | Hiring foreign construction workers | |
|---|---|---|
| What decides your outcome | Workhead and grade, because the grade sets your tendering limit | Being registered at all, in a workhead that matches your actual work |
| Typical grade sought | Whatever grade covers the contract values you intend to bid for | The entry grade is usually sufficient |
| Audited accounts | Required above the entry grade | Not required at the entry grade; management accounts are accepted |
| Cost of getting it wrong | You are ineligible for the tenders you wanted | You cannot apply for or renew Work Permits |
Choosing the correct workhead.
This is the decision that most often goes wrong, and it goes wrong quietly. A workhead that does not describe your actual scope of work will either be questioned by BCA or, worse, granted, leaving you registered for something you do not do and unregistered for something you do.
The five groups are as follows.
| Group | What it covers | Grades |
|---|---|---|
| CW, Construction Workheads | Main contractor work: general building and civil engineering | C3, C2, C1, B2, B1, A2, A1 |
| CR, Construction-Related Workheads | Specialist works and services supporting the main contractor | Single Grade, L1 through L6 |
| ME, Mechanical and Electrical Workheads | Electrical, mechanical and building services installation, including air-conditioning, refrigeration and ventilation | L1 through L6 |
| TR, Trade Heads | Narrower trade scopes, generally used by sub-contractors | Single Grade |
| RW, Regulatory Workheads | Registration tied to specific regulated work | Generally not graded, though some RW workheads are banded |
Within those groups sit around 50 individual workheads: CW01 General Building and CW02 Civil Engineering under CW, specialist heads such as CR06 under CR, ME01 Air-Conditioning, Refrigeration and Ventilation Works and ME05 under ME, and a range of trade heads under TR. You register in the workhead or workheads that best describe your firm's main business activities, and you can hold more than one.
Holding more than one is common and often sensible, because a firm that installs and also maintains, or that does both electrical and mechanical work, needs each activity covered. It is also why we price additional workheads separately and modestly: applying for two at once costs far less than coming back for the second one next year.
Track record is assessed per workhead. Work completed under CR06 counts towards CR06, not towards ME05. Choosing the workhead therefore also decides which of your past projects you can use.
Grade L1: the entry-level requirements.
The Building and Construction Authority grades contractors by financial capacity. In the CR and ME groups the ladder runs from L1 at the entry level up to L6; in the CW group the equivalent entry grade is C3, rising through C2, C1, B2, B1, A2 to A1. For a new construction business in a CR or ME workhead, L1 is the starting point, and its bare minimums are achievable. As a guide:
| Requirement | Grade L1 |
|---|---|
| Paid-up capital | From SGD 50,000 |
| Net worth | At least SGD 50,000, which can be shown from the company bank statement for a Pte Ltd, or a personal account for a sole proprietor |
| Financial statements | Latest management accounts; audited accounts are not required at L1 |
| Technical personnel | A recognised diploma or higher in a relevant field, with relevant working experience. Full-time employment is required, and a Singaporean or PR technical employee must be paid at least SGD 2,400 a month |
| Track record | Around SGD 300,000 of completed projects in the specific workhead you are applying for. The track record must match the workhead: CR06 needs about SGD 300,000 of CR06 work, ME05 needs about SGD 300,000 of ME05 work, and so on |
If you cannot yet show the track record, the probationary route exists precisely for that. A firm with SGD 50,000 in paid-up capital that meets the personnel and workhead-specific requirements can be registered on a probationary basis for one year, and needs to demonstrate around SGD 100,000 of relevant completed work by the end of that year. Achieve it, and the registration runs on for a further two years, after which the usual track record over the preceding three years applies.
Three things worth knowing before you rely on it. Probationary registration is available at the entry or single grade, not at the higher grades. A firm that has used it cannot apply for probationary registration again within four years, so it is a route you get once. And firms already registered in the CRS are generally required to meet the current entry requirements for track record and paid-up capital at their next renewal rather than immediately.
Higher grades require larger capital, audited accounts and a stronger track record, and the top grades add management and safety certifications. We plan the grade that fits your goals.
The Technical Controller and your registered personnel.
Every licensed builder must appoint a Technical Controller: the qualified person under whose supervision the building works are carried out. What that person needs depends on which licence you hold, and the two are not the same.
