12-person room limit, en-suite toilets: Foreign worker dorms in Singapore given until 2030 to improve standards

SINGAPORE: Around 1,000 purpose-built and factory-converted foreign worker dormitories will have to meet higher standards by 2030, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) announced on Wednesday (Oct 11).

Dorms that are exempted include those with leases expiring in 2033 or earlier and smaller dorms with six beds or fewer that are not covered by the Foreign Employee Dormitories Act (FEDA). Around 1,500 dormitories are covered by FEDA.

The transition will improve public health resilience in migrant workers' living quarters in the interim. By 2040, these dormitories will have to comply with the new dormitory standards announced in 2021 after COVID-19 spread rapidly in migrant worker accommodation in 2020.

"Even though the worst of the pandemic is hopefully behind us, we still see new strains of viruses multiplying and replicating from the existing strains of COVID-19. So we do need to continue to move on this as quickly as we can," said Senior Minister of State for Manpower Koh Poh Koon.

Under the interim standards, a dormitory room should have up to 12 residents, and 1m spacing between beds is recommended. The 1m spacing recommendation will be a requirement under the new standards.

From now until 2030, there is no restriction on the maximum number of residents per room and no spacing requirement between beds in existing dorms. MOM said in 2021 that "in practice", most dormitory rooms had between 12 to 16 residents. 

Each resident must have at least 3.6 sq m of living space, excluding shared facilities, by 2030. That figure has to increase to 4.2 sq m or more in 2040 under the new standards.

Currently, residents in dormitories each have an average of 3.5 sq m of living space.

The interim standards for toilets and isolation facilities are similar to the new standards.

Toilets must be en-suite only, with one toilet, shower and handwash basin per six residents. But communal toilets will be allowed by MOM on a case-by-case basis for dormitories that have infrastructure constraints.

The number of isolation beds per 1,000 bed spaces remains at a minimum of 10, but en-suite toilets will be required for all isolation rooms by 2030. There will also be requirements for more single-bedder isolation rooms and partitioning between beds for rooms with two beds.

EFFORTS TO IMPROVE EXISTING DORMS

When the new dormitory standards that take effect in 2040 were announced, they were applied only to newly built dormitories. 

In March this year, MP Louis Ng (PAP-Nee Soon) highlighted that existing dormitories can operate based on past standards, where residents have less living space and more people per room.

“We cannot say these standards are unacceptable for some but continue to live with these standards for others,” he said. 

Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng said the ministry was developing a plan for existing dormitories to transit to the new improved standards.

In a press release on Wednesday, MOM said it had decided to introduce interim standards to existing dormitories to improve public health resilience "at the earliest opportunity to mitigate the spread of future pandemics".

"Imposing the new dormitory standards only upon the expiry of existing dormitories’ leases would have resulted in existing dormitories remaining vulnerable to disease spread for a much longer period of time," the ministry said.

"I don't think it's too little too late," said Dr Koh, after a reporter asked how he would respond to possible criticism that the transition would be complete only seven years from now.

He said infrastructure works take time, and this is likely the best scenario without sacrificing current bed capacity. He added that the COVID-19 pandemic did not take place that long ago.

The interim standards focus on changes that affect infection control and will not require dormitories to meet other parts of the new standards, such as redesigning sewage or providing Wi-Fi.

But dorms that wish to meet the 2040 requirements early can do so at their own discretion, MOM said.

BED SUPPLY CRUNCH

MOM said there will be a cap on the number of beds that can transition to the interim standards each year so that the impact on bed supply will be limited.

"We are very mindful of the bed supply situation and bed prices, that is why majority of dorms that will undergo (the dormitory transition will complete it) between 2027 to 2030," the ministry said at a press briefing.

"We can't start now because the bed situation is serious. If we do it now, that is going to aggravate the problem."

Mr Kong Chee Min, CEO of Centurion Corporation, said the government's plan seems well thought-out, and the transition can be smooth since the retrofitting works will be spread over a few years.

Centurion Corporation operates nine Westlite dormitories in Singapore with more than 34,000 beds.

"Based on our plans, certainly we believe that we could actually manage the process in such a way that it would not ... impact the market in terms of the supply of beds," he told CNA, noting that it has plans to add capacity through the partial redevelopment of Westlite Toh Guan and Westlite Mandai.

Even so, the company's five existing purpose-built dormitories will lose between 800 and 3,000 beds by 2030 from the current 27,530, depending on how much retrofitting needs to be done.

Centurion's four other quick-build dormitories already meet the new standards that must be implemented by 2040. It has a new 1,650-bed purpose-built dormitory under development.

Mr Mohamed Fuad Abdul Rahman, secretary general of Dormitory Association Singapore Limited (DASL) and director of Homestay Management, said the biggest concern is cost, though he acknowledged the financial support.

Other than cost, bed supply is also a big issue when upgrading works are ongoing.

"The lives of migrant workers (should still be) cared for and their well-being and their comfort to be able to work daily is not affected. That will be a great challenge for us."

Ms Carin Soh, who runs a factory-converted dormitory (FCD) in Toh Guan, said she is unsure if dormitories like hers can meet the interim standards, given that they are located in factories.

She said would seek a waiver from MOM as she is concerned about housing her workers when the dormitory is being upgraded.

She pointed out the limited number of beds and questioned if the supply crunch would have abated in 2027, with many construction projects still ongoing or being launched.

"It's definitely a good move for the workers, better living (conditions), but it's not a good time for business owners," said Ms Soh, citing higher operation costs.

Mr Eugene Aw, DASL's second vice president, said dormitory operators initially questioned why the changes were needed.

"But as the messaging is pushed out forward, the more forward-thinking ones will start accepting that this is a fact of life and eventually the entire industry will start moving forward together with these new standards."

He said DASL is glad the government has taken the interests of operators into account.

Applications will open in 2025 for dormitories to apply for their preferred year to complete the transition.

Dormitories should inform MOM of their plans early so that bed supply can be assessed and managed. 

MOM added that a few large dormitories with "higher public health risks" will have to transit before 2027.

The ministry will provide financial support to partially defray the costs incurred by dormitory operators.

"This is in recognition that the government usually does not require retrospective retrofitting to existing buildings to meet new infrastructure standards," it said.

Dormitories will have co-pay for the changes because they derive benefits from the improvements, said MOM.