Renovation Contractor
in Petaling Jaya

Local facts last reviewed 27 September 2026. Sources are listed at the end of the page.

PJ began in the early 1950s on the 1,200-acre Effingham rubber estate off Jalan Klang Lama. The first settlement was the Old Town, with its shop houses, community centre and bus station, and Jalan 1 was the very first road. The southern sections from Section 8 to the Old Town were settled from around 1953; the SS neighbourhoods to the west, Taman Mayang, Taman Seapark and Kelana Jaya came later. Seven decades on, a single PJ street can hold an original 1960s terrace, a rebuilt two-and-a-half-storey house and a condominium block, and each needs a different renovation plan.

MBPJ now describes its area as 97.2 sq km with more than 807,000 residents and about 276,800 property holdings (council estimate, January 2024). That is a large, mature housing stock, and much of the work homeowners ask about is renewal rather than new build: bathrooms that have leaked for years, kitchens rebuilt around old wiring, flat roofs and parapets that need resealing.

Petaling Jaya at a glance

MBPJ approval: what the council actually asks for

MBPJ’s building-control FAQ is blunt: under Section 70(1) of the Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974 (Act 133), no building, addition or renovation may be carried out without the local authority’s prior written permission. For a home renovation, the owner appoints a consultant to submit the application before any construction starts, and submissions go online through MBPJ eBuilding and the KPKT OSC 3.0 Plus system.

The council splits applications by size. Minor works use form PB.B13, standard “pelan setara” add-ons such as a typical rear extension use PB.B04, and full building plans for an individual house use PB.B03. Among other items, the minor-works checklist asks for proof of ownership, the latest assessment and quit-rent receipts and colour site photos; if you live in a strata unit it also needs a permission letter from your JMB or JMC. Replacing the original roof structure (not just the roof tiles or sheets) needs an engineer’s drawing and calculations.

Two conditions attached to MBPJ minor-works approvals affect how a job is run on site: the renovation-permit banner has to be displayed, and work is allowed from 8am to 6pm only, not on Sundays or public holidays. Mixing cement on the road is not allowed. We plan the programme around those hours from the first quote so there are no surprises for you or your neighbours.

PJ housing by section and era

Reading PJ’s map by age helps predict what you will find behind the tiles:

• PJ South and the Old Town (Section 8 to the Old Town, from about 1953): the oldest terraces and low-rise flats. Homes of this age were typically built before modern concealed waterproofing membranes and consumer units were standard, so it is worth budgeting to inspect pipes, wiring and wet-area floors rather than only refreshing finishes.
• PJ West and the SS sections (SS1–SS25, Taman Mayang, Taman Seapark, Kelana Jaya, Damansara Intan): mainly terrace houses with some low- and medium-cost flats. Terraces of this age have often been extended at the back over the years, so it is worth confirming an earlier extension was approved before adding another storey.
• 1990s condominiums such as Damansara Bistari, Jasmine Towers, Kelana Parkview, Kelana Puteri, Mutiara Oriental, Shang Villa and Tiara Kelana: by now around thirty years old, which is when bathroom membranes and original plumbing in strata units commonly start to cause inter-floor leaks.
• Taman Mayang and Aman Suria (largely 1990s–2000s) and the later Damansara Intan and Tropicana condos (late 2000s–early 2010s): mostly cosmetic and layout upgrades rather than services renewal.

One PJ-specific detail: MBPJ’s pelan setara form requires a structural plan and reinforced-concrete calculations for housing on former mining land and ex-landfill sites, naming PJS, SS 7 and PJU 1A (Kelana Idaman). If your house is in one of those areas, allow for an engineer from the start of any extension.

Flash floods and drains in PJ

By March 2025 MBPJ had identified 53 flood hotspots across the city, 28 of them resolved and 19 in progress. In April 2026 it named seven for priority works, including Taman Sri Manja, Taman Buana Perdana, Taman Dato Harun, Taman Medan Baru and Jalan PJS 10/11E. On 18 July 2026 Kampung Sungai Kayu Ara and Kampung Chempaka were hit by flash floods and a landslide.

In May 2026 the council said it would order homeowners to remove illegally covered drains in front of houses, and the mayor said PJ’s drains cannot cope with more than 60mm of rain in an hour. If you are paving the front yard or building a car-porch ramp, keep the drain open and accessible; covering it is exactly what MBPJ is now issuing notices about.

Typical jobs we quote in Petaling Jaya

These are the services PJ homeowners most often ask us about, each with a detailed local guide covering prices, materials and the MBPJ or strata steps:

• Bathroom renovation in PJ — re-waterproofing and re-piping older terrace bathrooms, and strata-approved bathroom rebuilds.
• Kitchen renovation in PJ — wet/dry kitchen layouts for SS terraces, often with a wiring upgrade.
• Waterproofing in PJ — flat roofs, parapets, balconies and failed bitumen on older houses.
• Condo renovation in PJ — 1990s units: JMB approval, deposits and permitted hacking hours.
• House renovation in PJ — whole-house refurbishments and extensions, with the MBPJ permit route.
• Painting services in PJ — interior and exterior repaints, mould treatment on old plaster.

Where we work in Petaling Jaya

We cover the whole MBPJ area, from the Old Town and Section 17 to SS2, Kampung Tunku, Bukit Gasing, Kelana Jaya and the PJU sections.

Nearby areas

If your property is just outside PJ, these pages cover the neighbouring councils and estates:

• SS2 — the 1970s SS2 terraces inside PJ, with their own page.
• Kelana Jaya — SS4–SS7, landed terraces and the SS6 condominiums.
• Bandar Utama — MBPJ-administered, mostly two-and-a-half-storey houses.
• Ara Damansara — PJU 1 and PJU 1A, including Kelana Idaman.
• Bangsar — across the Federal Highway, under DBKL instead of MBPJ.
• Subang Jaya — MBSJ’s area to the south, with its own minor-works permit.

Sources & official references

The local facts on this page were checked against the sources below on 27 September 2026. Council procedures, forms and fees change — confirm the current position with the council before you start work:

• MBPJ — Building Control FAQ — Section 70(1) Act 133 approval rule; consultant submission via eBuilding / OSC 3.0 Plus.
• MBPJ — Building Control Department forms — PB.B03, PB.B04 and PB.B13 application forms.
• MBPJ — Form PB.B13 (minor works, 2024) — checklist, JMB/JMC letter, roof-structure rule, site hours.
• MBPJ — Form PB.B04 (pelan setara) — structural calculations for ex-mining and ex-landfill sites.
• MBPJ — council background — area, population estimate and property holdings (January 2024).
• MBPJ — city background — Effingham estate origins and the Old Town.
• DOSM — Census 2020 key findings by administrative district — Petaling district population and households.
• New Straits Times — Petaling Jaya’s transformation (2017) — housing by section and era.
• The Star — flood mitigation at 28 PJ hotspots (Mar 2025) — 53 hotspots identified.
• The Star — MBPJ to fix seven flood hotspots (Apr 2026) — named priority hotspots.
• The Star — MBPJ to order removal of illegal drain covers (May 2026) — drain-cover notices.
• Malay Mail — PJ flash floods (Jul 2026) — Kampung Sungai Kayu Ara flood and landslide.