---
id: sgkb.public-safety.improvised-cover-at-home
kind: article
title: "Improvised Cover at Home and Public Shelters"
url: https://ik.sg/en/knowledge/article/sgkb.public-safety.improvised-cover-at-home
language: en
evidence_status: verified
last_verified: 2026-10-14
collection_as_of: 2026-10-16
---

# Improvised Cover at Home and Public Shelters

Singapore households without a household or storey shelter should use Improvised Cover At Home during a wartime emergency rather than running to a distant public shelter; SCDF also designates improvised public shelters and maintains hardened MRT, HDB, school, and community-centre public shelters listed on OneMap.

# Improvised Cover at Home and Public Shelters

**Improvised Cover At Home (ICAH)** is the Singapore Civil Defence Force's guidance for residents whose homes lack a **household shelter (HS)** or **storey shelter (SS)** during a wartime emergency. SCDF states that improvised cover using household furniture and items can give **considerable protection against flying debris and glass splinters**, and that it is **relatively safer to stay at home under improvised cover during an attack than being out in the open trying to reach a public shelter** ([SCDF Types of Shelter, accessed Oct 2026](https://www.scdf.gov.sg/home/civil-defence-shelter/types-of-shelter)). ICAH answers **where to shelter when there is no reinforced room**; it does not replace dialling **995** or **999** for a personal fire or crime emergency ([emergency services and safety](/en/knowledge/article/sgkb.daily-life.emergency-services-and-safety)). Household-shelter duties and PWS signals are in [civil defence shelter rules](/en/knowledge/dataset/sgkb.data.civil-defence-shelter-rules) and [civil defence preparedness](/en/knowledge/article/sgkb.public-safety.civil-defence-preparedness).

## Purpose-built shelters: household, storey, and public stock

From **1997**, the **Civil Defence Shelter Act 1997** requires new houses and flats to incorporate **household or storey shelters** in planning applications to the Urban Redevelopment Authority ([SCDF About CD Shelter, accessed Oct 2026](https://www.scdf.gov.sg/home/civil-defence-shelter/about-civil-defence-shelter)). **HS/SS** compartments have thickened structure, two ventilation sleeves, and an SCDF-approved protective door; owners or occupiers must not tamper with doors or structural slabs and must keep doors and sleeves operable ([SCDF Types of Shelter, accessed Oct 2026](https://www.scdf.gov.sg/home/civil-defence-shelter/types-of-shelter); [SSO CDSA s.4, accessed Oct 2026](https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/CDSA1997?ProvIds=pr4-)).

**Public shelters** are hardened spaces for wartime refuge. As published on SCDF's Types of Shelter page in **October 2026**, stock includes **60** underground MRT stations hardened as shelters (count stated as of completion of **Circle Line Stage 6**), shelters in **446** HDB blocks, **55** secondary-school basements, **31** community centres/clubs, and **8** other public-development shelters ([SCDF Types of Shelter, accessed Oct 2026](https://www.scdf.gov.sg/home/civil-defence-shelter/types-of-shelter)). Capacities and peacetime uses vary; the MRT shelter headnote gives a **3,000–19,000** person range depending on station size ([SCDF Types of Shelter, accessed Oct 2026](https://www.scdf.gov.sg/home/civil-defence-shelter/types-of-shelter)). SCDF identifies public shelters with the civil defence shelter sign and lists locations in a PDF and on **OneMap** under Safety and Security → Civil Defence Public Shelters ([SCDF About CD Shelter, accessed Oct 2026](https://www.scdf.gov.sg/home/civil-defence-shelter/about-civil-defence-shelter)).

## When to use ICAH instead of running outdoors

ICAH is SCDF's answer for **older or non-shelter homes** — including many pre-1994 HDB flats without household shelters — when the **Public Warning System Alarm** signals imminent air attack or shelling ([SCDF PWS, accessed Oct 2026](https://www.scdf.gov.sg/home/civil-defence-shelter/public-warning-system); [SCDF Types of Shelter, accessed Oct 2026](https://www.scdf.gov.sg/home/civil-defence-shelter/types-of-shelter)). The handbook's **10th edition (2026)** also covers ICAH and **in-place protection** alongside SG Alert and other hazards ([civil defence preparedness](/en/knowledge/article/sgkb.public-safety.civil-defence-preparedness)).

