Renew your EMA electrical installation licence

Not later than one month prior to the date of expiry. That is Regulation 28(3) of the Electricity (Electrical Installations) Regulations, and it applies to the application — not to the inspection, and not to the expiry date itself. In practice EMA’s renewal notice tends to arrive around six weeks before expiry, which leaves roughly two weeks between the reminder landing and the statutory deadline. Since the LEW has to inspect, rectify anything found and endorse the installation before the application goes in, starting at about ten weeks out is comfortable and starting at four weeks out is not.

EMA states that three categories require a licence: non-domestic electrical installations with approved load exceeding 45kVA; electrical installations used in hazardous trades (for example businesses dealing with highly flammable materials, or construction work activities), regardless of approved load; and supply installations for non-domestic purposes, regardless of approved load. Whether a specific premises falls within these categories depends on its approved load, which is set with SP Services — it cannot be determined from the outside.

EMA defines approved load as the total electrical load that an electrical installation is designed to handle. EMA also publishes a useful equivalence: 45kVA is equivalent to 63A three-phase at 400 volts. Your incoming supply or main breaker rating is a reasonable starting point for a conversation, but it is not the same thing as your approved load — approved load is set with SP Services, so only your own records or an SP Services check will confirm it.

It depends entirely on the type of installation, and annual is only the baseline. EMA’s handbook says a licensed installation must be inspected and certified fit for operation by the appointed LEW at least once a year, then sets the required frequency in Table 3: construction worksites at least once per month; trade fairs, mini-fairs and festive lightings daily; multi-tenanted buildings, condominiums and the like at least once in six months; high voltage installations (supply at 6.6kV and above) on a schedule the appointed LEW works out, but at least once a year; and everything else annually, before the licence is renewed. Your appointed LEW may also recommend a higher frequency after assessing the operating conditions and wear and tear. So check which row you are in before comparing prices — a worksite quoted as one annual visit is being quoted a twelfth of the work.

No. EMA exempts all electrical and supply installations used exclusively for domestic purposes from the electrical installation licensing requirement. The licensing scheme does not apply to purely residential premises.

The Electricity Act leaves the duration to EMA’s discretion, and the Regulations state the licence is valid for the period stated on it unless earlier revoked or suspended. In practice EMA prices two terms in its fee schedule — 12 months and 3 months — so a 12-month term is the normal renewal cycle, with 3-month licences typically used for short-duration works. Always check the expiry date printed on your own licence.

EMA’s own statutory fees are S$100 for a 12-month electrical installation licence and S$50 for a 3-month one. A supply installation licence is S$150 for 12 months and S$50 for 3 months. Replacing a licence is S$21.40 incl. GST. These are payable to EMA and are separate from any contractor or LEW service fee — BSH passes them through at cost and never folds them into its own fee.

EMA does not regulate LEW service rates — in its own words, "EMA does not regulate the rates of services offered by LEWs, as the amount of work varies from case to case" — and it advises consumers to obtain multiple quotations. That is why almost no contractor in Singapore publishes a price. BSH publishes indicative bands up front so you have a real number to compare against.

You do. EMA issues the electrical installation licence to the owner or user of the installation — the licensee — and it is the licensee who has to hold it, display it at the main switchboard and keep it current. What EMA licenses on our side is the individual worker, not the company: EMA does not license electrical contractors at all, it licenses electrical workers in three classes. BSH’s role is to provide the appointed Licensed Electrical Worker who takes charge of your installation, carries out the inspection, and submits the application to EMA on your behalf. So the licence stays yours; the LEW appointment is what you are engaging us for.

Every LEW licence class carries a load limit: a Licensed Electrician up to 45kVA at 1000V and below; a Licensed Electrical Technician (the class the trade calls Grade 8) up to 150kVA for design and 500kVA for operation, also at 1000V and below; a Licensed Electrical Engineer (the trade’s Grade 9) has no load limit. Note that "Grade 8" and "Grade 9" are industry shorthand — the classes above are EMA’s own terms. BSH holds a Grade 8 Licensed Electrical Worker (Licensed Electrical Technician) in-house. Where an installation sits beyond that class, we bring in our Professional Engineer / Grade 9 partner — a Licensed Electrical Engineer — to certify. That is a routing arrangement, not a decline: the work stays with BSH either way, and the estimator flags it automatically once the figure you enter passes those limits.

If you already have an appointed Licensed Electrical Worker, they can carry out your renewal and there is no need to change anything. EMA itself advises obtaining multiple quotations, so we are happy to be your second quote or to answer a question — with no obligation either way.

A Licensed Electrical Worker inspects and tests the installation to SS 638 Chapter 62, which covers periodic inspection and testing of an installation already in service. (Chapter 61 is the different job — initial verification of a new installation before it is energised.) In practice that means a systematic visual check of the installation before instruments are connected, then testing — continuity of protective and bonding conductors, insulation resistance, earth-fault loop impedance and RCD operation among them — with the results recorded. Anything found is written up and priced before it is rectified, and the LEW endorses the installation once it is satisfactory.