The Land and Public Works Transport Bureau published its 2025 regulatory overview, and the numbers are worth reading carefully — particularly by anyone holding a commercial unit and planning to do works in it. In 2025 the bureau received 2,153 complaints across its regulatory function, against 1,622 in 2024, an increase of nearly 33%. It also received 73 suggestions and no objections.
How the complaints break down
Of the total, 1,749 complaints — roughly 80% — concerned engineering works. The remainder were 150 on public safety, 87 on urban infrastructure, 27 on buildings and 140 on other matters. Within the engineering category, the dominant issues were:
- Illegal works — work carried out without a licence or prior notification, including unit alterations, illegal canopies, unauthorised rooftop and platform structures, and pre-existing illegal structures of the same kinds
- Complaints arising from engineering works — most commonly damage caused to neighbouring properties by legitimate construction nearby
The bureau stated it will continue to target illegal works, with priority given to new, renovated or dilapidated buildings presenting safety risks to public escape routes, public health, and cases of illegal works in buildings that have been issued with a new use permit under the new law.
The cost of getting it wrong
The bureau's own figures showed that a significant number of shops had proceeded with decoration without a prior notification or a works licence application. The consequence is not only a fine: the works must also be legalised, and the administrative charge for legalising completed work is three times the normal cost. For a fit-out of any size, that is a substantial sum on top of the penalty.
Voluntary demolition: a one-time concession
There is a discretionary penalty reduction for voluntarily removing illegal structures — but it is available only once, and a further breach within five years is treated as a repeat offence, with the penalty increased by a further quarter. The bureau was explicit that installing a canopy is unlawful and that, once a case is opened, it will be followed through to the end.
Dilapidated buildings and public safety
A separate 150 complaints concerned public safety, involving dilapidated buildings — including falling plaster or spalling protective layers, leaning external walls or falling structural components, roof subsidence or falling internal components, construction safety accidents causing building deterioration, and loose unauthorised structures. The bureau called on residents to maintain building safety collectively and not to test the law.
What owners should do
Two practical conclusions follow. First, for any non-residential unit, determine the approval route before works begin — the categories are set out in our practical guide to renovation permits, and the 120 square metre threshold is a genuine dividing line rather than a technicality. Second, for work affecting a building that is ageing or shows signs of deterioration, the condition of the building itself is now a live issue with the authorities, and it is worth having the structure and common parts assessed rather than assuming they are sound.
What contractors should do
For contractors, the pattern in the data is equally direct. Illegal works now account for around 80% of engineering complaints, and a disproportionate share of these arise from commercial decoration that proceeded without the correct filing. A contractor who files properly protects the client as well as themselves — because the legalisation charge, and the risk of an uninspected non-compliant fit-out, ultimately falls on the property owner. Registered status, correct filing and a documented programme are the practical defence, and they are what an owner should be verifying before a contract is signed.