How Much Does It Cost to Reinstate a Restaurant or F&B Unit in Singapore?

Closing a restaurant is not the same job as vacating an office. The fit-out is wet, hot and connected to the building's services, and four separate authorities have a say in how it comes out. Here is what a Singapore F&B handover actually costs in 2026, who is legally allowed to touch each system, and the licences you must close before the landlord signs off.

What does F&B reinstatement actually involve?

The scope is written into your lease, so read the reinstatement clause before you price anything. Landlords in malls and office towers usually attach a handover condition schedule to the tenancy agreement, and that schedule, not your memory of move-in day, is the yardstick. Our guide to the reinstatement clause in a tenancy agreement covers how to read one, and commercial versus residential reinstatement explains why the commercial version carries far more compliance weight.

How much does it cost per square foot?

Here is a realistic breakdown for a 1,200 sq ft dine-in restaurant in a Singapore mall or shophouse, quoted line by line rather than as a lump sum:

Indicative 2026 Singapore market ranges, exclusive of 9% GST and of any landlord permit deposit. Night-shift working hours, which most malls insist on, typically add 15% to 30% to labour. Price against your actual handover schedule, and see how to compare reinstatement quotations before you accept the cheapest number.

Which approvals do you need before demolition starts?

A Qualified Person means a registered architect or professional engineer acting for the building owner, and for alteration submissions SCDF charges S$90 per storey. Because that submission sits on someone else's calendar, it is the single most common reason an F&B handover misses its date. Start it before you book the hacking crew, not after.

Malls add their own layer: a method statement, insurance, a refundable renovation deposit and restricted working hours outside trading times. That mirrors what strata residential owners face with an MCST permit for reinstatement works, only with a shorter fuse.

Who is legally allowed to remove the gas, grease trap and fire systems?

Three hard rules worth writing into your contract:

• Gas. The Energy Market Authority licenses gas service workers, and since 1 September 2025 the Gas (Supply) Regulations require that gas service work complies with Singapore Standard SS 608, the Code of Practice for Gas Installation. Ask for the licence number before works start.
• Sanitary and grease trap. PUB requires regulated water service and sanitary plumbing works to be done by a Licensed Plumber, and since 1 April 2018 it has been an offence to engage a plumber who is not licensed by PUB for those works. Grease traps themselves sit under the Sewerage and Drainage (Trade Effluent) Regulations and are sized to BS EN 1825.
• Fire protection. Sprinkler heads, hood suppression and alarm devices are altered on approved plans and re-certified, not simply unscrewed. Leave them to the QP-led submission.

Skipping any of these is where the real hidden reinstatement costs appear, because the landlord will not accept handover without the certificates, and the work then has to be redone by the correct licence holder.

Which licences and accounts must you cancel?

1. SFA food shop or food stall licence on the day you cease trading, since liability follows the licence, not the lease.
2. Gas account and meter with your gas retailer, coordinated with the licensed worker doing the physical disconnection.
3. Utilities and water account, timed after the reinstatement works rather than before, because the crew needs power and water.
4. Waste and grease collection contracts, with a final desludge documented. PUB expects grease traps to be cleaned at least once every two weeks in normal operation, so a final clean-out record is easy evidence to hand over.
5. Signage, licences and permits held with the landlord, including any outdoor refreshment area approval.

How long does F&B reinstatement take?

The sequencing that keeps projects on time: appoint the contractor and QP first, submit for approvals, then decommission services (gas, then grease trap, then fire protection), then hack and make good, then paint and clean for joint inspection. Our general timeline guide on how long reinstatement takes covers the residential equivalent, which is materially faster because none of the licensed-trade gates apply.

How do you protect the deposit or banker's guarantee?

1. Pull the original handover condition schedule and photographs from the start of the lease.
2. Get the landlord to confirm in writing what stays and what goes. Some landlords keep the exhaust duct or the grease trap for the next tenant, which can remove thousands from your scope.
3. Quote line by line against that schedule so variations cannot be invented later.
4. Keep every certificate: SCDF approval, gas worker licence and test record, licensed plumber submission, disposal tickets.
5. Book the joint inspection before the last day of the term, not on it, so any snag has room to be fixed.

If the landlord still withholds, the same principles apply as in any security deposit dispute: the party asserting a deduction has to show the condition it is measured against.