Lift contractors to be assessed according to performance

SINGAPORE — The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) is looking at a performance-based regime to assess lift contractors in the maintenance of lifts, said National Development Minister Lawrence Wong in Parliament on Thursday (March 24).

He was responding to a supplementary question from Ms Tin Pei Ling (MacPherson SMC), who asked whether the ministry would consider implementing an internal appraisal system to rank lift companies by their performances, which could be a factor in decisions such as which company to award tenders to.

Earlier this month, a domestic helper was trapped in a lift at a Housing Development Board (HDB) block in Ang Mo Kio for 90 minutes after the lift suddenly shot up 17 floors, causing her to fall and hit her back.

Mr Wong said the HDB “already looks at the breakdown rates of different lift models as a quality measure in selecting lift models for installation in new HDB flats”.

Beyond installation, lift maintenance was equally important, he noted. “...Today, many town councils get the lift contractors to maintain lifts but (they) do not have a lot of oversight over the performance regime that is in place for the lift contractors, how they go about actually doing their job,” he said.

“So, the BCA is also looking at a performance-based regime for lift contractors to maintain the lifts well.”

About two weeks ago, Mr Wong had announced that in light of three high-profile lift incidents in five months, the BCA would be stepping up its audit checks on lifts across the island — especially those in HDB blocks — ahead of legislative changes to be introduced later this year to beef up lift regulations and standards.

The aim of the changes is to improve standards and ensure compliance by all lift owners, manufacturers and contractors, he had said then.