SINGAPORE: Legal disputes between homeowners and landed property builders have fallen by around 10 per cent since BuildTrust, a government-backed quality assessment scheme, was launched in April last year, according to the Micro Builders Association Singapore (MBAS).
The scheme sets construction standards for areas including floors, walls and electrical fittings in landed homes and smaller-scale commercial properties undergoing building works.
The standard was developed by MBAS, which represents building contractors, in consultation with the Building and Construction Authority (BCA).
Under BuildTrust, contractors can get their projects independently assessed and receive a report as proof of their quality of work.
About 15 per cent of MBAS’ members have joined the scheme and the association hopes more will sign up as it looks to decrease the yearly average of disputes by half.
Mr Kelvin Bing, the owner of Renaissance Planners and Designers, told CNA that the scheme helps to reduce conflicts and misunderstandings between owners and builders regarding defects.
“BuildTrust … encompasses professionals in Singapore … the assessors themselves used to be from (the) industry or the BCA,” he said.
“It (aligns) homeowners' expectations, for example, like tiles or marble finishes, (with) what the industry expects in terms of the gaps (or) the pointers between the tiles.”
Some defect checking firms said they have seen an increase of at least 10 per cent in the number of landed property owners seeking their services compared with two years ago.
Mr Ng Kim Wah, director of Uncle Defect, said the demand has led to more such firms entering the industry.
He added that regulations are long overdue as some defect checkers harbour vested interests, such as finding fault with negligible issues like patchy paint, and recommending solutions they can profit from.
“I feel there's a conflict of interest, because the more they check, the more defects they find … (and) the more they can sell their services,” said Mr Ng, who has been in the business for five years.
Defect checkers, hired by some homeowners when their houses are being constructed or renovated, usually place a sticker to mark a possible construction fault, such as uneven wall plaster or plumbing problems.
MBAS’ chief assessor Chua Tai Kee noted that many of these stickers placed by unregulated third-party checkers may not mark real defects.
“If I'm a layman, I come to a house where the building checker (places) 1,000 stickers over the house, the whole world will think … is it a dangerous place to stay? You need to have a criteria,” he said.
“We will try our very best to educate the homeowners to let them know that these are not genuine defects … but something (they) can live with.”
Up to 40 per cent of MBAS’ members have gotten into disputes with homeowners over the past three years, often due to cases of defects identified by unregulated third-party checkers.
Such assessments often cause long-drawn disputes lasting up to a few months between contractors and homeowners, the association said.
It added that in one such dispute, a contractor had to pay more than S$1 million (US$800,000) in legal fees after winning the case, adding that such cases prevent firms from taking up new projects as their time, resources and manpower are tied up in existing projects.
Mr Ng said that adopting BuildTrust is important in advising contractors and homeowners if a problem needs fixing or if it is within the tolerance limit specified in the standards.
“(Building a house) is considered (manual labour) … you need to expect that there must be some form of tolerance to the quality and workmanship,” he said.
Defect checker Mr Ng Kim Wah inspects the steps of a staircase inside a landed property.
He added that anyone could register a business and claim to be a defect checking company, but accredited assessors such as Uncle Defect have more experience and expertise.
The firm has carried out around 7,000 inspections, including more than 250 landed properties, to date without any disputes from contractors and homeowners regarding their assessment reports.
One of its clients, homeowner Tai Yi Long, said he hired Mr Ng after encountering disputes regarding construction quality issues with a builder he engaged to renovate his family’s three-storey property.
Mr Ng identified more than 100 areas of concern but noted not all of them were necessarily defects. He flagged them for further observation at Mr Tai’s request.
Defect checker Ng Kim Wah inspects the flooring at homeowner Tai Yi Long's property.
“When we write it as an observation, the owner and the contractor will know. In my experience, most of the time, the contractor will try to (fix) it, because it must be something that the homeowner is very particular (about),” said Mr Ng.
Reports by defect checkers include videos of the areas of concern, making it easier for homeowners to point them out to contractors.
“If you have the capability, it's good that you check (for) yourself, but defect checkers (provide) a third-party perspective to help you,” said Mr Tai.
