diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index afce9e69104..1e7a4ebea29 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 * Added `compas.colors.Color.contrast`.
 * Added `compas.geometry.Brep.from_plane`.
 * Added `compas.tolerance.Tolerance.angulardeflection`.
+* Added `compas.tolerance.Tolerance.update_from_dict`.
 
 ### Changed
 
@@ -34,6 +35,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 * Changed use of `compas.geometry.allclose` to `compas.tolerance.TOL.is_allclose`.
 * Changed use of `compas.geometry.close` to `compas.tolerance.TOL.is_close`.
 * Changed imports of itertools to `compas.itertools` instead of `compas.utilities`.
+* Changed `compas.tolerance.Tolerance` to a singleton, to ensure having only library-wide tolerance values.
 
 ### Removed
 
diff --git a/src/compas/tolerance.py b/src/compas/tolerance.py
index c3c8008008b..da6ea00ff5e 100644
--- a/src/compas/tolerance.py
+++ b/src/compas/tolerance.py
@@ -53,6 +53,9 @@ class Tolerance(Data):
     This value is called the "true value".
     By convention, the second value is considered the "true value" by the comparison functions of this class.
 
+    The :class:`compas.tolerance.Tolerance` class is implemented using a "singleton" pattern and can therefore have only 1 (one) instance per context.
+    Usage of :attr:`compas.tolerance.TOL` outside of :mod:`compas` internals is therefore deprecated.
+
     Examples
     --------
     >>> tol = Tolerance()
@@ -67,6 +70,9 @@ class Tolerance(Data):
 
     """
 
+    _instance = None
+    _is_inited = False
+
     ABSOLUTE = 1e-9
     """float: Determines when a number is small enough to be considered zero.
     """
@@ -108,8 +114,9 @@ class Tolerance(Data):
     """
 
     def __new__(cls, *args, **kwargs):
-        if not hasattr(cls, "_instance"):
-            cls._instance = super(Tolerance, cls).__new__(cls)
+        if not isinstance(cls._instance, cls):
+            cls._instance = object.__new__(cls, *args, **kwargs)
+            cls._inited = False
         return cls._instance
 
     @property
@@ -151,22 +158,34 @@ def __init__(
         name=None,
     ):
         super(Tolerance, self).__init__(name=name)
-        self._unit = None
-        self._absolute = None
-        self._relative = None
-        self._angular = None
-        self._approximation = None
-        self._precision = None
-        self._lineardeflection = None
-        self._angulardeflection = None
-        self.unit = unit
-        self.absolute = absolute
-        self.relative = relative
-        self.angular = angular
-        self.approximation = approximation
-        self.precision = precision
-        self.lineardeflection = lineardflection
-        self.angulardeflection = angulardflection
+        if not self._is_inited:
+            self._unit = None
+            self._absolute = None
+            self._relative = None
+            self._angular = None
+            self._approximation = None
+            self._precision = None
+            self._lineardeflection = None
+            self._angulardeflection = None
+
+        self._is_inited = True
+
+        if unit is not None:
+            self.unit = unit
+        if absolute is not None:
+            self.absolute = absolute
+        if relative is not None:
+            self.relative = relative
+        if angular is not None:
+            self.angular = angular
+        if approximation is not None:
+            self.approximation = approximation
+        if precision is not None:
+            self.precision = precision
+        if lineardflection is not None:
+            self.lineardeflection = lineardflection
+        if angulardflection is not None:
+            self.angulardeflection = angulardflection
 
     # this can be autogenerated if we use slots
     # __repr__: return f"{__class__.__name__}({', '.join(f'{k}={v!r}' for k, v in self.__dict__.items())})}"
@@ -193,6 +212,23 @@ def reset(self):
         self._lineardeflection = None
         self._angulardeflection = None
 
+    def update_from_dict(self, tolerance):
+        """Update the tolerance singleton from the key-value pairs found in a dict.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        tolerance : dict
+            A dictionary containing named tolerance values.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        None
+
+        """
+        for name in tolerance:
+            if hasattr(self, name):
+                setattr(self, name, tolerance[name])
+
     @property
     def units(self):
         return self._unit