HEALTH & SAFETY ENGINEERING
CHANGES TO BUILDING CONTROL ACT TO ENHANCE SAFETY AND IMPROVE ACCESSIBILITY Owners of buildings that are more than 13 m tall will be required to conduct facade inspections every seven years, once the buildings are over 20 years old. Amendments will be made to the Building Control Act to introduce a new facade inspection regime, enhance the regulatory framework for lifts and escalators, allow the Government to mandate a Progressive Wage Model for Singapore Residents in the lift maintenance industry, and require the provision of basic accessibility features for older buildings that undergo addition and alteration (A&A) works. These changes are expected to achieve the following objectives: • Strengthen the building control regulatory framework in view of Singapore’s high-rise built environment and an ageing building stock. • Improve accessibility to meet the needs of an ageing population as well as persons with disabilities. In addition, the amended Building Control Act will consolidate requirements over the entire lifecycle of a building, from design, to construction, to maintenance.
Improving facade safety through a Periodic Facade Inspection regime Under the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act (BMSMA), responsible parties have a duty to ensure that building exteriors are properly maintained. Going forward, BCA will introduce a new Periodic Facade Inspection (PFI) regime to facilitate the early detection of facade deterioration and allow defects to be rectified in a timely manner. This will help to reduce the likelihood of facade failure as our building stock ages. The requirements above will now be consolidated into the Building Control Act. Facade inspections will need to be conducted every seven years for buildings that are more than 13 m tall, once they are over 20 years old. Landed houses are exempted from these requirements. Responsible parties must appoint a Competent Person (ie Professional Engineer or Registered Architect), who can be assisted by a Facade Inspector (FI), to conduct the facade inspec-
PERIODIC FACADE INSPECTION
Maintaining a safe and quality built environment for all WHY PFI? Under the BMSMA: Owners/persons responsible have a duty to ensure that their facades are properly maintained • Densely populated high-rise cityscape with ageing building stock • Building facades are subject to weather elements & deteriorate over time • PFI regime aims to facilitate early detection of facade deterioration & allow defects to be rectified in a timely manner
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THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER March 2020
WHY these buildings?
> 20 years* of age • Lifespan of common materials • Focused on older buildings
> 13 metres in height • Higher safety risk posed Exemption: Landed houses *Based on date of temporary occupation permit (TOP) or certificate of statutory completion (CSC), whichever applicable.
WHO is involved? 1) Competent Person (CP) • Professional Engineer or Registered Architect
• Detect signs of deterioration and propose rectification works for owner to carry out
2) Facade Inspector (FI) • With prescribed qualifications & experience
• Accredited with BCA or prescribed organisations • CP can appoint FI to assist in facade inspection CPs & FIs must complete Certificate of Facade Inspection course approved by BCA
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HOW is PFI implemented? • To inspect in batches starting with older buildings • More than 4,000 buildings subjected to PFI regime per year during first inspection cycle (7 years) • CP to conduct full visual inspection & representative hands-on inspection for each elevation of building facade • CP can leverage technology for more efficient inspection e.g. drones, borescope (small flexible camera) & scanning equipment
