A licensed private investigator in Singapore usually charges S$150 to S$250 an hour, with surveillance packages from roughly S$1,500 to S$3,000 and contested cases running into five figures. The spend only pays off if the PI is licensed by the Police Licensing & Regulatory Department and works inside the law, because evidence gathered illegally gets thrown out and can leave you facing your own charges. This guide breaks down the real costs, the legal limits, and how to brief a PI so you do not waste the money.
There is no government price list for private investigation. Agencies set their own rates, so the spread is wide and the same case can be quoted very differently depending on hours, manpower and equipment.
Most licensed agencies bill hourly at S$150 to S$250 per investigator. Two-man surveillance teams, night work, vehicle tailing and high-definition video push you to the top of that band or beyond. Simpler daytime watching sits at the lower end.
Packages are common for predictable jobs. A standard surveillance package often starts at S$1,500 to S$3,000 and covers an agreed number of hours plus a written report with timestamped photos or video. A matrimonial case that needs 30 hours of work typically lands around S$2,000 to S$3,000.
Costs climb fast once a case gets complicated. Multiple locations, extended timelines, GPS-grade vehicle work and background research can run into the thousands per day, and a hard adultery case can cost in the order of S$8,000 over a week of intensive watching. Treat any quote as a starting estimate, not a cap, and put the assumptions in writing.
| Service | Indicative cost | What's usually included |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly surveillance (per investigator) | S$150 - S$250 / hr | One investigator, photos, basic notes |
| Standard surveillance package | S$1,500 - S$3,000 | Set hours, written report, timestamped media |
| Matrimonial / infidelity case (~30 hrs) | S$2,000 - S$3,000 | Surveillance, photo/video evidence, report |
| Complex or contested case | S$5,000 - S$8,000+ | Multiple teams, extended timeline, vehicle work |
| Pre-marital / background check | From S$800 | Records and lifestyle checks, summary report |
The price is mostly a function of hours and headcount. A subject who keeps a fixed routine is cheap to watch. A subject who moves around, drives, or is alert to being followed needs more investigators and more time, which is where the real money goes.
Private investigation in Singapore is regulated under the Private Security Industry Act 2007 and overseen by the Police Licensing & Regulatory Department (PLRD) within the Singapore Police Force. Both the individual and the firm need licences.
An individual Private Investigator Licence costs S$16, is non-refundable, and is valid for five years. The applicant must be a Singapore citizen or permanent resident, at least 16, a 'fit and proper person', and hold the WSQ certificate 'Perform Investigation Activities in Compliance with Legal Requirements (PI)' unless exempted.
A Private Investigation Agency Licence is the firm-level licence. From 15 September 2025 it costs S$812 and is valid for three years. The company must be ACRA-registered with paid-up capital of at least S$50,000, have at least two directors or partners who are citizens or PRs and themselves hold valid PI licences, and at least one director or partner certified in the WSQ PI module.
Always ask for the agency's licence and check it. Using an unlicensed operator means the person watching your spouse, business partner or tenant has no legal standing, no accountability, and a much higher chance of crossing a line that sinks your case.
A licensed PI works in the same public spaces any member of the public can. The legal line is mostly about privacy, property and consent, and crossing it does not just risk your case, it can expose both you and the PI to criminal liability.
Hidden cameras sit on this line and the legality turns on where they point. A covert camera covering your own front door or living room is generally fine; the same camera aimed into someone else's home, a changing room or a toilet is not, and can amount to insulting modesty or worse. The question is never the device, it is whose privacy it captures.
The Personal Data Protection Act also applies to how an agency collects, uses and stores the personal data it gathers, so a professional PI handles your file with that in mind. If you are also worried about your own digital exposure, building a sense of your records and footprint is a sensible parallel step.
This is the question that decides whether the money was worth it. Under the Evidence Act, illegally obtained evidence can be excluded, and Singapore's Family Justice Courts apply a real standard before accepting that adultery occurred. A PI report is only useful if it was gathered lawfully and is detailed enough to persuade a judge.
Adultery is not the only route, and in practice it is a minority one. Singapore recorded 7,382 marital dissolutions in 2024, and most divorces run on unreasonable behaviour or separation rather than a proven affair, because adultery carries the heaviest evidential burden. The standard of proof is the balance of probabilities, meaning the court has to find it more likely than not that intercourse with a third party took place.
For divorce, there is one ground: the marriage has irretrievably broken down. Since 1 July 2024 you can establish it through six facts, including adultery, unreasonable behaviour, separation, desertion, and divorce by mutual agreement. Adultery means proven sexual intercourse with a third party, which is hard to film directly, so PIs usually build circumstantial evidence of 'inclination and opportunity', such as a couple checking into a hotel and staying overnight.
