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Building facade inspection to be made mandatory as city ages

SINGAPORE — Building owners will soon be required to hire qualified personnel to conduct a facade inspection every seven years, as part of plans to “future-proof” Singapore’s existing infrastructure, Second Minister for National Development Desmond Lee said on Tuesday (March 6).

SINGAPORE — Building owners will soon be required to hire qualified personnel to conduct a facade inspection every seven years, as part of plans to “future-proof” Singapore’s existing infrastructure, Second Minister for National Development Desmond Lee said on Tuesday (March 6).

“As our city ages, we will need to find ways to future-proof our infrastructure so that it continues to be safe and functional,” Mr Lee told Parliament during the Committee of Supply debate on his ministry’s budget.

Currently, building facade safety is regulated at the design and construction stage, as well as via a general maintenance regime. Building owners are not required to conduct facade inspections.

This is set to change with the introduction of a new facade inspection regime that would cover all buildings taller than 13 metres and older than 20 years. Temporary buildings and private landed homes would be exempted.

Explaining the rationale for a seven-year inspection cycle, Mr Lee said this takes into consideration the expected lifespan of common facade materials, and allows for timely repairs to be conducted when tell-tale signs such as corrosion, discolouration or cracks start to appear.

“(The seven-year cycle also) aligns with the typical length of the repair and redecoration cycles for Housing Development Board estates and the majority of condominium developments, to save costs,” he added.

The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) aims to finalise the relevant legislative changes for the inspection regime by the end of the year. It will also work with the industry to develop guidelines for the inspections, as well as invest in more efficient ways to conduct such checks, such as by using drones.

Building owners will be given about a year to get ready before the new requirements take effect, Mr Lee said.

During his speech, the minister also announced that the BCA will be setting up a “transformation office” for the built environment sector.

Called Build.SG, the office will initially focus on implementing the construction sector’s industry transformation map (ITM). In the long run, it will seek to “reap synergies from the various ITMs in the built environment cluster”, as well as act as a one-stop career office to attract, upgrade and retain professionals, managers, engineers and technicians in the built environment sector.

Mr Lee also addressed the issue of lift maintenance, which was in the headlines last year due to a string of breakdowns in HDB estates.

Aside from putting in place additional processes to improve the safety and performance of lifts, particularly those in public housing estates, a committee formed by the BCA and the labour movement is also “seriously considering” recommending a voluntary progressive wage model for local lift technicians.

“This sets out clear progression pathways for lift technicians, and ensures they are remunerated appropriately for their skills,” said Mr Lee. “We hope that companies will come on board, and work together to build up a sustainable pipeline of skilled local lift technicians.”

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