The owners of several buildings in Singapore are taking extra fire safety precautions after their properties failed several cladding tests.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) revealed recently that 41 buildings have used materials that are not fire-safe on their outer walls, which could affect insurance policies.
Our Tampines Hub, Singapore Polytechnic, and several condominiums were among those cited by the SCDF. It gave building owners two months to remove the affected cladding, starting from the ground up.
The SCDF investigation into building cladding was initiated after a fire in an industrial building along Toh Guan Road in May led to the death of a 54-year-old woman.
A representative of Our Tampines Hub was quoted by Channel NewsAsia as saying: “On the deadline for removal of the affected claddings, we also shared that there was subsequent update to the stakeholders informing them that the timeline for the removal of the cladding can only be confirmed by end [of September] 2017.”
Singapore Polytechnic also took action, with a spokesperson saying that it had already begun dismantling the affected panels, with the project expected to finish by October 15, the start of the new school term.
However, a building management expert said that the cladding replacement work could stretch up to one year, as it was a complicated process.
“It involves administrative work and discussions with engineers, architect, contractors, insurance and owner as they still need to prepare budget, seek approval from the authority on the new proposal and also sourcing for materials, communicating and arrangement with tenants/occupiers, etcetera,” the expert told CNA.
