The Answer in 60 Seconds Per the BCA Builders Licensing Scheme page, the BLS itself does not mandate specific insurance policies as a licence condition. It mandates paid-up capital ("Class 1 General Builder: not less than $300,000 / Class 2 General Builder or Specialist Builder: not less than $25,000"), an Approved Person, a Technical Controller, and compliance with the Building Control Act. Insurance comes from other obligations: WICA from MOM, and project CAR/PL from your main-contract terms.

The Sourced Detail

The BLS was introduced in 2009 under the Building Control (Amendment) Act 2007 to license builders carrying out construction works requiring approval by the Commissioner of Building Control. Per the BCA BLS page, the scheme exists to ensure that builders meet minimum financial and technical requirements to carry out construction works safely.

Two licence types, three scopes

Per the BLS Simplified Guide PDF:

  • General Builder Class 1 (GB1): undertake general building works of any value. General builders of either class may also carry out minor specialist building works, and, on a project that does not need checks by an Accredited Checker, any of the six specialist works
  • General Builder Class 2 (GB2) - restricted to projects valued at S$6 million or less
  • Specialist Builder (SB) - for builders undertaking any of six specialist building works: piling; ground support and stabilization; instrumentation and monitoring; structural steelwork; precast concrete work; in-situ post-tensioning work

Financial requirements (paid-up capital)

Per the BCA BLS page: "Minimum paid-up capital (corporations only): Class 1 General Builder: not less than $300,000 / Class 2 General Builder or Specialist Builder: not less than $25,000."

Sole proprietors, partnerships and LLPs are eligible only for GB2.

Personnel requirements

Per the BCA BLS page, every licensed builder must appoint:

  • An Approved Person (AP) : takes charge and directs the management of building works. Must be a sole-proprietor, partner, director or member of the board of management.
  • A Technical Controller (TC) : personally supervises execution and performance of building works. For Specialist Builders, the TC must hold a civil or structural engineering degree from a recognised institution.

Per the BLS FAQs PDF, a TC cannot supervise multiple firms - only one firm at a time.

Licence fees and validity

Per the BCA BLS page: GB1 fee S$1,800; GB2 S$1,200; Specialist Builder S$1,500. All licences valid up to 3 years. Per the BLS FAQs, a late fee of S$100 per licence applies if the renewal application is received within 1 month before the licence expires.

Where insurance enters the picture

The BLS does not, on its own, require WICA, PL, or CAR. But three real-world layers stack on top of the licence:

Layer 1 - WICA (statutory, regardless of BLS). Per MOM's WIC insurance page, every employer must insure all employees doing manual work, and all employees whose salary, not counting overtime, bonuses, the annual wage supplement, incentive payments and allowances, is S$2,600 a month or less, under a WIC policy from a MOM-designated insurer. From 1 November 2025, limits rose to S$269,000 (death), S$346,000 (permanent incapacity), and S$53,000 (medical expenses).

Layer 2 - Principal's secondary liability under Section 13 of WICA 2019. Section 13 of the Work Injury Compensation Act 2019 lets the Commissioner direct a principal to fulfil an employer's obligations under the Act for an employee of a contractor that the principal engaged, in the course of its trade or business, to carry out work the principal had undertaken, where the accident happens at a place where the principal has undertaken to execute work or that is under the principal's control or management. The Act does not limit this to cases where the contractor is uninsured or insolvent. A principal who pays is entitled to be indemnified by the worker's employer.

If you are a GB1 main contractor and your specialist subcontractor's worker is uninsured, you may bear the WICA liability. MOM's guidance is that a principal must insure its own liabilities under its own WIC policy, not under its contractor's policy; that each sub-contractor must buy WIC insurance for its own employees; and that main contractors and developers should not buy or renew project WIC policies (since 1 September 2020). Insurance for common law liabilities can be bought separately and is not governed by WICA.

Layer 3 - Contractors All Risk (CAR) and Public Liability - driven by tender and contract terms. On public-sector projects, the PSSCOC requires the contractor to insure the works in the joint names of the employer and the contractor for not less than the contract sum, to carry third-party liability insurance at the limits the contract sets, and to lodge a security deposit, which may be a bank or insurer guarantee. Private contracts set their own terms. These are commercial contractual requirements, not BLS conditions.

When subcontractors need their own licence

Per the BCA BLS page: "In general, only the main contractors are required to apply for a General Builder's Licence. Subcontractors undertaking construction works (except for Specialist works mentioned below) are generally not required to apply for a General Builder's Licence."

A subcontractor carrying out any of the six specialist works needs its own Specialist Builder licence unless it always works as a sub-contractor of a licensed Specialist Builder on the same type of specialist work (Building Control Act, section 29A(2A)). BCA's 2024 public consultation proposed extending Specialist Builder licensing to all sub-contractors of Specialist Builders carrying out specialist building works.

What This Means for Your Business

Companies typically need to consider four parallel workstreams when applying for a Builders Licence: (1) paid-up capital; (2) personnel; (3) WICA insurance from a MOM-designated insurer; (4) project insurance (CAR/PL) - driven by main-contract terms.

Factors that affect your project insurance scope include: contract value, tender requirements, principal/main contractor's named-insured wording, subcontractor tier, and whether the work requires QP supervision under the Building Control Act.

Questions to Ask Your Adviser

  1. "I'm a GB2 holder bidding for my first $5m project - does my main contract require project CAR in joint names, and what limit?"
  2. "My Specialist Builder licence covers piling. If my sub-piler's worker is uninsured, what's my exposure under Section 13 of WICA 2019?"
  3. "I hold both GB1 and SB(GS) licences - can a single annual WICA policy cover both UENs, or do I need separate ones?"
  4. "Common Law Coverage isn't part of MOM's approved WICA wording - should I buy it as a separate policy or as a CAR add-on?"
  5. "My BLS renewal is due - does my insurer need to refresh certificates of insurance for BCA, or is BLS document-only?"

Related Information

Published 3 May 2026. Source verified 3 May 2026.