Speech by Minister Desmond Lee at the IOI Central Boulevard Towers Topping Out Ceremony

Aug 28, 2023

Mr Lee Yeow Seng, CEO, IOI Properties Group,
Mr Lim Sim Seng, BCA Chairman,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen.

Good morning. I am glad to join you for the IOI Central Boulevard Towers topping out ceremony.

Let me first congratulate everyone who has worked to achieve this milestone for the development.

a. For example, Architects 61, KTP Consultants, Threesixty Cost Management, Hexacon Construction, JRP Group and many more.

When completed, IOI Central Boulevard Towers will be a great addition to the Marina Bay area.

a. It will house a 60,000 sq ft sky park that will be accessible to the public. The park will include various amenities such as a 200-metre jogging track, and end-of-trip commuter facilities such as secured bicycle parking lots.

b. It has also attained BCA’s Green Mark Platinum Certification. The building is being constructed with environmentally friendly construction materials. Tenants will also be required to incorporate sustainable practices, for example the use of LED lights.

The Push for Value Chain Collaboration

A successful project like this requires many partners to play their part.

a. Alignment and collaboration between project parties is critical for the project to be successfully completed.

b. This is especially so as projects become more complex. For instance, in a small city state like Singapore, we will have to build taller, deeper, and in a more integrated manner, amidst our binding land constraints.

c. This is why the Government has been doing more to facilitate collaboration across project parties, as part of the Built Environment Industry Transformation Map (BE ITM), which was launched last year.

CORENET X is one such initiative to drive greater upfront collaboration.

a. It will act as a one-stop digital shopfront for the industry to make regulatory submissions for building works.

b. Under the new approval process, CORENET X will require consultants across different disciplines to collaborate upstream, and submit an integrated building model.

c. This upstream collaboration will facilitate early detection of potential conflicts within the design, which will reduce the time and cost incurred by builders downstream for abortive work.

d. Agencies will also provide consolidated responses to each submission, rather than issuing individual directions in silo. This coordinated process will enable cross-agency issues and conflicts to be identified and resolved early, in a more systematic manner.

e. We will onboard users in phases and roll out features progressively, beginning with a soft launch of CORENET X in December this year.

Beyond CORENET X, we are also trying to effect a paradigm shift in the way that our project parties work with each other through collaborative contracting.

Collaborative contracting involves the use of progressive contracting practices, which can help to manage the risk of disruptions and cost fluctuations amidst volatility and uncertainty.

a. For example, collaborative contracting can encourage project teams to strengthen integration between the design and construction stages, such as through regular workshops and meetings to facilitate communication and open dialogue between parties.

b. Through proactive project management and early warning mechanisms, we can identify issues early before they escalate into major disputes.

Collaborative contracting can also include equitable “pain and gain sharing” mechanisms.

a. For example, there could be clauses that set out the principles of risk-sharing for material price fluctuations.

b. Or clauses that enable the sharing of cost savings, so as to encourage all parties to come up with new and innovative methods to carry out the project.

The Important Role of Developers

Developers, who sit at the apex of the value chain by initiating and shaping projects, play a key role in driving value-chain transformation.

The Government, as a major developer, will also do our part.

a. For example, HDB is working closely with its project teams to ensure that they are ready for the progressive implementation of CORENET X.

b. Agencies are also reviewing their standard contracts to see if changes are needed in view of the new CORENET X processes.

In addition, our public sector agencies are taking the lead to adopt collaborative contracting.

a. Around ten public sector projects have piloted or will be piloting collaborative contracting.

b. BCA is also working with the industry to develop standard collaborative contracting provisions, which the industry can reference and adopt.

I encourage our private sector developers to join us in these efforts to accelerate transformation in the BE sector and bring up the entire construction industry in Singapore as a whole.

a. When developers and your value chain partners adopt a longer-term view to collaborate across multiple projects, you cultivate trust, decisively strengthen capabilities, and deliver more positive outcomes for all parties.

Conclusion

Let me congratulate the IOI Central Boulevard Towers team once again for achieving this outstanding milestone. We look forward not only to an outstanding addition to the Marina Bay area, but also one that adds to Singapore’s goal of achieving net-zero by 2050. With that, congratulations and have a good day.

Thank you.