Quality of Materials Used for HDB Lift Upgrading Programme

Madam, all the stainless steel parts used in lift frames must meet the Housing and Development Board (HDB)'s specifications. HDB requires contractors to submit a material testing report on the type of stainless steel grade used. HDB also conducts audit checks on the lift material used.

The completed lift works are handed over to Town Councils for maintenance. Stainless steel parts need to be maintained regularly to preserve its corrosion resistance. HDB has shared with Town Councils the need for a regular maintenance regime for the lifts and their stainless steel parts. HDB has also conducted demonstrations to Town Councils and their maintenance contractors. Many of the lifts islandwide where Town Councils have regular maintenance regimes are in good condition. We will continue to work with Town Councils to ensure that the maintenance contractors comply with the maintenance regime.

Madam, I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State about the particular lift upgrading in MacPherson. I am referring, in particular, to Block 121, Paya Lebar Way. I have raised this for more than a year with the HDB officer. Basically, shortly after installation and before it was handed over to the Town Council, there was a survey.

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During that survey, it was noted that there was already rust formed on the lift frame or the door jamb, but because we did not want to delay the commission of the lift so as to provide convenience to the residents, the Town Council took over and decided to run with it.

But my point of contention is that the lift is the main product of a lift upgrading project. In this case, if the lift frame came with rust on it, should it be accepted? In this case, while HDB has demonstrated on how to maintain the lift frame, the cost – in terms of manpower and material cost – is considerable, added up over time. Would this be fair to the Town Council which has to inherit this from HDB?

The third question that I would like to ask is whether the material used for this particular lift upgrading is similar to the kind of materials used for the other LUP across the island. If it is not the same, why so? Is it something that we should accept?

Mr Lee Yi Shyan : Madam, let me thank the Member for her questions. There are many grades of stainless steel. They are used in different environments. Among different grades, stainless steel has a common characteristic – they are corrosion-resistant, but not corrosion-proof. Depending on the grade used, they all need to be maintained. Maintenance, in this case for the lift frames, would mean using washing detergent, and sometimes, certain chemicals, to wipe the frames. The frequency required would be about once a month. In the high usage areas where the lift frames are likely to come into contact with chloride ions, meaning salt or sweat, then, those parts would need to be maintained more often.

Since 2005, HDB has specified the stainless steel grade 430 to be used. This is applied in all the LUP projects plus new lift installations islandwide for the next seven years or so. It is not just specific in MacPherson area. Over the island, there are 8,000 such lifts and their frames being installed.

Having learnt from the feedback from the various Town Councils, HDB has since 2012, switched to a higher grade of stainless steel, that is stainless steel grade 304. That has reduced the frequency for maintenance but it does not eliminate maintenance altogether. It still requires maintenance that will remove what would look like coffee stains on the lift frames.

I thank the Member for her patience and her Town Council's patience, for working with HDB. They are, together, looking for other ways, for example, applying certain coatings that may reduce the maintenance frequency and extend the life and appearance of the lift frames.

Mdm Speaker, as far as I know, in the construction industry, when the client has a budget, the consultant or the architect will specify the stainless steel, because it needs very little maintenance. We do not expect stainless steel to corrode easily. I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State under which code where maintenance is specified so that it would not corrode. Otherwise, tomorrow, we would see a lot of contractors taking the opportunity to say, "It corroded because you did not maintain it".

Well, I thank the Member for her input. Based on what I understand, stainless steel, again, requires maintenance. It is not totally maintenance-free. If you go to very high grades of stainless steel, the maintenance is less frequent. Given that LUP is an islandwide programme, we are working with a certain budget in mind. We should also be mindful of the fact that we should not over-engineer the specifications such that the cost will go up and we cannot extend the coverage of LUP as wide as possible.

HDB has, in that instance, decided on stainless steel grade 430. It is still, nonetheless, stainless steel, but the grade is 430. But subsequently, it has reverted to grade 304 which, so far, I think, has proven to be of a higher quality.

I have two more questions for the Senior Minister of State. Firstly, for a new lift which is the main product of the LUP, would it be acceptable to expect everything about the lift, including the lift frame and lift jamb, in this instance, to be rust-free? That is the first question.

The second question is: now that it has already been installed and because the material has already been rusting for a while and the Town Council has been required to maintain it, naturally, the manpower cost and material cost will go up more than perhaps in other precincts. Would there be any solution or proposal to help to defray some of these costs that the Town Council will now have to bear as a result of the quality of the stainless steel that was used in this particular LUP?

There are several terms used to describe the severity of the condition. One is "corrosion"; second is "rusting"; and the other one is "staining". If we are able to clean the lift frames, as they should be, let us say on a weekly or monthly basis, the staining can be removed quite easily without having it develop into rusting or corrosion of the steel. The maintenance regime can be incorporated into the regular cleaning schedule of Town Councils, and, as I said, HDB will be happy to work with the respective Town Councils with

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such problems on finding ways to minimise the cleaning frequency.