Keat Hong Grange key collection: a two-person defect check for your Choa Chu Kang flat

Keat Hong Grange is the Choa Chu Kang BTO bounded by Choa Chu Kang Avenue 7, Choa Chu Kang Grove and Keat Hong Link. It was launched in the August 2022 BTO exercise with 987 flats in 5 blocks of 19 to 23 storeys, listed as Blocks 822A, 822B, 823A, 824A and 824B. Estimated completion at launch was the fourth quarter of 2026, and BTO trackers show December 2026, though they differ on how far along it is. Your own HDB letter is the date that counts. Here's how to get through a big flat properly on the first visit.

The deadline that matters

Report defects to your Building Service Centre (BSC) within one month of collecting your keys, and before your renovation starts. The 12-month defects liability period covers problems that appear later, but the first month is when it's easiest to show a defect was there from the start.

Most flats here are big, so split the work

Of the 987 flats, 374 are 4-room and 323 are 5-room. The rest are 96 3-room and 194 2-room Flexi flats. In a 4- or 5-room flat, one person alone tends to rush the last rooms. If two of you can go, give each person one job.

• Person 1 tests. Tap the tiles with a coin, try every door and window, press every switch, run the water.
• Person 2 records. Put the numbered tape down, take the photos and keep the list.
• Swap at the halfway point. After an hour of tapping, a fresh person catches what the first one starts to miss.
• Allow two hours or more for a 4- or 5-room flat, and go in daylight. If you run out of time, come back for a second visit rather than rush the last bedroom.

Going alone? The Lakeside View page has a plan for checking alone.

What to tap and test in every room

• Tap every tile, including the ones at doorways and along the walls. A dull, hollow sound means a hollow tile. See how to check for hollow tiles.
• Walls and ceilings: hold your phone torch flat against the wall and look along it for cracks and uneven paint. See wall and ceiling cracks.
• Sockets and switches: test every one, including the ones you plan to hide behind furniture. See the electrical check.
• Bathrooms: run the tap and shower, flush, look under the basin and pour water near the floor trap. See the bathroom check and the floor trap test.
• Main door and gate: every key you were given should lock and open them. See doors, gate and locks.
• Optional items: if you skipped flooring or internal doors at booking, they won't be there, and that isn't a defect. If you paid for them, check them as carefully as everything else.

Windows on the high floors and facing the school site

With blocks of up to 23 storeys, many flats sit high up, so close and lock every window panel and look for gaps, loose rubber seals and missing sealant around the frame. Check everything from inside, and don't lean out. Launch reviews noted that some north-facing stacks look onto a site set aside for a school, so it may be quiet outside your window today but not always. If you're on that side, it's worth checking now that every panel shuts tight. More in how to check windows at key collection.

Getting there and what to bring

There's no MRT within walking distance. Keat Hong LRT is about a 5 to 10-minute walk away, and it's two stops to Choa Chu Kang MRT. Keat Hong Shopping Centre is about 6 minutes on foot if you need lunch or a break between rounds. Pack painter's tape, a marker, a coin for each person, a bottle of water for the drain test, and a charger. Full list: what to bring on key collection day.

A simple plan for the first visit

1. Go room by room. In each room: floor, walls, ceiling, doors, windows, sockets, then anything with water.
2. Number each defect on tape (#01, #02…), then take one close-up and one wide photo with the number showing. The BSC uses the numbers to find each spot.
3. Mark them on a floor plan. A quick sketch with the numbers on it saves the contractor time and saves you a second visit.
4. Write one clean list, grouped by room, and submit it within the month. Check the repairs when they're done and report anything that wasn't fixed.

Every room and what to check is in the room-by-room BTO defect checklist. Prefer paper? There's a free printable version with tick boxes and number labels. Or use the free KeyDay app on your phone: it numbers each defect, keeps the photos with it and marks it on your floor plan, so the person recording always knows which number comes next. How to hand the list in: how to report BTO defects to the BSC.

After the first month

Tiles can turn hollow and hairline cracks can appear over the first year. Do a second round before the 12 months are up: the one-year DLP check. Renovating? Check the contractor's work before the final payment with the renovation handover checklist.

Also collecting keys in the west around now: the Plantation Creek check, the Lakeside View check and, in Choa Chu Kang, the Heart of Yew Tee check for seniors. All projects: the full BTO key collection list.