Tough measures taken on window safety

Source : Straits Times – 11 Jun 2009

I WOULD like to thank Mr Andrew Seow for his views on window safety last Saturday (’Pedestrians at risk’). We agree with him that the onus is on property owners and tenants to carry out preventive maintenance to ensure that exterior features such as wall tiles and glass panels are secure.

The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) takes a serious stance on the safety of exterior features and windows, and I would like to assure Mr Seow and the public that we adopt tough measures against building owners or tenants who fail to maintain their windows regularly to ensure safety.

Owners or tenants may face a fine of up to $10,000 and/or a prison term of up to 12 months should their windows or other facade elements fall due to a lack of maintenance.

In addition, newly installed windows must comply with minimum design and performance standards, and these installations must be undertaken by approved window contractors and trained window installers. This helps to address possible issues at the design and installation stages to prevent potential problems later.

The BCA views public safety as its utmost priority and will not hesitate to prosecute building owners or tenants for failing to ensure the safety of their exterior features, including windows. We will continue to carry out audit inspections of buildings to ensure that the windows have been retrofitted with stainless steel rivets.

The BCA also reaches out to property owners, tenants and home owners with public awareness programmes to educate and remind them of the need to check and maintain their windows regularly for public safety reasons.

Our recent window safety campaign, ‘6/6, 12/12′, designates June 6 and Dec 12 each year as Window Safety Day, to remind property owners and tenants to check their windows at least once every six months. Posters of simple do-it-yourself tips on how to check windows are also distributed to town councils for HDB blocks and to management corporations for private estates. In addition, the BCA will send advisories on window safety to all property owners and tenants.

Lastly, we would like to remind all property owners and tenants of their duty to maintain their windows regularly. For more information on window safety and maintenance tips, home owners can refer to our website, www.bca.gov.sg/windows_safety or call our hotline on 6325-8677.

Chin Chi Leong
Director
Building Plan Management Division
Building and Construction Authority of Singapore