For a General Builder Licence, the Technical Controller must hold a recognised degree or diploma in a relevant built-environment discipline, together with at least five years of relevant experience. BCA's recognised fields are architecture, civil or structural engineering, mechanical or electrical engineering, construction or project management, quantity surveying, building science, and facilities and estate management. There is also an alternative route through BCA's Essential Knowledge in Construction Regulations and Management for Licensed Builders course, which instead requires longer Singapore construction experience: ten years for GB1 and eight years for GB2.
For a Specialist Builder Licence, the bar is higher. The Technical Controller must hold a bachelor's or postgraduate degree in civil or structural engineering from a recognised institution. A diploma does not qualify for specialist works.
CRS registration has a parallel but separate personnel requirement. The technical personnel you put forward must be full-time employees of the firm, not consultants or part-timers, must hold qualifications recognised for the workhead you are applying in, and must be properly employed and paid: a Singaporean or PR technical employee needs a monthly salary of at least SGD 2,400, and foreign technical personnel need a valid work pass. At the upper grades, specific professional registrations and certifications come into play.
If you do not have a suitable person in-house, this is one of the first things we help you solve, because without it neither the licence nor the registration can proceed. Where the role suits a founder or a hire, we also align it with the Employment Pass so the same person strengthens both the licence and the pass. And if you do not yet hold a qualifying diploma yourself, we can arrange a relevant engineering diploma through a recognised Singapore Private Education Institution as part of our academic upgrading service, so you can meet the requirement.
Why a BCA licence matters: your foreign-worker quota.
For many trades the licence is not only about being allowed to tender; it decides how many foreign workers you can hire, and in construction, whether you can hire them at all. The Ministry of Manpower limits foreign Work Permit and S Pass holders relative to your local workforce, and the limit depends on which sector your company sits in.
| Services (no BCA registration) | Construction (with BCA registration) | |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign-worker limit | Work Permit and S Pass holders capped at 35% of your total workforce | Up to 5 Work Permit holders for every local employee earning the Local Qualifying Salary |
| In practice | Locals must make up about two-thirds of your headcount | Each local lets you hire up to 5 foreign workers, a 1:5 ratio (since January 2024) |
| S Pass sub-limit | 10% of your total workforce | 15% of your total workforce |
Take an air-conditioning business. Without a BCA licence it is treated as a Services company and capped at 35%, so you would need a large local headcount just to bring in the foreign technicians the work depends on. Registered with the BCA, for example at Grade L1 in workhead ME01, Air-Conditioning, Refrigeration and Ventilation Works, the same business is classified under Construction, where each local employee lets you hire up to five foreign workers. For a trade that runs on foreign tradesmen, that is the difference between staffing your projects and being throttled by quota.
One clarification on how the ceiling is counted: in both sectors it applies to Work Permit and S Pass holders together, not to Work Permits alone, and the S Pass sub-limit sits inside it. So a construction firm cannot fill its whole ceiling with S Pass holders.
Which locals count towards that calculation is set by the Local Qualifying Salary. From 1 July 2026 a local employee must be paid at least SGD 1,800 a month to count as a full head, and between SGD 900 and SGD 1,800 to count as half a head. Underpaying your local staff quietly shrinks the quota you are relying on.
There is now a further reason this is not optional: since 1 June 2025, a construction company must be registered in the BCA Contractors Registration System even to apply for or renew its workers' Work Permits. No registration, no work permits.
Sector classification is determined by MOM based on your activities and registration. We confirm how yours will be treated before you commit.
Documents required for a BCA CRS application.
The exact list depends on your workhead and the grade you are applying for, but almost every application draws on the same categories. Gathering these properly is the part that decides whether your application is processed in weeks or drags on through rounds of queries.
Company and corporate documents
- ACRA business profile, generated within one month of the application
- Evidence of paid-up capital as recorded with ACRA
- Details of shareholders, directors and the firm's business activities
Financial documents
- Latest audited financial report or accounts, not more than 12 months old, for grades above entry level
- Management accounts, which are accepted at the lower grades
- Bank statements or other evidence supporting the net worth position
Personnel documents
- Certificates and transcripts for each item of technical personnel qualification
- Proof of full-time employment, such as employment contracts and CPF or payroll records
- Salary evidence, given the SGD 2,400 monthly minimum for Singaporean and PR technical personnel
- Valid work passes for foreign technical personnel
- Professional registrations or certifications where the workhead or grade requires them
Track record documents
- Letter of award, work order or purchase order for each project claimed
- Substantial completion certificate or equivalent proof the work was completed
- Evidence of payment received, such as invoices and bank credits
- Confirmation that the work falls within the workhead you are applying for
This is an outline, not a submission checklist. After the eligibility assessment we send you a list built around your workhead, your grade and the records you actually have.