The protective logic is distance and exposure: crossing open ground to a distant public shelter during an attack increases fragment and blast risk compared with sheltering inside using sturdy tables, internal walls, or other household cover per handbook guidance ([SCDF Types of Shelter, accessed Oct 2026](https://www.scdf.gov.sg/home/civil-defence-shelter/types-of-shelter)). Residents **with** an HS/SS should use that compartment when the Alarm sounds, tune to radio or TV inside, and leave only after **All Clear** ([SCDF About CD Shelter, accessed Oct 2026](https://www.scdf.gov.sg/home/civil-defence-shelter/about-civil-defence-shelter)).

## Improvised public shelters and wartime occupation steps

Beyond ICAH, SCDF may designate suitable building parts — for example **underground carparks** — as **improvised shelters** when needed during a wartime emergency ([SCDF Types of Shelter, accessed Oct 2026](https://www.scdf.gov.sg/home/civil-defence-shelter/types-of-shelter)). That is an operational designation during crisis, not a guarantee every carpark is always a shelter.

SCDF's occupation sequence before and during attack is: increased public education before wartime emergencies, **prepare** the shelter, move in on **Alarm**, monitor broadcasts inside, and exit on **All Clear** ([SCDF About CD Shelter, accessed Oct 2026](https://www.scdf.gov.sg/home/civil-defence-shelter/about-civil-defence-shelter)). Annual PWS **Important Message** soundings on **15 February** and **15 September** at **6:20 p.m.** are familiarisation exercises, not automatic orders to evacuate or to run to MRT stations ([SCDF PWS, accessed Oct 2026](https://www.scdf.gov.sg/home/civil-defence-shelter/public-warning-system)).

## Critical perspectives and retrieval boundaries

ICAH and public-shelter doctrine are **civil-defence protective measures**, not substitutes for **emergency medical response** or policing. A heart attack during a PWS exercise still warrants **995**; a crime in progress warrants **999** ([emergency services and safety](/en/knowledge/article/sgkb.daily-life.emergency-services-and-safety)). Conversely, knowing ICAH does not excuse **illegal renovation** of a household shelter or ignoring **Fire Code** duties ([civil defence shelter rules](/en/knowledge/dataset/sgkb.data.civil-defence-shelter-rules), [fire and ambulance services](/en/knowledge/article/sgkb.public-safety.fire-and-ambulance-services)).

Common retrieval errors include telling every resident to **sprint to the nearest MRT** regardless of home shelter status, treating **ICAH** as permission to ignore **Alarm** signals, or quoting **peacetime shelter counts** as proof of space for every resident at once. Practical rule: **Alarm → shelter immediately (HS/SS, nearest public shelter, ICAH, or SCDF-designated improvised space); Important Message → tune to broadcast; personal medical or police emergencies → 995/999 regardless of PWS activity** ([SCDF About CD Shelter, accessed Oct 2026](https://www.scdf.gov.sg/home/civil-defence-shelter/about-civil-defence-shelter); [SCDF PWS, accessed Oct 2026](https://www.scdf.gov.sg/home/civil-defence-shelter/public-warning-system)).

## Sources

- [SCDF — Types of Shelter](https://www.scdf.gov.sg/home/civil-defence-shelter/types-of-shelter) — Accessed 2026-10-14
- [SCDF — About Civil Defence Shelter](https://www.scdf.gov.sg/home/civil-defence-shelter/about-civil-defence-shelter) — Accessed 2026-10-14
- [SCDF — Public Warning System](https://www.scdf.gov.sg/home/civil-defence-shelter/public-warning-system) — Accessed 2026-10-14
- [Singapore Statutes Online — CDSA 1997 section 4](https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/CDSA1997?ProvIds=pr4-) — Accessed 2026-10-14

## Explore connections

- Articles: [Civil Defence Preparedness](https://ik.sg/en/knowledge/article/sgkb.public-safety.civil-defence-preparedness)
- Topics: [Civil defence preparedness](https://ik.sg/en/knowledge/topic/sgtopic.public-safety.civil-defence)
- Topics: [Improvised Cover at Home and public shelters](https://ik.sg/en/knowledge/topic/sgtopic.public-safety.improvised-cover-at-home)
- Topics: [Public safety and emergencies](https://ik.sg/en/knowledge/topic/sgtopic.public-safety)
- Topics: [Shelters and public warning systems](https://ik.sg/en/knowledge/topic/sgtopic.public-safety.shelters-warning)
- People & organisations: [Singapore Civil Defence Force](https://ik.sg/en/knowledge/entity/sg.agency.scdf)

Dates describe this record’s own period and applicability. A verification date does not mean a rule is currently in force. An expanding collection. Published counts show available knowledge, not complete coverage of Singapore.