Written answer by Ministry of National Development on BCA’s review and consideration to update regulations of guidelines for periodic facade inspections due to climate change and extreme weathers

Nov 11, 2024

Question No: 6807

Question by: Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong

To ask the Minister for National Development (a) how often does BCA review regulations and guidelines for periodic facade inspections; (b) whether BCA has considered updating the regulations and guidelines to account for more extreme weather as a result of climate change; and (c) whether BCA will be conducting additional inspections of buildings considering the possibility of earlier deterioration due to more extreme weather.

Answer:

The periodic facade inspection regime was recently introduced in 2022. BCA will continue to keep abreast of developments in structural safety and materials, and climate change projections. Taking reference to this and prevailing building safety standards in other jurisdictions, it will review our regulations and guidelines where necessary.

BCA also recently completed a study on the effects of climate change on façade materials, which showed that most materials can withstand the more extreme climate conditions that are projected. For potentially vulnerable materials, the current inspection regime is assessed to be sufficient to address their potential deterioration in a timely manner. With more extreme weather, BCA is also studying and updating design wind speeds used in structural calculations, in consultation with industry experts and other agencies.