Bonus GFA Incentive Schemes
Check the bonus GFA incentive schemes applicable to educational institutions.
Last updated 12 June 2026
The Bonus GFA scheme applicable to Educational Institution is:
ORA within Privately-Owned Public Spaces (POPS)
Refer to section on POPS.
District Cooling System (DCS) or Centralised Cooling System (CCS) scheme
The scheme aims to encourage building owners to adopt either DCS or CCS for their building. This could be by collaborating with other building owners to establish new DCS or CCS networks, or tapping onto an existing DCS or CCS network in the area.
Host Developments
Host buildings in DCS and CCS networks will need to set aside spaces for the district cooling plant and chiller plants respectively to serve the larger network. Such Mechanical and Electrical (M&E) spaces needed to support the DCS/CCS network will be allowed as bonus Utility GFA, over and above the Master Plan allowable GFA for the site. The additional Utility GFA may be subject to payment of Land Betterment Charge (LBC), if any.
For CCS networks:
If the host building’s original in-building chiller plant (IBCP) spaces are computed as GFA, these can then be computed as bonus Utility GFA. The freed up GFA from the original IBCP can be put to other uses in the development.
If the host building’s original IBCP spaces are exempted from GFA1, bonus GFA equivalent to the size of the IBCP room will be allowed over and above the Master Plan allowable GFA for the site. Bonus GFA may be subject to payment of LBC based on its proposed use.
The DCS/CCS-related M&E spaces may also be considered for GFA exemption if the spaces fulfil the respective criteria of the prevailing M&E-related GFA exemption schemes.
1 Applies to IBCP spaces within the building envelope that were previously granted GFA exemption based on the relevant GFA exemption provisions. Does not apply to open-to-sky IBCP spaces (e.g. on the rooftop)
Submission requirements
The following information / documents are to be furnished to URA as part of the development application (DA):
Table 1: Documents to be furnished for host developments
DCS Host Development | CCS Host Development | |
Network plan | Plan showing the overall proposed DCS/CCS network including the developments that are planned to be onboarded to the network | |
Service provider | Supporting documents showing that a DCS/CCS service provider for network has been identified, with the new network or connection found to be feasible (e.g. feasibility study by service provider, service agreement) | |
Provision of cooling-related M&E spaces | The necessary DCS/CCS cooling-related M&E spaces to be clearly reflected on the submission plans (see examples below) | |
Examples:
| Examples:
| |
Capacity of host plant | Proposed capacity of host DCS plant / CCS host chiller plant and service provider’s assessment on the sufficiency to serve the overall network | |
Proposed use of bonus GFA / | - | To indicate clearly on the submission plans how the bonus GFA / freed up GFA from the existing IBCP spaces will be put to use. |
Receiving Developments
Developments receiving chilled water from the host building(s) in a DCS/CCS network benefit from not having to provide their own in-building chiller plant (IBCP) systems. The following GFA incentives are applicable for such receiving developments:
Table 2: GFA incentives for receiving developments
Scenario | GFA incentives |
Decommissioning of the IBCP space in an existing building, as part of Addition & Alteration (A&A) works | Where the existing IBCP space is computed as GFA
Where the existing IBCP space is exempted from GFA3
2 Owners should first consider converting the decommissioned IBCP space to other uses in situ, as opposed to demolishing the floor slab of the IBCP space to decant the GFA / deploy bonus GFA elsewhere within the development. Proposals to demolish the floor slab will be subject to evaluation, with justifications to be provided (e.g. whether there are constraints faced in retrofitting the original IBCP space for other uses) 3 Applies to IBCP spaces within the building envelope that were previously granted GFA exemption based on the relevant GFA exemption provisions. Does not apply to open-to-sky IBCP spaces (e.g. on the rooftop) |
Building requires the provision of M&E spaces to support the connection to the DCS/CCS network (e.g. heat exchanger room) |
|
Submission requirements
The following information / documents are to be furnished to URA as part of the development application (DA):
Table 3: Documents to be furnished for receiving developments
DCS/CCS Receiving Development | |
Network plan | Plan showing the existing DCS/CCS network that the development is intending to connect to |
Service provider | Supporting documents showing that a DCS/CCS service provider for network has been identified, with the new network or connection found to be feasible (e.g. feasibility study by service provider, service agreement) |
Provision of cooling-related M&E spaces | The necessary DCS/CCS cooling-related M&E spaces to be clearly reflected on the submission plans (e.g. heat exchanger room) |
Proposed use of decommissioned IBCP spaces (as part of A&A works) | All existing IBCP spaces are to be decommissioned. To clearly show the location of all the existing IBCP spaces on the submission plans, and the proposed use of the decommissioned IBCP spaces. If GFA from the decommissioned IBCP space is proposed to be decanted to other parts of the development, to provide justifications why the original IBCP space could not be converted for other uses in situ |
Eligibility
The following types of developments will not be eligible for the GFA incentives:
Existing buildings that are already connected and part of a DCS/CCS network, as the GFA incentives will not retroactively apply to such buildings.
Where it is a mandatory requirement for the development to adopt DCS/CCS (e.g. as part of conditions of tender in Government Land Sales sites).
Specific to receiving developments who wish to tap onto an existing DCS/CCS network, the following criteria are to be met before the GFA incentives will apply:
The receiving development was originally approved at a time when there was no operational DCS/CCS network in the area; or
The receiving development shall be a minimum age of 10 years4 (from date of original TOP).
Where necessary, the bonus GFA may be approved on temporary basis for monitoring purposes of this new scheme.
4 This is the average lifespan of an IBCP system. The intent is to discourage the premature decommissioning of IBCP systems of newly completed buildings. Owners of newer buildings can instead consider switching to DCS as part of their planned IBCP replacement cycles (i.e. after 10 years).