From 1 October 2026, every new building project in Singapore must be submitted through CORENET X, regardless of size. The threshold has been coming down in stages: since 1 October 2025 it has applied to new projects of 30,000 square metres gross floor area or more, and from October 2026 it applies to all of them. CORENET X is not simply a new website for uploading drawings. It changes the submission into a structured, model-based process, and that has real consequences for how design teams prepare a project.
What is CORENET X?
CORENET X is Singapore's regulatory submission platform for building works. Instead of each agency reviewing separately in sequence, a submission is routed to the participating agencies for a consolidated, concurrent review. The agencies involved span the main approval bodies for building work in Singapore, including the Building and Construction Authority, the Urban Redevelopment Authority, the Singapore Civil Defence Force, the Land Transport Authority, PUB, the National Environment Agency, and others, with the public developers also on the platform.
Submissions are organised around gateways rather than a single lodgement, so the project is cleared in defined stages. The intent is fewer rounds of sequential comments and a more predictable path through approval.
When does CORENET X become mandatory?
| Date | Who it applies to |
|---|---|
| 1 October 2025 | New projects of 30,000 sqm gross floor area or more |
| 1 October 2026 | All new projects, regardless of gross floor area |
| 1 October 2027 | Ongoing projects seeking gateway clearances must be onboarded |
The trigger is the submission, not when the project was conceived, so a scheme that has been in design for a while can still land inside the new regime. Confirm the current position and any transitional arrangements against the URA circular on CORENET X mandatory submissions and the CORENET X guidance from BCA, since implementation details continue to be updated.
What does CORENET X require you to submit?
The significant change is the format. CORENET X uses an openBIM submission format, IFC-SG, which means the submission carries a structured 3D model rather than only drawn sheets. Requirements vary by discipline and project, so check the current code of practice and any annexes for what applies to your project.
This is the part worth sitting with. A submission in a structured model format is machine-readable by design. Singapore has been working toward automated regulatory checking for a long time, and requiring openBIM submissions is what makes checking at scale possible. For design teams, the practical implication is that the model is now a regulatory deliverable, not just a coordination tool, and errors or gaps in it are no longer invisible to the approving agencies.
What does this mean for design teams?
Three things change in practice:
- The model has to be right, not just the drawings. If the model is the submission, model quality becomes a compliance issue rather than an internal BIM standard issue.
- Coordination has to happen earlier.Concurrent multi-agency review removes the informal slack that sequential review used to provide, where one agency's queue bought time to fix something for another.
- Rework at gateway stage is expensive. The incentive shifts firmly toward checking the design against the applicable requirements before submission rather than discovering issues in clearance.
How do you check a Singapore project before you submit?
Run the check yourself, on the same material you are about to submit. UptoCode reads PDF drawing sets and IFC models natively, and checks them against whatever code or standard you upload, whether that is the relevant Singapore requirements, an accessibility or fire provision, a client standard, or your own internal QA checklist. Every finding is cited to the clause and to the drawing or model element it came from, so a Qualified Person can verify it rather than take it on trust.
To be clear about the boundary: UptoCode is not a submission tool and does not lodge anything with CORENET X or perform the agencies' regulatory review. It helps a design team find and fix issues in the drawings and the model beforehand, so what goes into the gateway is something you have already checked.
See how UptoCode reads BIM and IFC models, read our guide on checking drawings before submission, or see how automated compliance checking is developing elsewhere. Create a free account and run a cited check with 65 free credits, no card required.
Last reviewed 28 July 2026 against URA and BCA sources. This article is general information, not compliance advice. CORENET X requirements and timelines are set by the Singapore authorities and continue to be updated, so confirm the current position with BCA and the relevant agencies for your project.