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Guide To Reading HDB Floor Plan

Qanvast
Updated

You’ve just gotten your floor plan from HDB, and you can’t wait to kickstart your renovation. But there’s just one problem - the floor plan looks foreign to you.

Don’t worry; we pieced together a cheatsheet to understanding your floor plan in seconds.

Walls

Pretty obvious what lines in a floor plan represent - walls. However, different strokes signify different types; Here are three walls you will most commonly find in HDBs:

1. Structural Walls

Either a foundation wall or pillar that holds a building together. Cannot be hacked (even if you ask HDB pretty please).

Can’t hack a bomb shelter? Make it a highlight feature wall and space breaker. This fun, concrete-finished wall acts as a separator between the kitchen and bedrooms.

Interior Designer: Free Space Intent

2. Normal Walls

Walls that segregate different areas, like bedrooms. Can be hacked, with approval from HDB.

Here’s an idea for your extra study room. Remove the walls and replace it with a glass-box style partition for a clear, unbroken look.

Interior Designer: DISTINCTidENTITY

3. Gable-end Walls

Walls with short awnings on the exterior to protect the apartment from sun and heat. Usually found in corner units.

4. Wall Length (in mm)

Lines with numbers surrounding your home. These four to five digit numerals represent actual wall dimensions in millimetres.

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Doors

A floor plan is like a bird eye’s view of your home; Which probably explains why your door doesn’t look like one on paper. These are four common door symbols to look out for in your layout:

1. Swing Doors

Those wedged-looking corners in your room are used in a floor plan to show a door and its swinging angle.

Most rooms have doors that swing inwards, with the exception of the household shelter door that swings out. Avoid doing any structural changes or add furniture that might obstruct the movement in this area!

This applies to both HDBs and condos. Maintain a clean and uncluttered walkway around the shelter door by building storage space flush to the walls.

Interior Designer: Earth Interior Design

2. Folding Doors

More commonly found in service yards and bathrooms, foldable doors are represented by a ‘V’ or zig-zag line.

In general, homeowners are free to customise the door type (sliding, block, revolving), as long as it does not require hacking a structural wall or block walking space.

Architect: JOW Architects

Are your doors provided for?

Check if your apartment has pre-built doors provided by HDB through the stroke used in a floor plan.

  • 3. Dotted/Dashed - Doors not provided by HDB

  • 4. Solid Line - Provided by HDB

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Windows

Make do with these 3 common windows you can find in floor plans.

1. Sliding Windows

On a floor plan, a sliding window is shown as a thin, hollow line by the walls, which can be hard to notice.

2. Casement Windows

Windows that you can swing open, much like a door. Represented by closed wedge shapes.

Interior Designer: Space Atelier

3. Top Hung Windows

Small windows placed near the top for ventilation. Usually found in the bathrooms.

Some window styles are better suited to a particular area over others. For example, louvred or top-hung windows are usually installed for bathrooms, as they are easier to use from a greater height. On the other hand, casement windows are great for ventilation, as they provide a bigger surface area for air to move in.

Keep in mind that HDB also has some regulations for installing certain types of windows:

  • Casement windows cannot be used by the corridor, for safety.

  • Homeowners cannot change the look of their ¾ or full-length windows as that will affect the exterior. It can only be replaced if damaged.

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Other Funny-Looking Symbols

1. Stairs

Mostly for maisonettes, staircases can be identified by lined rectangles, with arrows indicating the direction of movement.

Think out of the box - Add some fun elements to your stairwell, like installing monkey bars or overlaying an inspirational quote on its geometric planes.

Interior Designer: Space Sense Studio

2. 50/100 Drop

This label Indicates a drop of 50mm or 100mm in floor level. Found in wet areas (kitchen, balcony, bathrooms) where washing and cleaning are frequent, this enables better drainage and avoids flooding the other parts of the house.

3. Ramp Up

The 'RAMP UP’ label shows areas that are installed with ramps, to help negotiate any level differences (such as the 100 drop).

4. Laundry Rack Area

No more pesky bamboo poles; Newer HDBs will come installed with a laundry rack, represented by 3 black lines found near the service yard.

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Now that you’ve got your layout all figured out, its time to find a professional who can help you execute those plans. Simply drop in a quote request, and we can match you up with 5 interior designers for free! All recommendations made by Qanvast will also be covered under our Qanvast Guarantee scheme, up to $50,000.

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