Helper window cleaning safety: MOM's rules for Singapore homes

You can let your helper clean the outside of a window only when all of MOM's conditions are in place: locked grilles, her body inside except her arms, and you or another adult watching throughout. No grilles means no outside window cleaning, even with you beside her. For inside panes and laundry poles, the same safety basics apply: feet on the floor, nothing leaned out.

How to keep window cleaning safe for your helper, step by step

1. List every window she might clean. MOM's rule covers windows above the ground level that don't face a common corridor, in landed homes too.
2. Check the grilles on each one. Under the Work Passes Regulations, a grille must lock and must stop an adult putting anything but the arms past the ledge.
3. Go through the safety agreement with her. MOM requires it before she starts work, in her own language, and it lists the window restrictions.
4. Write down which windows she may clean outside, and how. Leave off any window without a working grille.
5. Give her a long-handled squeegee or wiper that works from inside. MOM's tip is cleaning tools with extended handles.
6. Lock the grilles before she starts and stay in the room until she's done. By law, you or an adult who knows the rules must watch the whole job.
7. Keep her feet on the floor. MOM says no chairs, stools or tiptoeing, no leaning out and no climbing onto the ledge.
8. Ask her to call you if something drops onto the ledge. MOM says she should never climb out for it.
9. Hang laundry with a few pieces per pole and the heavier clothes near the bracket, as MOM advises. Help her bring it in when it rains heavily.
10. Call 995 if she falls or is badly hurt. Her medical costs are yours, MOM says.

What MOM's window cleaning rule says

The rule is a condition of your work permit for a migrant domestic worker (MDW). It sits in the Fourth Schedule of the Work Passes Regulations, which MOM pointed to in its October 2025 answer in Parliament. For a window above the ground level that doesn't face a common corridor, your helper may clean the outward side only if, for the whole job:

• the grille is locked so it can't be opened
• she stays inside the room
• no part of her body goes past the ledge except her arms
• you, or an adult representative who knows these conditions, supervises her

If the window has no grille that keeps an adult's body in, she may not clean its outside at all. The law also asks you, more broadly, to provide safe working conditions at work, and MOM's debarment page lists instructing a helper to do tasks that compromise her safety and health.

MOM says employers who break the window rule can be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to 12 months, or both, and may be barred from employing a helper. It told Parliament it acts against about 15 employers a year over unsafe window cleaning.

What's allowed and what isn't

Who can supervise, and what supervising means

MOM's Q&A on the window rule says supervising means keeping a close watch, so she never opens the grilles to reach a hard spot. It doesn't have to be you. MOM says an adult representative should know the safe working conditions and have the authority to make sure she does the chore safely.

So a grandparent can step in, if they know the rules and can stop her. If no adult like that is home, save the outside panes for another day. And if a window can't be cleaned with every condition met, MOM's answer is that it shouldn't be done. Leave it, or book a window-cleaning service for it.

Hanging laundry safely in an HDB flat

Laundry has no supervision rule. MOM says supervising every load is harder, so it asks you to make sure a new helper can hang laundry safely before she does it alone, for example by guiding her. Bamboo poles out of a kitchen window may be new to her. MOM lists adjusting to high-rise buildings among the early difficulties a new helper can have.

Do the first few loads together. Show her how the pole sits in the bracket without her leaning out, and where the heavier clothes go. MOM's 2023 safety tips add two more: don't overload the poles, and keep the floor under the window dry.

How to talk it through with your helper

MOM's holiday cleaning guide says your helper may hesitate to ask how to do a chore in a high-rise home. So ask her first, and let her know she can ask for your help, as MOM suggests. First-time helpers practise window cleaning and laundry at MOM's Settling-in Programme, so ask her to show you what she learnt. Some lines you can use:

• "Please don't clean the outside of this window unless I'm home and the grilles are locked."
• "If something drops onto the ledge, leave it and tell me. We'll sort it out together."
• "If a job doesn't feel safe, stop and ask me. You won't be in trouble for asking."
• "It's raining hard. Let's bring the laundry in together."

MOM asks employers to tell their helper the window rules and repeat them regularly. Festive cleaning adds to her workload, MOM notes, so talk through any schedule changes and make sure she gets enough rest. Our guide to helper rest day rules covers what MOM requires, and how to manage a domestic helper covers house rules more broadly. Grilles protect your children too: the baby-proofing checklist has the window steps for them.

If she falls or gets hurt

Call 995. SCDF lists major traumas and loss of consciousness among the emergencies it responds to. Give your phone number and full address with the postal code, and send someone to the lift lobby to bring the crew up, as SCDF advises.

Her medical costs are yours, hospital bills included, MOM says. Helpers aren't covered by the Work Injury Compensation Act. Instead, MOM requires personal accident insurance with a sum assured of at least $60,000 a year, which pays out for death or permanent disability. Our guide to helper insurance explains what MOM requires, and the cost of a domestic helper guide puts it in your monthly total.

Who to contact

• A fall, heavy bleeding or loss of consciousness: call 995 (SCDF).
• A question on the window rules: MOM's enquiries line, 6438 5122, Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:30pm, as its contact page lists.
• Unsafe window cleaning you're certain has happened: MOM's online Report an infringement form, on the same page.
• Your helper wants to talk to someone in her own language: the CDE 24-hour helpline, 1800 2255 233. MOM names CDE among the helplines for this.
• Your agency didn't arrange the safety agreement: MOM says agencies must get it signed before she starts with you. Ask the agency first, then MOM.

Frequently asked questions

What are the rules for helper window cleaning safety in Singapore?

Your helper may clean the outside of a window above the ground level only with the grilles locked, her body inside the room except her arms, and you or an adult representative supervising throughout. That's a work permit condition in the Work Passes Regulations. MOM also says no stools, no leaning out and no climbing onto ledges.

Can my maid clean windows when I'm not home? What's MOM's rule?

Not the outside panes. MOM's rule needs you or another adult there to supervise for the whole job. She can do the inside panes without you, using MOM's tips: lock the window first and use a long-handled tool.

Is there a window grilles rule for maids?

Yes. Under MOM's work permit rules, your helper can't clean the outside of a high window that has no grille stopping an adult's body passing the ledge. Where there is a grille, it stays locked for the whole job. Windows along a common corridor fall outside this rule.

How can my helper hang laundry safely?

MOM's tips: keep her feet flat on the floor, hang only a few pieces per pole, put the heavier clothes near the bracket, and never lean out or stand on anything. Help her bring the laundry in when it rains heavily. Guide a new helper through the first loads before she does them alone.

Does the window rule apply to condos and landed homes?

Yes. MOM says it covers any home with windows above the ground level, landed homes included. Ground-level windows and those along a common corridor are outside it. A balcony counts like a corridor only if she can clean from it without climbing out, MOM's Q&A says.