The short answer
You can have office space inside an industrial unit, but only as a supporting (ancillary) function — not as the main use. The unit's primary purpose must remain industrial. This is a rule set by URA, Singapore's urban planning authority, and it applies to both B1 and B2 industrial property.
So you can't simply rent a factory unit and run a pure office from it. But you can have an office area within the unit if it supports your industrial activity.
The 60:40 rule
URA's rule is often called the 60:40 rule. In simple terms:
- At least 60% of the unit's gross floor area must be used for the actual industrial activity
- Up to 40% can be used for ancillary (supporting) purposes — like office space, meeting rooms, showroom, or pantry
- The office space must support the main industrial use, not operate as a standalone office
- The 40% is a shared quantum — office, showroom and other ancillary uses all draw from the same 40%
What counts as ancillary office?
Ancillary office means office work that directly supports the industrial activity in the unit — things like admin, finance, human resources, sales coordination, or design work tied to what you make or store there. It's the back-office part of an industrial business.
What's not allowed is using the unit as a pure office with no real industrial activity. URA does recognise certain e-business activities — including qualifying software development — as predominant industrial uses, and call centres are allowed in B1 (but not B2). But a conventional consultancy, accounting practice or other standalone office use generally isn't suitable as the main use of an industrial unit. For those, a commercial (office) space is the right fit and keeps you on the right side of the rules.
Why this matters
This isn't a grey area you can quietly bend. If you set up a pure office in an industrial unit, you can run into trouble with URA, the landlord, or the building management. Industrial rents are lower than office rents for a reason — the use is restricted. Using industrial space as office space is effectively bypassing those rules.
There's also a CEA angle: as an agent, I must advertise a property according to its approved use and must not misleadingly market an industrial unit as an office. So I'll always make sure a unit fits your actual use before we go further.
So, industrial or commercial — which do you need?
If your business genuinely involves making, storing, packing, assembling or processing something, an industrial unit (with an ancillary office area) can work well and save you money. If your business is purely office-based, look at commercial space instead — it's the right tool for the job.
Not sure which side of the line your business falls on? Tell me what you actually do day-to-day, and I'll help you figure out whether an industrial or commercial unit suits you — so you don't end up in the wrong place and paying for it later.