Source : Sunday Times - 21 Sep 2008
Block 270A in Sengkang comes with Assure 3 warranty for three most common defects
THE first Housing Board block to have a newly introduced warranty cover has just been completed.
Block 270A in Sengkang Central is the first to benefit from the Assure 3 scheme, which carries a warranty period of up to 10 years for the three most common defects found in HDB flats.
The warranty covers all flats launched by the HDB after April 2005. This is in addition to the standard one-year defect liability period.
The three most common defects, the HDB said, are ceiling leaks, water seepage and spalling concrete - a term for ceilings that crack when steel bars embedded in concrete corrode and expand.
Any of the three defects found in the new flats within this period will be rectified by the building contractor at no cost to the flat owners.
Like HDB flats launched before 2005, these new flats will be covered for the one-year defect liability period from the day owners collect their keys.
The 10-year warranty for spalling concrete and five-year guarantee for water seepage and leakage emerged from a challenge that then HDB chief executive Niam Chiang Meng threw to his staff in 2004, following a spate of defects in HDB units that year.
Speaking to reporters after visiting Block 270A in Sengkang yesterday, Senior Minister of State for National Development and Education Grace Fu said the warranty resulted from ‘a lot of innovation, technology and engineering’.
She said the HDB is confident it will have ‘very little, if any problems at all’ with the new flats.
Flats launched before 2005 will not be offered the same warranty because improvements have to be done from the start, even before construction, she said.
Finance officer Poh Li Zhen, 27, collected the keys to her four-room flat in the block yesterday, and was happy to receive the Assure 3 warranty certificate.
She said: ‘My mother’s top-floor flat in Bedok frequently had water seepage in the kitchen and living room. So I’m glad my flat comes with this warranty.’
Another new initiative tried out by the HDB at the Sengkang Central estate is the leasing out of all the neighbourhood’s commercial facilities to a single tenant.
The sole ‘master tenant’, Kopitiam, sublets the 2,315 sq m of commercial space to other tenants, which include a FairPrice supermarket, bakery shops and a Chinese medical hall.
Said an HDB spokesman: ‘The master tenant, being financially more resourceful, is able to react faster to changes in market demands.’
Kopitiam is already engaging residents in the area through the online portal, www.sengkang.com
The supermarket and two food courts are open 24 hours at residents’ request.
Kopitiam’s assistant director of operations and business development, Mr Jeffrey Lim, said it charges about $4,000 rent for each shop.
What the Assure 3 warranty scheme covers:
Defect: Ceiling leaks in the toilet and kitchen
Warranty period: Five years
Improvements by HDB: Cast-in UPVC pipes are used for toilets and kitchens. The cast-in pipes are well bonded to the floor slab, preventing water from seeping through.
Defect: Water seepage from external walls
Warranty period: Five years
Improvements by HDB: Precasting window frames with facade panels eliminates the need for joints between window and wall, where water can seep through.
Defect: Spalling concrete
Warranty period: 10 years
Improvements by HDB: Use of higher- grade, denser concrete which gives better protection against the material cracking up.
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