An Environmental Baseline Study (EBS) is a soil and groundwater investigation carried out to:
- Establish the baseline level of potential contaminants in the soil and groundwater beneath the site
- Assess the extent of contamination of the site
Decontamination works for the site will be dependent on the EBS results.
If your business involves pollutive activities or stores diesel, petroleum or flammable materials, an EBS is required when you:
- Obtain, renew, extend or terminate* your tenancy, lease or Temporary Occupation Licence (TOL)
- Transfer^ or assign your tenancy, lease or TOL
- Change the usage of your premises
- Sublet your premises
*Includes En-bloc Redevelopment (EBR) cases or cases where JTC buys back your leases.
^Includes transfer cases such as corporate restructuring.
An EBS can take up to 4 months to complete.
Who is responsible for the EBS and decontamination works
Current activity | Proposed activity | Party responsible for EBS | Party responsible for decontamination works |
New lease/tenancy/TOL allocation | |||
Not applicable | Non-pollutive | Not applicable | |
Pollutive | Incoming lessee/tenant | Not applicable | |
Renewal of lease/tenancy/TOL, change of use or subletting | |||
Non-pollutive | Non-pollutive | Not applicable | |
Pollutive | Current lessee/tenant | Lessee/tenant at point of exit | |
Pollutive | Non-pollutive | Current lessee/tenant | Lessee/tenant at point of approval |
Pollutive | |||
Expiry or termination of lease/tenancy/TOL | |||
Non-pollutive | Not applicable | Not applicable | |
Pollutive | Exiting lessee/tenant | Lessee/tenant at point of exit | |
Assignment of transfer of lease/tenancy/TOL | |||
Non-pollutive | Non-pollutive | Not applicable | |
Pollutive | Transferee (buyer) |
Transferrer at point of assignment or |
|
Pollutive | Non-pollutive | Transferrer (seller) | |
Pollutive |
Engage a qualified consultant
As we only accept EBS reports from qualified consultants, please choose from the latest list of consultants published in the National Environment Agency's (NEA) website.
Read our technical guidelines for more information. Also, do ensure the data submitted for soil and groundwater samples tested adhere to these templates:
Practice Circulars
Please refer to the following Practice Circulars for updates to our policies and procedures: