A bilinear fault detection observer is proposed for a class of continuous time singular bilinear systems subject to unknown input disturbance and fault. By singular value decomposition on the original system, a bilinear fault detection observer is proposed for the decomposed system via an algebraic Riccati equation, and the domain of attraction of the state estimation error is estimated. A design procedure is presented to determine the fault detection threshold. A model of flexible joint robot is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. A bilinear fault detection observer is proposed for a class of continuous time singular bilinear systems subject to unknown input disturbance and fault. By singular value decomposition on the original system, a bilinear fault detection observer is proposed for the decomposed system via an algebraic Riccati equation, and the domain of attraction of the state estimation error is estimated. A design procedure is presented to determine the fault detection threshold. A model of flexible joint robot is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.