Under The Angsana Tree: Ensure structural safety of HDB blocks before injury or death result

Update 14 Nov 2021: Spate of facade cladding falling off

JTC investigating after ceiling panels collapse at Fusionopolis One skybridge

JTC Corporation is investigating an incident where the ceiling panels of a skybridge in Fusionopolis One collapsed on Friday (Nov 12). Stomper Hanafi alerted Stomp to the incident and shared photos he took of debris lying along the skybridge.

The area had been cordoned off. "Heavy rain and super strong winds last night may have caused the ceiling to collapse," he speculated.

In response to a Stomp query, a JTC spokesman said the ceiling panels fell at about 2.08am on Friday. "No one was injured and access to Fusionpolis One is not affected," the spokesman said. "The skybridge is currently closed pending investigations into the incident."

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Law passed to boost facade checks on older S’pore buildings after 90 cases of falling debris in 3 years

A large piece of decorative facade became dislodged and fell nine storeys at a Pasir Ris Housing and Development Board block in June 2018

Under legislative amendments passed on Friday (March 6), the facades of older buildings will be inspected more often after about 90 incidents in the past three years when parts of facades fell off. Lifts and escalators will also be subject to stricter safer rules.

The changes to the Building Control Act also allow the Government to mandate a progressive wage model (PWM) for Singapore residents in the lift maintenance industry and require the provision of basic accessibility features for older buildings that undergo addition and alteration works. Mr Zaqy Mohamad, Minister of State for National Development and Manpower said, during the second reading of the Building Control (Amendment) Bill, that Singapore has developed rapidly over the past 55 years.

Here is a summary of the key changes to the Act:

IMPROVING FACADE SAFETY
SAFER LIFTS AND ESCALATORS
BETTER WAGES FOR LOCAL LIFT TECHNICIANS
IMPROVING ACCESSIBILITY FOR OLDER BUILDINGS
QUESTIONS ON COSTS, OLIGOPOLY AND WORK SAFETY

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Ensure structural safety of HDB blocks before injury or death result

A decorative panel fell 40 storeys from an HDB block in Bendemeer Road "with a loud crash” next to a playground. And this is not the first such incident. Just days before, a part of an HDB block's decorative cladding fell off its facade at Block 270 in Pasir Ris town. A resident said that it sounded like a “very loud cluster of thunder.”

Again, HDB and the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council gave the standard non-answer that “a piece of decorative cladding had dislodged from the facade" of the block and that “the building is structurally safe.” There were several other similar incidents:

25 September 2016, a concrete slab broke off from Block 201E at Tampines
19 October 2016, a cladding panel fell off Block 51, Circuit Road
29 November 2016, a slab of plaster fell 12 storeys from an HDB block in Hougang
1 April 2017, two aluminium panels fell off an HDB block at Indus Road

The authorities said that the cladding panels broke off due to wear and tear. But the buildings involved are relative new. Yet, pieces are breaking off and endangering public safety. HDB blocks have also been plagued with faulty lifts that have resulted in residents being injured including one death.

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Tiles dislodged from 5th-floor wall at Hougang HDB block during heavy rain

Some tiles were dislodged from a wall on the 5th-floor of Block 462 Hougang Avenue 10 at about 7.40pm on Saturday (July 7) during a heavy rain, shocking Stomper Tay & her student who were practising line dancing at the void deck.

Tay who teaches line dancing, told Stomp in a phone interview that she & her students would usually practise at the communal hall at Block 461.

However, due to the downpour yesterday, she was forced to cancel the session. Instead, she met up with a student at 7.30pm to practise at the void deck of Block 462. Ten minutes into their practice, the two suddenly heard a loud “explosion”.

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Fixing issue of falling facades in HDB blocks

A decorative panel fell from the top of Block 10B in Bendemeer Road & landed near this playground on June 23. The Build-To-Order block was completed in 2016.

Less than a year after moving into her new 3-room HDB flat at Bendemeer Light, a decorative panel fell from the 40th storey of Block 10B, where housewife Betty Tan lives.

While mandatory inspection is in the works, it will apply to buildings above 20 years old.

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Air-conditioner compressor fell on man

Spate of facade cladding falling off

Decorative panel falls from HDB block again, this time in Bendemeer

Don’t forget your industrial-strength umbrella when you walk home these couple of days because it’s been cloudy with a chance of falling metal in Singapore. Decorative fixtures in particular.

A panel fell 40 stories from the top of an HDB block in Bendemeer Road last Saturday evening (June 23) around 7pm, The Straits Times reported. It fell onto a grass patch near a playground, according to a witness. While no one was hurt, the ground area beneath the facade was cordoned off as a precaution. HDB and the Jalan Besar Town Council also said they plan to perform checks on nearby blocks with similar facade materials. “The panel is part of the block facade design and is non-structural,” said the Housing Board in a Tuesday statement to The Straits Times. “The building is structurally safe.”

The Bendemeer road incident comes less than a week after a remarkably similar incident at a Pasir Ris housing block.

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Spate of lift accidents

Singapore family traumatised after faulty HDB lift surges up twice

A family of 4 were left traumatised after a lift they were in suddenly surged upwards, overshot the designated floor and went to the 14th floor, before descending back to the ground floor, & then ascending to the 14th floor again -- despite the display showing it was on the 9th storey.

The incident happened at Lift Lobby B of Block 670 Jalan Damai, at about 8.30pm on May 6, reported Lianhe Wanbao.