Step by step: how the application works.
From the outside a CRS application looks like a form. In practice it is a short sequence of decisions followed by a document exercise, and the document exercise is where the time goes.
| Stage | What happens | Typical timing |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Confirm eligibility | Check paid-up capital, net worth, personnel and track record against the specific registration requirements for your workhead | 1 to 3 days |
| 2. Choose workhead and grade | Match your actual scope of work to one of about 50 workheads, and to a grade your financials support | 1 to 3 days |
| 3. Gather documents | Corporate, financial, personnel and track record evidence assembled and checked | 1 to 3 weeks, usually the longest stage |
| 4. Prepare and submit | Application completed and submitted online to BCA, with the registration fee for each workhead | 2 to 5 days |
| 5. BCA assessment | BCA reviews the submission and may raise queries or request further evidence | About 2 weeks for a complete application |
| 6. Outcome | If approved, the firm is listed in the CRS under the workhead and grade granted | On approval |
Read that table honestly and one thing stands out: the only stage BCA controls is stage five. Everything before it is under your control, and it is where an application is won or lost.
How long BCA CRS registration takes.
BCA's guidance is that applications containing all the required information and duly completed documents may be processed within two weeks. Two categories take longer: applications requiring overseas verification, for example where qualifications or projects sit outside Singapore, and applications for the higher registration grades, which carry heavier assessment.
Add the document-gathering stage in front of that and a realistic end-to-end timeline for a well organised firm is around three to six weeks. For a firm whose records need reconstructing, it can be considerably longer, which is the single best argument for starting before your workers' passes come up for renewal.
Registration is granted for a fixed term rather than indefinitely, and needs to be renewed. BCA recommends submitting renewal applications around two months before expiry. A probationary registration runs for one year, and a firm that meets its track record condition then continues for a further two years.
Plan on about two weeks of BCA assessment for a complete application, plus the time it takes you to assemble documents. Start renewals about two months before your registration expires.
BCA registration fees.
BCA charges its own registration fee, payable per workhead, and it rises with the registration grade. These fees are separate from any professional fee you pay a consultant, and they are paid to BCA.
| Registration grade | Fee per workhead |
|---|---|
| Single Grade | SGD 562 |
| L1 and C3 | SGD 562 |
| L2 and C2 | SGD 688 |
| L3 and C1 | SGD 749 |
| L4 | SGD 935 |
| L5 and B2 | SGD 1,122 |
| B1 | SGD 1,497 |
| L6 and A2 | SGD 2,628 |
| A1 | SGD 4,492 |
Two caveats on that table. The Single Grade figure holds for most single-grade workheads, but not all: CR10A is charged at the L6 rate, and several Regulatory Workheads are priced differently again, some of them banded. And BCA's fees above are inclusive of GST, whereas our own professional fee is quoted exclusive of it.
Because the fee is charged per workhead, a firm registering in three workheads pays three fees. That is worth planning around: it is usually cheaper, in both BCA fees and professional fees, to identify every workhead you need at the outset than to add them one at a time over the following years.
Our own professional fee is SGD 1,688 for the initial workhead at Grade L1 or Single Grade, and SGD 688 for each additional workhead applied for at the same time, exclusive of GST and of the BCA fees above. Higher grades are quoted after the eligibility assessment.
Common reasons applications are delayed.
In our experience, very few CRS applications fail because the firm was unqualified. Most stall because something in the file did not stand up to inspection. These are the patterns we see repeatedly.
- Track record that does not match the workhead. Completed work counts towards the workhead it belongs to. Projects claimed under the wrong head are simply discounted, and the application falls short.
- Missing completion or payment evidence. An award letter alone does not prove a project was completed or paid for. BCA expects the full chain: award, completion, payment.
- Personnel who are not genuinely full-time. Consultants, part-timers and people on someone else's payroll do not satisfy the personnel requirement, however well qualified they are.
- Salary below the threshold. A Singaporean or PR technical employee paid under SGD 2,400 a month does not count for the purpose of the requirement.
- Stale corporate documents. The ACRA business profile must be generated within one month of the application. An older profile invites a query straight away.
- Financials that do not support the grade. Applying for a grade your paid-up capital and net worth do not reach means either a reduced grade or a rejection.
- Qualifications needing overseas verification. Legitimate, but slow. Build the extra time into your plan rather than discovering it halfway through.
- Applying too late. Starting when work passes are weeks from expiry leaves no room for a single round of queries.
