Unsafe cladding at some buildings being removed

This article is more than 12 months old

Aug 25, 2017 06:00 am

Action is being taken on some of the 40 buildings here that could have cladding made from materials which do not meet the Singapore Civil Defence Force's (SCDF) Fire Code.

In a press statement yesterday, the SCDF said that out of the 40 buildings, 14 were found to have cladding material that could cause fire to spread, while five have been tested and deemed safe, with the rest yet to be tested.

One of the buildings with unsafe panels is Our Tampines Hub, a project led by People's Association (PA) that opened on Aug 6.

PA told The New Paper that the panels in question, which comprise less than 5 per cent of its structure, will be removed.

A spokesman said: "SCDF has certified that the building remains safe and fit for occupancy and that in the event of cladding fire, evacuation of occupants will not be compromised as the cladding is not extensive and the location of the cladding is not along any means of escape."

Two of JTC Corporation's (JTC) buildings were also flagged by SCDF.

Mr Liu and his wife, along with their three children, have lived in the flat for more than five years.

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CleanTech Two has unsafe panels, while the LaunchPad building has yet to be tested.

Mr Heah Soon Poh, Assistant CEO of JTC's Engineering and Operations Group, said: "We will replace the non-compliant composite panels used as cladding on CleanTech Two's external walls, and will work closely with the SCDF to test and rectify any non-compliant composite panels used for the blocks at LaunchPad."

He added that JTC will be checking its other properties for unsafe material.

The Singapore Pools Building is another .yet to be tested. Responding to TNP queries, a spokesman for Singapore Pools said the cladding was installed during a retrofit in November 2012.

She said: "We were not aware about the material issue as our building cladding had been certified by the manufacturer to meet the Fire Code requirement. We are now working with our Qualified Person to remove and send samples of our cladding for tests."