Written answer by Ministry of National Development on the number of applications by building owners for grants under the Accessibility Fund for the construction costs of lactation rooms and lactation pods in the past five years

Apr 2, 2024

Question No: 5888

Question by: Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang

To ask the Minister for National Development (a) for each year in the past five years, how many building owners have applied for grants under the Accessibility Fund for the construction costs of (i) lactation rooms and (ii) lactation pods; and (b) if the data is not available, whether the Ministry will consider collecting this information.

Answer:

          Since the implementation of the Code on Accessibility in the Built Environment (‘Code’) 2013, it has been mandatory for certain building types to provide at least one lactation room. This requirement applies to new buildings, and existing buildings undergoing major retrofitting works where the buildings plans are submitted for regulatory approval on or after 1 April 2014. For private buildings constructed before the implementation of the Code 2013, the Accessibility Fund may provide co-funding of up to 60% of the construction cost of Universal Design features, including lactation rooms.

Since 2019, two building owners have applied for the Accessibility Fund to retrofit their buildings with lactation rooms. We strongly encourage more building owners to tap on the Accessibility Fund to improve the inclusiveness of our built environment. Tenants and users, who require these facilities, can also urge building owners to tap on this fund.