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The scheme sets construction standards for areas including floors, walls and electrical fittings in landed homes and smaller-scale commercial properties undergoing building works.
The standard was developed by MBAS, which represents building contractors, in consultation with the Building and Construction Authority (BCA).
Under BuildTrust, contractors can get their projects independently assessed and receive a report as proof of their quality of work.
About 15 per cent of MBAS’ members have joined the scheme and the association hopes more will sign up as it looks to decrease the yearly average of disputes by half.
Mr Kelvin Bing, the owner of Renaissance Planners and Designers, told CNA that the scheme helps to reduce conflicts and misunderstandings between owners and builders regarding defects.
“BuildTrust … encompasses professionals in Singapore … the assessors themselves used to be from (the) industry or the BCA,” he said.
“It (aligns) homeowners' expectations, for example, like tiles or marble finishes, (with) what the industry expects in terms of the gaps (or) the pointers between the tiles.”
MORE DEFECT CHECKING COMPANIES
Some defect checking firms said they have seen an increase of at least 10 per cent in the number of landed property owners seeking their services compared with two years ago.
Mr Ng Kim Wah, director of Uncle Defect, said the demand has led to more such firms entering the industry.
He added that regulations are long overdue as some defect checkers harbour vested interests, such as finding fault with negligible issues like patchy paint, and recommending solutions they can profit from.
“I feel there's a conflict of interest, because the more they check, the more defects they find … (and) the more they can sell their services,” said Mr Ng, who has been in the business for five years.
Defect checkers, hired by some homeowners when their houses are being constructed or renovated, usually place a sticker to mark a possible construction fault, such as uneven wall plaster or plumbing problems.
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MBAS’ chief assessor Chua Tai Kee noted that many of these stickers placed by unregulated third-party checkers may not mark real defects.
“If I'm a layman, I come to a house where the building checker (places) 1,000 stickers over the house, the whole world will think … is it a dangerous place to stay? You need to have a criteria,” he said.
“We will try our very best to educate the homeowners to let them know that these are not genuine defects … but something (they) can live with.”
ACCREDITATION IS IMPORTANT
Up to 40 per cent of MBAS’ members have gotten into disputes with homeowners over the past three years, often due to cases of defects identified by unregulated third-party checkers.
Such assessments often cause long-drawn disputes lasting up to a few months between contractors and homeowners, the association said.
It added that in one such dispute, a contractor had to pay more than S$1 million (US$800,000) in legal fees after winning the case, adding that such cases prevent firms from taking up new projects as their time, resources and manpower are tied up in existing projects.
Mr Ng said that adopting BuildTrust is important in advising contractors and homeowners if a problem needs fixing or if it is within the tolerance limit specified in the standards.
“(Building a house) is considered (manual labour) … you need to expect that there must be some form of tolerance to the quality and workmanship,” he said.
Defect checker Mr Ng Kim Wah inspects the steps of a staircase inside a landed property.
He added that anyone could register a business and claim to be a defect checking company, but accredited assessors such as Uncle Defect have more experience and expertise.
The firm has carried out around 7,000 inspections, including more than 250 landed properties, to date without any disputes from contractors and homeowners regarding their assessment reports.
One of its clients, homeowner Tai Yi Long, said he hired Mr Ng after encountering disputes regarding construction quality issues with a builder he engaged to renovate his family’s three-storey property.
Mr Ng identified more than 100 areas of concern but noted not all of them were necessarily defects. He flagged them for further observation at Mr Tai’s request.
Defect checker Ng Kim Wah inspects the flooring at homeowner Tai Yi Long's property.
“When we write it as an observation, the owner and the contractor will know. In my experience, most of the time, the contractor will try to (fix) it, because it must be something that the homeowner is very particular (about),” said Mr Ng.
Reports by defect checkers include videos of the areas of concern, making it easier for homeowners to point them out to contractors.
“If you have the capability, it's good that you check (for) yourself, but defect checkers (provide) a third-party perspective to help you,” said Mr Tai.
Related:
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