Access for Maintenance of High-rise Building Facades

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for National Development whether the Ministry will consider making it mandatory for all building developers to provide access for future maintenance of the facade of high-rise buildings, such as gondolas.

We are committed to improving the productivity and safety of building maintenance operations. BCA and other public agencies are looking at ways to ensure that developers, engineers and architects make the necessary provisions at the design stage.

In August this year, MOM's Workplace Safety and Health (Design for Safety) Regulations came into force. Developers are now required to convene Design for Safety review meetings to identify design risks, whether at the construction or maintenance phase, and discuss how they may be eliminated or mitigated. Penalties are imposed for any non-compliance. This compels developers to think through safety and maintenance strategies, such as the use of gondolas, to access facades of high-rise buildings.

The Regulations are complemented by MOM's Design for Safety Guidelines, which are available on the Workplace Safety and Health Council’s website. BCA has worked with MOM to include specific design considerations for safe maintenance access within these guidelines.

Beyond this round of safety review and guidelines, BCA will continue to study the feasibility of regulating building designs to further improve maintenance productivity and safety.