Opening Address by Minister Desmond Lee at ACES 51st Anniversary Gala Dinner

Jul 27, 2022

Ladies and gentlemen

1. Good evening. 

2. I am delighted to join you in celebrating ACES’s 51st Anniversary. Since your formation in 1971, ACES has grown from strength to strength. Today, ACES has over 180 members, representing around 70% of the consulting engineers in Singapore. Through the years, your members have contributed to the vibrant, green, sustainable and liveable city that Singaporeans enjoy today. ACES has  worked quietly behind the scenes and make things happen. We will continue to work closely with you to support the community of consulting engineers.

3. Today, I would like to share a bit more about how we’re addressing the many challenges that you face as engineers, as well as what you can do to prepare for the future of construction and the Built Environment.

Supporting the Engineering Community

4. Through our conversations with you, we understand that you may face several challenges as consulting engineers. Many of these problems have been around for some time.

5. One of these is fee diving. To win contracts, some firms may bid lower than what is really reasonable, and sacrifice quality in the process. This creates a vicious cycle that drives prices lower and lower, which is not sustainable for our sector, not for the kind of work we do, not for the kind matters at stake. That is why we introduced the Quality Fee Method for our public sector projects, and we discourage outlier bids that are much lower than the rest. The majority of projects are now awarded to bids with the highest quality scores, which may not be the bids with the lowest fees.

6. We have also heard your feedback that consultants are often expected to perform non-consultancy services, as part of your contracts, even though this is not made clear upfront during the tender process. We are therefore working with developers in the public sector and trade associations such as ACES, to address this in our standard agreements. This includes stating the required services clearly in the tender documents, which ought to help you price your bids more accurately. We are also looking to provide a clearer definition of the additional works that could arise unexpectedly during a project, along with the corresponding payment schedule for consultants.

7. In addition, many of you have told us that our regulatory processes can be improved. For instance, Qualified Persons (QPs) have to make many submissions to different approving agencies for each project. It takes a lot of time to clarify the issues with agencies and reconcile the various requirements. That is why we have engaged industry practitioners, including many of you here today, to review the submission and approval process.

8. The new process will streamline more than 20 existing approval touchpoints across agencies into a few key approval gateways. Backend, agencies will coordinate, and provide a clear and consolidated response to QPs at each gateway. This will be supported by our new digital platform – CORENET X, which we aim to launch by the end of next year.

9. This could be a real gamechanger for the industry, and so I would like to thank the volunteers from ACES, who have generously provided your time, effort and feedback to support the CORENET X project. We hope that this will make a difference for you and improve the processes that lead to the building of many of our projects. So, please continue to give us your feedback via our Communities of Practice.

Preparing for Change 

10. Even as we press on with these efforts to address the current challenges that our engineers face, we also have to keep our eyes on the future. 

11. As laid out in the Construction Industry Transformation Map (ITM), we are working with the industry to develop and transform the Built Environment (BE) sector, and ACES has been a strong partner throughout this journey.

12. While we have made good progress together, there is still much more that we can do, to build a Built Environment sector that is productive, digital and sustainable. How can our engineers best prepare for the future and contribute to this? One important way would be to continue building up skills in key areas of industry transformation. These include Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA), sustainable materials, and smart technologies, among others.

13. You can develop these skills by attending relevant courses by the BCA Academy or the training workshops that ACES organises, which cover topics from Building Information Modelling (BIM), to scripting using Python to automate design and modelling tasks. We will also hold some industry webinars on CORENET X, with some sessions specially for ACES members happening next month, so that you can learn more about the new submission requirements, before we roll it out. Do look out for the registration details from the ACES Secretariat.

14. Those of you who are ready to go one step further in building your skills can also develop more niche capabilities, to capture more opportunities in growth areas. These could include skills in geotechnical works or specialised infrastructure such as complex medical facilities. I am glad to note, for instance, that two healthcare facilities are recognised under the ACES Design Excellence Awards. Our facilities win awards, but I have always told my colleagues in BCA to celebrate the people behind such successful projects. And tonight, we celebrate you – all of you who have won awards for distinction in the work you have done.

15. Finally, preparing for the future also means developing the next generation of talents. Here, too, ACES is making important contributions. I would like to thank you for that. For instance, the ACES-Young Professionals Connection (YPC) provides opportunities for young engineers to participate actively in the industry.

16. I look forward to recognising several of these members tonight with the Young Consulting Engineers of the Year Award. The awardees come from different engineering disciplines, but have all demonstrated a commitment to professional excellence. For instance, Ms Lim Mee Mee has shown her versatility as a civil and structural engineer at CPG. She has performed the role of an accredited checker for large projects such as the Jewel, and is now leading the design of marine structures. Mr Siddharth Narayan, a mechanical and electrical engineer at Cundall Singapore, oversaw the design of the complex electrical systems in the development of a data centre. 

17. And there are several others – congratulations to all the award winners.

18. To round up, we have an exciting journey ahead of us, as we build the future of our Built Environment sector together.

19. In doing so, we are building on decades of hard work, dedication and sacrifices by our engineers. 

20. Tonight’s winner of the ACES Lifetime Achievement Award, Engineer Ling Shiang Yun, has exemplified this commitment throughout his career, spanning over 30 years. When he was President of ACES, Er. Ling helped push for greater collaboration and digitalisation of the Built Environment sector, working with other trade associations and chambers to elevate the productivity and standards of the industry. Congratulations and thank you, Er. Ling, for your contributions, and I hope you will continue to share your experience and wisdom with all of us.

21. Let us continue to build on the efforts of those who have come before us, and push ahead with the same pioneering spirit.

22. Once again, congratulations again to ACES on your 51st anniversary, thank you for all your contributions to the sector, and I look forward to our continued partnership. Thank you.