Certificate of final approval
An official certificate confirming that a completed building matches its building permit and approved plans. The DLS needs it before it issues separate title deeds.
Updated 12 Oct 2026How it works
The certificate is issued under section 10 of the Streets and Buildings Regulation Law, Cap. 96, which calls it a "certificate of approval". It confirms that a completed building was constructed in line with its building permit and the approved drawings.
When the works are finished, the owner, in practice usually the developer, applies to the building authority with the certifications of the architect or engineer who supervised the construction. Since the local government reform of 1 July 2024, the building authority is the District Local Government Organisation (EOA) of the district, and applications go through the online IPPODAMOS system. The EOA inspects the building before it issues the certificate.
Why it matters when you buy
The certificate is the last step of the licensing process and a precondition for separate title deeds: the Department of Lands and Surveys does not issue titles for the units of a building without it.
It is often delayed by works that differ from the permits, such as an extra room, an enclosed veranda, or a building that exceeds its permitted density or coverage. The Ministry of the Interior's planning amnesty, open from 23 September 2024 to 23 June 2025, let owners legalise minor deviations of this kind. The applications went to the EOAs for review, on the way to final approval and title deeds.
Works that were never finished, or architects and engineers who will not sign off because the developer has not paid them, can also hold up the certificate, and with it the titles of every buyer in the project.