01 Sept 2026
You have a dripping tap, a heater to change or a floor trap that will not clear, and you are deciding whether this needs a plumber or whether a handyman will do. The answer depends on the job rather than the job title.
Singapore has a licensing regime, and it does not cover everything
Water supply and sanitation here are regulated, and PUB, the national water agency, licenses plumbers. Certain categories of water and sanitary work must be carried out by a PUB Licensed Plumber, and some involve a submission to PUB that only a licensed plumber can make.
Broadly, the regime concerns the water service installation, meaning the supply pipework connecting a premises to the public water supply, and work touching the public sewerage system. It protects the public supply and sewer, not the question of who may change a washer.
Where a particular job falls is not always obvious from the customer's side, and not something to take a contractor's word for. If yours involves altering supply pipework, the water meter, a new connection, or anything tying into the public sewer, check with PUB, the authority on their own rules. Nobody should hand you a definitive list, us included.
Separately, work in an HDB block or a condominium usually brings its own approvals from the town council or the MCST, particularly in common areas or where waterproofing is involved.
Where a handyman is genuinely fine
Plenty of household water jobs are not licensed work and need no specialist: fitting a shower head, cleaning a tap aerator, replacing a toilet seat, rinsing a floor trap grating, renewing a bead of silicone. If nobody is opening a pressurised pipe and nothing is hidden behind a wall, competent hands are competent hands.
The rule of thumb: if the worst realistic outcome is that it still drips, it is a small job. If the worst realistic outcome is water in the home below, it is not.
Where it goes wrong
The failures we get called out to are rarely spectacular. They are ordinary work done slightly wrong, which is worse, because it holds until everyone has gone home.
- A compression fitting overtightened until the olive deforms, sealing for a week and then weeping
- A pan or a trap refitted without renewing the seal, because the old one looked fine
- Silicone used as the seal rather than the finish, hiding a leak instead of stopping one
- A storage heater hung from a bracket nobody assessed for the weight of a full tank
- Waterproofing punctured while fixing something down, surfacing later as a stain downstairs
- Nothing tested afterwards, because testing means waiting, and waiting is not billable
That is the common thread. A proper job ends with the water back on, the fitting under pressure, and somebody watching.
Insurance is the part nobody asks about
If water escapes because work was done badly, somebody pays for the damage, and not only for your own floor. In stacked housing a leak becomes your neighbour's ceiling and then their contents. An insured contractor carries public liability cover for that. An uninsured one does not, and the bill lands on whoever engaged them.
What to ask before you hire anyone
Ask these of a handyman, of a plumbing company, and of us. Anyone irritated by them has told you something.
- Does this job need a licensed trade? If it touches supply pipework, the meter or the public sewer, ask whether it needs a PUB Licensed Plumber, and ask them plainly whether they hold that licence.
- Are you insured, and for what? Public liability is the cover that matters once water reaches a neighbour.
- Will you quote before you start, and do you guarantee the work? A price agreed on site prevents most disputes, and a guarantee tells you what happens if the fault returns.
- Will I get an invoice with a business name and a UEN on it? Without one you have no record and no recourse.
- Who does the electrical side? If a water heater is involved, the electrical connection must be carried out by a Licensed Electrical Worker, a separate qualification from plumbing. Ask who is really doing that half.
- Will you show me it working before you leave? The answer should be an immediate yes.
Ask us the same set. Our plumbers are qualified and insured, we work islandwide, our UEN is on every invoice, our work carries a 30-day workmanship warranty, and where a job needs a Licensed Electrical Worker we bring one in rather than doing that part ourselves. Work that needs a PUB Licensed Plumber is carried out by one of the PUB Licensed Plumbers on our team. It costs more, and we tell you the price before we start. You can also ask for a licensed plumber on any job. Our emergency plumbing page covers the urgent end of what we do, and our FAQ page has more short answers.
When to call a plumber
Call a plumber when the job means opening a pressurised pipe, anything concealed in a wall, floor or ceiling, a water heater, a choke that has not moved, or any fault where a mistake would put water into a neighbour's home. Call a handyman for the small cosmetic end and you will usually be fine. When you cannot tell which you have, describe it and ask.