Singapore construction firm may face S$500K fine, 2 years' jail, for illegal workers' dorm at Sungei Kadut
SINGAPORE: A construction company, along with its manager, has been charged in court for allegedly operating a foreign employee dormitory without a valid licence, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said in a press release on Thursday (Oct 29).
Doing so is an offence under the Foreign Employee Dormitories Act (FEDA) 2015, which may result in a jail sentence of two years, a fine of S$500,000, or both, for LBD Engineering Pte Ltd and its general manager, Alvin Lim Yee Hong.
The offence was discovered after a factory located at 58A Sungei Kadut Loop was inspected by officers from MOM, who discovered around 300 bed spaces within the premises. Upon conducting investigations, they discovered that the company had converted parts of the factory into a foreign employee dormitory and housed 173 migrant workers from a total of four firms between July 2025 and January 2026, but had not acquired a valid FEDA license to do so.
MOM said in the statement that Lim was reportedly aware that the company had no valid license to operate the premises as a foreign employee dormitory. However, he allowed the company to continue operating the converted part of the factory for this purpose.
“MOM takes a serious view of the operation of unlicensed foreign employee dormitories. Licensing requirements are in place to ensure that dormitories provide safe and proper living conditions for migrant workers. Operating a foreign employee dormitory without a valid licence circumvents these safeguards and may put the safety and well-being of migrant worker residents at risk,” the ministry said, adding that it will not hesitate to take firm enforcement action against those who operate unlicensed dormitories for foreign workers.
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It is the responsibility of employers to ensure that the workers have accommodation compliant with the relevant regulatory requirements, MOM added.
The ministry also encouraged members of the public who are aware of suspected unlicensed foreign employee dormitories or other infringements involving migrant worker accommodation to report the matter through MOM’s “Report an Infringement” eService, assuring everyone that the information given will be kept confidential. /TISG