Because the bar for adultery is high, many lawyers run the case on unreasonable behaviour instead, which is broader and easier to prove. A PI report showing an improper association can support that fact without needing to catch the act itself. Decide the legal strategy with a lawyer first, then brief the PI to gather exactly what that strategy needs.
Two timing traps matter. If you keep living with your spouse for more than six months after discovering the adultery, you generally cannot rely on it. And if the case succeeds, the court can order the unfaithful spouse, and sometimes the third party named as a co-defendant, to pay your costs, which can include reasonable PI fees. Itemised invoices and a clear scope make that argument much easier, so keep every receipt rather than relying on a lump-sum figure.
A legitimate agency runs a fairly standard intake, and the paperwork it asks for is a sign it takes the law seriously rather than a red flag. The first thing it will do is verify who you are.
Expect to show your NRIC or passport so the agency can confirm you have a genuine interest in the case. A PI is not allowed to take on an anonymous client to watch a random stranger, and the agency has to keep records of who instructed it and why. You will usually have a phone call or meeting to set the objective, the hours, and whether you want full-day or half-day coverage, then sign a letter of authorisation that defines the scope.
Once work starts, the investigator keeps a log and produces a written report with dated, timestamped photos or video. The agency is bound to keep your file confidential and to handle the personal data it gathers under the Personal Data Protection Act. If the matter goes to court, the investigator can be called as a witness to speak to how the evidence was obtained, which is one more reason the chain of documentation has to be clean from the start.
Matrimonial work is the best-known use, but it is far from the only one. Each type of case has a different cost profile and a different evidence test.
Some targets are off-limits without special clearance, and a professional agency will tell you so before taking your money. Watching a political figure, a foreign diplomat or consul, or their family needs prior approval from the Singapore Police Force.
The same goes for surveillance of protected places such as government buildings, military-sensitive sites, foreign consulates, and immigration checkpoints. If an agency shrugs off these limits, that is a sign it will cut other corners too.
The cheapest PI is rarely the one that saves you money. A weak operator can burn your budget on footage a court ignores, or worse, gather it in a way that gets the whole report excluded. Spend deliberately.
Slot the estimate into your monthly budget so you know what you can sustain if the case runs long, and keep a buffer in your emergency fund rather than funding it on credit. A contested matrimonial case can quietly become one of the larger discretionary line items you face in a year.
A few warning signs separate a professional outfit from one that will cost you more than its fee.
Yes, provided you use a licensed agency. Private investigation is regulated under the Private Security Industry Act 2007 and overseen by the Police Licensing & Regulatory Department. Both the firm (Private Investigation Agency Licence) and the individuals (Private Investigator Licence) must be licensed.
Most licensed agencies charge S$150 to S$250 per investigator per hour. Standard surveillance packages start around S$1,500 to S$3,000, a typical 30-hour matrimonial case runs about S$2,000 to S$3,000, and complex contested cases can reach S$8,000 or more. There is no regulated price, so always get a written quote.
Yes, if it was gathered lawfully. A timestamped report with photos or video can support a divorce, but illegally obtained evidence can be excluded under the Evidence Act. Because proving adultery requires a high standard, many lawyers use a PI report to support the unreasonable behaviour fact instead.
Not without crossing legal lines. Planting a GPS tracker on a vehicle the client does not own, recording private conversations without consent, or hacking accounts can break the Computer Misuse Act and other laws. PIs work mainly through observation and filming in public or on property the client owns.
Ask for the Private Investigation Agency Licence number and confirm the individual investigators hold their own Private Investigator licences. Licences are issued through the Police Licensing & Regulatory Department via GoBusiness. A legitimate agency will provide this readily.
An individual Private Investigator Licence costs S$16 and is valid for five years. The firm-level Private Investigation Agency Licence costs S$812 from 15 September 2025 and is valid for three years, with eligibility conditions including ACRA registration and at least S$50,000 paid-up capital.
Sometimes. In a divorce based on adultery, the court can order the unfaithful spouse, and at times the co-defendant, to pay the plaintiff's costs, which may include reasonable private investigator fees. Keep all itemised invoices and receipts so your lawyer can argue for recovery.
It depends on the target's routine. A predictable subject can be confirmed in a session or two over a few days, while someone alert to being followed, or whose movements vary, can take weeks of intermittent surveillance. Agencies usually quote in blocks of hours or full and half days, so agree a budget cap and a check-in point rather than an open-ended brief.
Usually yes. A licensed agency verifies your identity with your NRIC or passport before taking the case, because it has to record who instructed it and confirm you have a genuine interest in the subject. An agency willing to skip this and watch anyone for anyone is a warning sign, not a convenience.
Yes. The investigator who gathered the evidence can be called as a witness to explain how and when it was obtained, which is why a clean log and a dated, timestamped report matter. Evidence that cannot be properly accounted for, or that was gathered unlawfully, risks being excluded.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.