Code of Practice on Coastal Protection: Development Requirements for Coastal Landowners

30 June 2026

Executive Summary

Singapore’s National Water Agency, the Public Utilities Board (“PUB“), has released the Code of Practice on Coastal Protection (“CPCOP“) on 17 June 2026, establishing standards for the planning, design, operations, inspection, and maintenance of coastal protection measures. With the Coastal Protection and Other Amendments Bill passed in March 2026, coastal landowners are now responsible for implementing and owning coastal protection measures within their land plots, in compliance with the CPCOP. The CPCOP guides landowners of prescribed places in fulfilling their coastal protection obligations under the Sewerage, Drainage and Coastal Protection Act 1999 (“SDCPA“). The CPCOP will take effect from 2028.

This Update outlines the key features of the CPCOP.

Practical Implications

Landowners of coastal premises should familiarise themselves with the CPCOP requirements ahead of the 2028 commencement. Key action items include: (i) determining whether their premises fall within the definition of a prescribed place. The SDCPA sets out four categories of prescribed places: (a) Absolute Protection Boundary (“APB“); (b) Transiently Floodable Areas (Coastal) (“TFA(C)“); (c) Sheltered Structures within TFA(C); and (d) Nearshore and Offshore Structures; (ii) consulting the Coastal Protection Interpretation Plan (“CPIP“); (iii) engaging qualified professionals to assess coastal protection requirements; and (iv) ensuring that design, construction, inspection, and maintenance regimes are in place to meet statutory obligations.

While presented as a regulatory framework, the CPCOP has direct Corporate Real Estate implications for portfolios with coastal exposure (including logistics and waterfront assets), including on acquisition due diligence, leasing structures and risk allocation, and long-term capital expenditure and maintenance burdens that may materially affect asset value.

PUB has indicated that further engagement sessions will be held in the second half of 2026 to help stakeholders understand the requirements. For more details and advice, please reach out to our Team members.

Key Features of the CPCOP

The CPCOP is structured around five chapters. An overarching concept is the APB or Absolute Protection Boundary, which demarcates regions that must be protected from coastal flooding. All coastal protection measures along the APB must achieve a continuous line of defence, meet stipulated Coastal Protection Levels and design standards, and ensure continuity and watertightness at interfaces with adjoining measures. The table below summarises the key requirements. This list is not exhaustive – for details, please refer to the CPCOP.

Feature	Summary of Key Requirements
Chapter I: Planning Requirements	Pre-planning: The Qualified Person ("QP") / Developer / Owner / Registered Surveyor shall obtain the prevailing CPIP before commencing planning and design. Adaptability for future climate projections: Landowners shall implement an APB measure or Development-Specific Measure ("DSM") depending on the remaining lease term. Coastal Protection Reserve ("CPR"): The Professional Engineer ("PE") shall determine the required CPR based on the remaining lease duration and submit it to the Board for approval at the Construction Gateway stage. Crest level of APB measure / DSM: The PE (Civil) shall compute the Coastal Protection Level using prescribed coastal hydraulic boundary parameters and indicate the crest level on layout plans. TFA(C) or Transiently Floodable Area (Coastal): Among other things, the Owner shall provide justification for any proposed landward shift of the Protection Boundary to the Board for approval and appoint a Flood Protection Manager. Hydraulic connection: All process water pipes shall be designed to ensure that any backwater flow will not cause flooding in the premises they serve, subject to the appropriate Extreme Sea Level conditions.
Chapter II: Design Requirements	Design criteria: The APB measure shall be designed for both Ultimate Limit State and Serviceability Limit State conditions. The design life is typically 120 years. Structural and geotechnical: The PE (Civil) shall design for settlement, lateral movement, global and local slope instability, liquefaction, hydraulic instability (including Backward Erosion Piping), and collision impact. Hydraulic actions: The APB measure shall be designed for water level variations, wave actions, current actions, overtopping, landward side protection, and scour and toe protection. Sloped structure as APB measure: The PE (Civil) shall design sloped structures with appropriate filter and armour layers. Interface between adjoining APB measures: The PE (Civil) shall design the APB measure to be continuous with adjoining APB measures and ensure watertightness at joint connections.
Chapter III: Inspection and Maintenance Requirements	Inspection and monitoring: The Owner shall ensure various inspections of the APB measures to ensure structural integrity, safety, and functionality. Maintenance: The APB measure shall be maintained to preserve functionality, structural integrity, and serviceability throughout its design life. The PE (Civil) shall establish a maintenance regime and prepare an Inspection and Maintenance Plan Report. Inspection and maintenance of interface between adjoining APB measures: The Owner shall be responsible for inspection and maintenance of the APB measure within their land plot, including any joint connections found within the boundaries of their land plot. Inspection and maintenance for TFA(C): The Flood Protection Manager shall conduct annual inspections of all flood response assets and measures to verify their functionality. Annual declaration: The Owner and Flood Protection Manager shall make an annual declaration to the Board confirming that all inspection and maintenance requirements have been met.
Chapter IV: Coastal Deployable Barriers ("CDB") Requirements	Approval: The use of CDB is subject to the Board's approval at the Design Gateway and fulfilment of prescribed conditions. Planning and design: The crest of the CDB shall follow the required crest level for APB measures. The Owner / QP shall provide justification for the proposed width based on operational requirements. Operations and monitoring: The Owner shall ensure that the CDB can be fully deployed by the time stipulated by the Board before the forecast coastal event and shall appoint a Flood Protection Manager to assist with various obligations. Inspection and maintenance: The Owner and Flood Protection Manager shall submit inspection and maintenance declarations to the Board. The PE (Civil/Mechanical/Electrical) shall develop a maintenance regime.
Chapter V: Submission Requirements	Submission requirements: The submission requirements for APB measures / DSMs are set out in Annex A of the CPCOP, specifying the documents to be submitted at the Design Gateway, the Construction Gateway, and the Completion Gateway stages.

If you have any queries on the above, please reach out to our team set out on this page.

For regional Construction, Infrastructure & Projects and Corporate Real Estate matters, please see Rajah & Tann Asia’s Construction, Infrastructure & Projects Practice Group and Rajah & Tann Asia’s Real Estate Practice Group, respectively, for more information.

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