Every one of these is avoidable before submission, which is the entire argument for a proper document review at the start.
Builder licences, and how they differ from CRS registration.
People use "BCA licence" loosely to mean two different things, and it is worth separating them because a firm often needs both.
A builder's licence, either a General Builder Licence or a Specialist Builder Licence, is a legal permission to carry out building works of a particular kind and value. It is where the Technical Controller requirement comes from. CRS registration is entry in the national registry of construction firms under a workhead and grade, and it is what governs public sector tendering and, since June 2025, the ability to hire and retain foreign construction workers.
Which of the two you need, or whether you need both, depends on the works you will carry out and their value. We assess your plans and advise on the correct path, then handle the company, the licence and the registration together. For a fuller treatment of the licence side, see our guide to the BCA builder licence.
Scope and pricing for builder licence work depend on your trade and grade. Speak to us.
What we help with
Company, licence and workhead.
- Incorporation of your construction company
- General Builder and Specialist Builder licence applications
- BCA CRS contractor registration and workhead selection
- Guidance on personnel, financial and track-record criteria
- Renewals, upgrading and additional workheads
- The Employment Pass, structured for the construction sector
Why do it with us
One team for licence and pass.
In construction, the Employment Pass salary is benchmarked to a sector that often pays modestly, so the licence and the pass have to be planned together. Few providers handle both well. We do, and we build the real substance that makes the whole case credible. For how the pass side works in detail, see our complete Employment Pass guide.
Employment Pass service ›Frequently asked questions
Which licence does my construction business need? +
It depends on the works you will carry out and their value. General building work and specialist work fall under different licences, and tendering for public projects needs contractor registration under the right workhead. We assess your plans and advise on the correct path.
Can you handle the company and the Employment Pass too? +
Yes. That is the point of doing it with us. We set up the company, plan the Employment Pass to fit the construction sector, and handle the BCA licence and registration together.
What is the minimum to register as a contractor at Grade L1? +
For the entry grade, L1, the typical minimums are paid-up capital of around SGD 50,000 and a net worth of around SGD 50,000, which can be shown from the company bank statement for a Pte Ltd or a personal account for a sole proprietor, plus the latest management accounts and qualified technical personnel. Exact figures depend on the workhead, and we confirm them before applying.
Do I need audited accounts for Grade L1? +
No. At Grade L1 the latest management accounts are accepted and audited accounts are not required. Higher grades do require audited accounts and a track record.
What qualifications does the Technical Controller need? +
It depends on the licence. For a General Builder Licence, a recognised degree or diploma in a relevant built-environment discipline, plus at least five years of relevant experience. BCA's recognised fields are architecture, civil or structural engineering, mechanical or electrical engineering, construction or project management, quantity surveying, building science, and facilities and estate management. An alternative route runs through BCA's Essential Knowledge course, requiring ten years of Singapore construction experience for GB1 or eight for GB2. For a Specialist Builder Licence, the Technical Controller needs a bachelor's or postgraduate degree in civil or structural engineering; a diploma does not qualify. If nobody in your company holds a suitable qualification, talk to us about the academic upgrading route.
How does a BCA licence affect my foreign worker quota? +
It can change which sector you sit in for foreign-worker limits. Without BCA registration, a construction-type business such as air-conditioning is often capped under the Services sector at 35% of the workforce, roughly one foreign worker for every two locals. Registered with the BCA under Construction, you can hire up to five Work Permit holders for every local employee. And since 1 June 2025, a construction company must be registered in BCA's Contractors Registration System even to apply for or renew Work Permits.
Can I register in more than one workhead? +
Yes, and many firms should. You register in the workhead or workheads that best describe your main business activities. BCA charges its registration fee per workhead, and track record is assessed per workhead, so it is usually cheaper and faster to identify everything you need at the outset than to add workheads one at a time. Our fee for each additional workhead applied for alongside the first is SGD 688.
How long does my CRS registration last, and how do I renew it? +
Registration is granted for a fixed term and must be renewed before it expires. BCA recommends submitting the renewal around two months ahead. A probationary registration runs for one year, and a firm that demonstrates the required track record within that year continues for a further two years. We handle renewals and upgrades for clients we have registered, and for firms who registered elsewhere.
Are these requirements fixed? +
No, the BCA updates its classes, workheads and criteria from time to time. We confirm the current requirements for your situation before we begin.
Build your construction business on solid ground.
Book a free eligibility assessment and we will map the company, the licence, the workhead and the pass together.