A renovation contractor is engaged to carry out extensive fit-out works at a commercial unit. A subcontractor's worker falls from a ladder during ceiling works and sustains a serious injury. The worker is employed by the subcontractor, not by the main contractor. The main contractor assumes the injury is the subcontractor's problem.
It may not be.
Under the Work Injury Compensation Act 2019 (WICA), the liability for compensating an injured worker depends on the employment relationship and the specific facts of the engagement. Where a main contractor or principal has engaged a subcontractor and the subcontractor's worker is injured on the site, the question of whether the main contractor carries any WIC liability is one that many contractors have not fully worked through before an incident occurs.
This post explains WIC obligations for Singapore construction and renovation contractors: who must be covered, what the current compensation limits are, what happens when subcontractor workers are involved, and what a correctly structured WIC insurance programme looks like for a company in this sector.
Who must be covered under WICA
Under WICA, employers are legally required to hold WIC insurance for two categories of employees. First, all employees performing manual work, regardless of their salary level. Second, all employees performing non-manual work earning a gross monthly salary of S$2,600 or less.
For a construction or renovation contractor, practically every site worker falls into the first category. Labourers, carpenters, tilers, painters, electricians, plumbers, and general site workers are all performing manual work and must be covered. This applies to both local and foreign workers.
For foreign workers on Work Permits, there is a separate and distinct mandatory requirement: Foreign Worker Medical Insurance (FWMI), which must be maintained for the duration of the work permit. FWMI and WIC are not the same product and are not interchangeable. Both are required simultaneously for Work Permit holders in manual roles.
One common error among renovation contractors is treating only their directly employed workers as covered under the WIC policy, without addressing the position of workers in the mandatory categories who are brought in for specific trades. If those workers are employees of the contractor rather than employees of a subcontractor, they must be covered.
The subcontractor question
Where a contractor engages subcontractors who bring their own workers to site, the WIC insurance obligation in the first instance rests with the subcontractor as the employer of those workers. A subcontractor who holds a valid WIC policy covering its own workers has met the statutory obligation for that workforce.
However, there are circumstances where the main contractor may have exposure. Where a court finds that the working arrangement constitutes the main contractor as the effective employer of the workers concerned, or where the subcontractor does not hold valid WIC insurance and the subcontractor's worker makes a claim, the main contractor may face liability. WICA does not extinguish common law liability, and a worker who is not adequately compensated under WICA may pursue common law remedies against the party they consider responsible.
For construction and renovation contractors, the practical implication is straightforward: before engaging a subcontractor, confirm that the subcontractor holds a valid WIC insurance policy covering the workers they will deploy on your site. A subcontractor without WIC insurance creates an exposure for both parties.
You can read more about the WIC claim process for employers in our post on What Happens When a WIC Claim is Made.
The current WIC compensation limits
With effect from 1 November 2025, MOM revised the WICA compensation limits to reflect wage growth and rising healthcare costs. The current limits for accidents occurring on or after that date are as follows.
Medical expenses are covered up to S$53,000, or for a period of one year from the date of the accident, whichever is reached first. This covers hospitalisation, surgery, rehabilitation, and necessary medical care directly related to the work injury.
For fatal accidents, the maximum statutory compensation payable to the worker's dependants is S$269,000, calculated based on the worker's age and average monthly earnings.
For permanent incapacity, the maximum compensation is S$346,000, scaled to the degree of incapacity and the worker's earnings.
For construction and renovation contractors employing workers across a range of occupational categories, the WIC policy must be based on accurate declared wages and accurate occupational classifications. Under-declaring wages or misclassifying workers into lower-risk occupational categories reduces the premium but creates a proportional reduction in the payout at claim time. The saving at inception becomes a gap at the point of a serious injury.
The Construction sector injury profile
According to MOM's Workplace Safety and Health Report 2025, published in March 2026, the Construction sector recorded a workplace fatal and major injury rate of 26.3 per 100,000 workers in 2025. This remains the highest rate of any major sector in Singapore, even as it has improved from 31.0 per 100,000 workers in 2024.
The leading causes of major injuries across all sectors according to MOM are slips, trips and falls, falls from height, and machinery incidents. All three are directly relevant to construction and renovation site work. For a contractor with workers on scaffolding, working at height, or operating power tools and cutting equipment, these are not remote risks.
A further development from 1 December 2025 is the expansion of the compensable occupational disease list to 38 recognised conditions. For construction workers with sustained exposure to noise, vibration, dust, or hazardous substances, this expanded list creates additional occupational disease liability that WIC insurance must cover.
What a correctly structured WIC programme looks like
For a Singapore construction or renovation contractor, a WIC programme that is correctly structured covers the following.
All directly employed manual workers across all occupational categories present on site, with wages declared accurately to reflect actual remuneration. The policy should be updated whenever headcount, occupational categories, or wage levels change materially.
Confirmation at renewal that the occupational categories declared in the policy reflect the actual trades being performed. A renovation firm that has expanded from painting and carpentry work into electrical and structural work needs to confirm that the additional trades are within the scope of the declared categories.
A review of the subcontractor management process to confirm that subcontractors engaging workers in mandatory WIC categories hold valid WIC policies for those workers before they commence work on site.
You can read more about our WIC cover on the products page and about our FWMI cover for Work Permit holders.
If you are a construction or renovation contractor in Singapore and would like to understand whether your current WIC programme correctly covers your workforce, including the subcontractor question, we would be glad to work through it with you.
This article provides general information only. It is not insurance or legal advice. WIC compensation limits reflect MOM's revised figures effective 1 November 2025. WSH statistics sourced from MOM's Workplace Safety and Health Report 2025, published March 2026. Employers should seek qualified legal advice on their specific WICA obligations. Policy availability, terms, conditions, and exclusions vary by insurer and product, and cover is subject to the full policy wording. Please contact TZY CO for advice on your specific situation.