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HDB Power Trip: Who To Call
Lose power in an HDB flat and the first question is not how to fix it, it is who is even responsible. SP Services, the town council, or your own electrician? Here is the decision tree, in order, before you dial anyone.
- EMA-licensed electrical workers
- Right responsible party, first time
- Typically within the hour
The decision tree: who is actually responsible
Whole block or several flats dark, nothing tripped in your DB box? That is a supply-side outage. Call SP Services on 1800 778 8888, they run the meter and everything upstream of it. You do not need an electrician and one cannot help.
Only your flat is affected and your breakers have tripped? The fault is on your side of the meter, an appliance, a circuit or the wiring. HDB’s position is that you engage a licensed electrical worker directly. This is what we handle.
Common-area fault, corridor lights, lift lobby, common power? That belongs to your town council, not you and not HDB’s central line. Their number is on the lift-lobby noticeboard and your conservancy bill. Our town council guide spells out the boundary.
Burning smell, scorch marks or sparks? Stop the tree here. Switch off the main switch and call SCDF on 995. Do not reset anything.
Two breakers to check, not one
Your DB box (inside the flat)
Usually above the front door or in the kitchen. It holds the main switch, the RCCB and the individual MCBs.
A tripped MCB points to the specific circuit with the fault; a tripped RCCB points to current leaking to earth somewhere.
The corridor breaker (common riser)
A separate isolator many HDB units have in a common box near the front door, upstream of your DB box.
If your flat is dark but the DB box looks normal, check here. Reset once, if it trips again, stop and call an electrician.
Before anyone arrives: one reset, then stop
Switch off the appliances on the affected circuit, reset the tripped breaker once, and reconnect appliances one at a time. If the breaker holds, the last appliance you plugged in is your culprit, leave it unplugged. If it trips straight back with everything unplugged, the fault is in the wiring or a protective device, and repeated resets only stress it further. That is where safe DIY ends: HDB is clear that socket and wiring repairs are licensed work. The full step-by-step is in our power trip guide, and wider outages are covered in power failure in Singapore.
HDB flat still without power?
Get emergency helpHDB flat tripping?
Tell us which switches trip and your block. You get told straight whether it is SP, town council or an electrician job.
Loading… form also at the contact page.
If you see smoke or fire, call SCDF at 995 before anything else.
HDB power trip questions
What do I do when the power trips in my HDB flat?
Open your DB box and look at the breakers. Switch off appliances on the tripped circuit, reset the breaker once, then reconnect appliances one at a time. Also check the emergency breaker at your common corridor. If power will not stay on, or both breakers keep tripping, the fault is internal and needs a licensed electrician.
Who do I call for a power cut in my area?
If the whole block or several flats are dark, it is a supply-side outage, call SP Services on 1800 778 8888. If only your flat has no power and your own breakers have tripped, the fault is inside your unit and you engage a licensed electrician directly, not HDB or SP.
How do I speak to an HDB officer about electrical problems?
HDB does not run a hotline that sends electricians into your flat. For faults in common areas, corridor lights, lift lobbies, you report to your town council, whose number is on the noticeboard and your conservancy bill. For faults inside your flat, HDB’s position is that you engage a licensed electrical worker yourself.
What is the emergency breaker at the HDB corridor for?
Many HDB units have a second isolator or breaker in a common riser near the front door, separate from your in-flat DB box. If your flat is dark but your DB box breakers look normal, check whether this corridor breaker has tripped. Reset it once; if it trips again, stop and call an electrician.
Is a power trip an electrical emergency?
A single trip that resets and holds is not, it is your protection doing its job. It becomes an emergency when you smell burning, see scorch marks or sparks, or the breaker trips repeatedly. Burning or sparks means cut the main switch and call SCDF on 995. Repeated tripping means a live fault: stop resetting and call a licensed electrician.
How much does it cost to fix a tripping HDB circuit?
Diagnosis is typically S$50 to S$80, usually waived if you proceed with the repair. The repair itself depends on the cause, an offending appliance costs nothing to isolate, a worn RCCB is a modest part-and-labour job, damaged wiring costs more. You get the quote before any work starts. Our pricing page has the full table.