Hdb Home Improvement Program (Hip) - Toilet Works / Reuse Wc ?

[pavilonsim 1]

Hi, am planning to do full reno, but HIP polling is planned for end of the year. One of the essential items of HIP would be to replace the toilet waste pipes, so am trying to see how to 'design' my toilet works to accomodate HIP. I have some specific questions, hoping experts can reply to this post or via private message

1) Is it possible to reuse the old toilet bowl ? I am not sure how toilet bowls are fixed onto the ground, but if they are just bolted down, perhaps can reuse after the replacement of waste pipe

2) Is it possible to replace the waste pipes without hacking the floor tiles ? If floor tiles need to be hacked, would the whole floor be hacked or just a portion. Concern is the waterproofing

3) There is some mention of liability on the part of owners who do not wish to change the waste pipes - they will be 100% liable should their downstairs neighbour suffer from ceiling water leak coming from my unit (as opposed to 50%:50% share). Can someone share what exactly is the extent ? After all, warranty from HDB is supposed to be x years (I think 5), so what happens after that ?

Any other suggestions on how to minimize the 'damage' from HIP would be welcomed. Thanks in advance

Edited March 6, 2014 by pavilonsim

[zero313 2]

Any kind souls able to assist on this query? I believe there must be other people in renotalk who buys resale flats that are slated to be HIP eventually in a few years.

Thanks in advance!

[oldboy 2]

1) Probably not

2) They said a small area will be hacked around the pipe and then replaced with a square white thingie. Also don't do any box-up of your pipes cos you will have to remove the box-up and replace it at your own cost

3) Yeah so basically if you don't do HIP then you become liable for any problems in future. So you pay from your pocket. Cos the reasoning is that the waste pipes are getting old and need to be changed. But if you don't want to change and it breaks down on you and your neighbour downstairs then you have to fix it out of your own pocket.

And wait until you do water test for your toilets if you decide to opt out of toilet upgrading. If you kena a leak you will have a headache.

Go to Google and search "Straits times toilet leak". You should be able to find two articles on the Straits Times forum pages. One is titled "Small leak so optional toilet upgrading becomes mandatory" and the 2nd is "Leak has to be fixed to prevent future inconvenience:HDB".

I got my flat last year and did my reno. This was before i found out that there was going to be HIP in my area. I got the letter stating that they are considering introducing HIP to my place only a couple of months after I moved in.

Now, HIP in my area is about to start late this year or early next year. I opted out of toilet upgrading and they found a leak at my drainage pipe area in my common toilet. My contractor is going to rectify it but if it fails water test again, then I 'have to' do toilet upgrading. According to the person I talked to from HIP, the leak may not be due to the waterproofing but the drainage pipe and the joint. In order to replace the drainage pipe they have to hack up the floor and replace it. That would mean all my money spent on renovating my toilet will be wasted and I have to pay more money for the toilet upgrading. And they only use their tiles in the package. You cannot use your own tiles even if you have extra unless you can come to a private arrangement with their contractor or sub-contractor.

When the time comes for them to sell you HIP, think carefully and ask all the questions you can think of and get all your answers before you vote for it.

My suggestion: Don't do any major renovations until after HIP

Edited August 24, 2014 by oldboy

[river 0]

Hi there, I've recently got my resale flat and have opt in for the HIP program as I wanted to save cost on the reno. May i h

know i anyone has experience with the toilet bowl HDB uses for the upgrade? I also hope to create a dry and wet area for the toilet. Have spoken to the coordinator for the project and he mentioned its possible to discuss with the contractor before they start work. Seems very positive.