Mr Hong, 50, who has lived at the block for 20 years, said he that he along with his 50-yr-old wife, 19-yr-old daughter and 18-year-old son were returning home at the time of the incident, and boarded the lift at Lobby B.

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Spate of Escalator accidents

13 escalator incidents due to technical faults since Nov 2016

Since the mandatory reporting of escalator incidents started on Nov 1 last year, there have been 13 incidents due to technical faults, revealed Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong on Mon (Oct 2).

In a written reply to a Parliamentary question from Non-Constituency MP Daniel Goh, Mr Wong said that these 13 incidents were not due to user behaviour.

He added that as the tightened maintenance regime was only put in place in Nov, the Ministry of National Development (MND) is still monitoring its effects.

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HDB Lift ceiling collapsed upon 10-yr-old girl

Four people hurt after part of RWS casino ceiling falls

4 people hurt after part of RWS casino ceiling falls

3 renovation workers and a security officer were injured after part of a ceiling board at the Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) casino collapsed yesterday.

External contractors were carrying out enhancement works when part of the ceiling board leading to the mezzanine gaming area fell around 10am, a spokesman for RWS told The Straits Times.

"There were no guests at that area during the incident. One security staff and three external contractors sustained minor injuries," the spokesman added.

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Floor tiles in some HDB flats popping up or cracking

Tiles Tenting

Residents of HDB flats in several areas who found tiles in their homes popping up or cracked are advised to move them to a safe spot & cover the affected space with cardboard.

The Housing Board also said in a Facebook post yesterday that it was aware of the cases reported in Sengkang, Woodlands, Toa Payoh, Bukit Panjang & Jurong West.

Residents of these places had posted on Facebook over the weekend videos and photos of dislodged tiles, mostly on their floors.

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Wall tiles in HDB kitchens & bathrooms suddenly crack & pop

Is poor workmanship the cause again?

Following reports of “exploding” floor tiles in Housing Development Board (HDB) public housing units, homeowners have been highlighting that the tiles on the walls of their units are also becoming dislodged and falling off the walls in alarming new reports.

More homeowners have reported that the wall tiles in their kitchens and bathrooms have been popping up and becoming dislodged, after this video of wall tiles falling off the kitchen wall in a HDB flat began circulating online.

The homeowner or tenant who shot the video appears to have posted the video online anonymously but claims that the unit featured in the video is a 20-year-old HDB flat located in Jurong West and that the tiles came loose a few months before the video was shot so they secured it with tape before that measure too failed. Others reported experiencing the same thing in their homes after the video was shared on social media.

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BTO Blues

AWARD WINNING SKYTERRACE @ DAWSON HDB PLAGUED BY PROBLEMS

Shortly after awarding itself the "HDB (Housing Development Board) Design Award" earlier this year, the SkyTerrace@Dawson project, which comprises five 40- to 43-storey high residential blocks located next to the Alexandra Canal Linear Park, has become the next embarrassing HDB project to be plagued by design faults as the growing number of residents complaints in the estate's Facebook community page seems to suggest.

SkyTerrace was developed as part of the Housing-in-the-Park concept under the Housing & Development Board's "Remaking Our Heartland" plans for the Dawson estate. Besides being located within a green park-like setting, SkyTerrace's features include multi-generational loft units, where two-level four-room or five-room units are paired with studio apartments to allow younger families to live beside their parents. Each unit has its own distinct entrance, with a door that connects the two units.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had even praised the project in his National Day Rally speech this year. "We said we would build more beautiful homes that Singaporeans could afford, and we did. This is Punggol 21. This is the view from Dawson, I think it is taken from the air terrace, I went up to take a look."

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Why is everything breaking down in Singapore?

Massive power outage in central Singapore, netizens prophesize end of the world

A massive power outage hit the central parts of Singapore earlier this afternoon. The affected areas included Chinatown Point, Hong Lim Complex, and some buildings at the Central Business District (CBD) such as OUE Downtown Gallery, The Arcade and Clifford Centre.

According to a Facebook post by SP Group, “An estimated 3,156 customers were affected”. They added that, “Electricity supply to parts of Raffles Quay, Robinson Road and Shenton Way was disrupted at about 2.41pm today”.

Others spoke about the huge crack along Adam road along with the blackout and prophesized about the end of the world.

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SG Buildings Crumbling Down Parody

SG Buildings Crumbling Down (Parody MV)

A witty video featuring an elderly man pointing out Singapore's building defects has emerged on YouTube.

In the clip, the man adapts the lyrics of popular children's nursery rhyme "London Bridge Is Falling Down" to emphasise the point of Singapore's "crumbling buildings".

At the start of the video, the man is seen standing outside Jem, which made headlines in 2013 when a leaking water pipe caused the mall's ceiling to collapse, injuring 3.

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A 'Sign of Distress' in Singapore?

Another whole row of flags are upside down in run up to National Day

Another photo of upside down Singapore flags has been circulating online in the run-up to National Day 2017. This time, an entire row of flags are hoisted upside down outside Aqua-Nautics Pte Ltd in Sembawang.

The blunder comes two weeks after a photo showing foreign workers planting an upside down flag went viral. The workers were likely employed by the Executive Committee organising the National Day Parade this year.

The display of the Singapore Flag is subject to about 40 rules, according to Singapore Statutes. Rules state that the Singapore flag must only be displayed upside down only as a sign of distress. Since it is a reflection of the nation’s ideals, beliefs and values, it is to be be treated with dignity and honour at all times.

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