SINGAPORE \u2013 Three commercial buildings that incorporated long-term maintenance features into their design saved manpower and upkeep costs of up to nearly $1 million each year, a new Building and Construction Authority (BCA) study has found.<\/p>\n
When such \u201cDesign for Maintainability\u201d (DfM) elements were integrated into a new residential project, the cost savings were up to $110,000 a year, said National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the Singapore Architecture Festival, or Archifest, on July 22, Chee said the study \u2013 which assessed the benefits of the design features and is the first of its kind \u2013 involved four buildings in Singapore.<\/p>\n
The BCA worked with Surbana Jurong to study two existing commercial buildings, one new commercial project, and the new residential development.<\/p>\n
They are: the Surbana Jurong campus, the Ascent building in Science Park Drive, Shaw Tower and Copen Grand executive condominium.<\/p>\n
Chee said: \u201cAcross the three commercial buildings studied, the potential annual operational savings from adopting DfM ranged from $310,000 to $950,000…<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the residential development, the potential operational savings can be up to $110,000 a year.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his speech, he added that so far, 67 projects have earned the Green Mark maintainability badge for adopting DfM measures.<\/p>\n
Chee said BCA has been encouraging the built environment sector to adopt a DfM mindset, which entails incorporating longer-term maintainability considerations into the design process and investing more capital expenditure upfront, to enjoy greater cost and manpower savings across the building\u2019s life cycle.<\/p>\n
For instance, Shaw Tower included a simple cat-ladder access to its cooling tower, which enabled efficient, safe, and easy access to maintain the fan and basin at the top, instead of setting up scaffolding each time maintenance is needed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith this, Shaw Tower can enjoy life-cycle savings of over $750,000 with a payback period of just three years. With cooling towers having a typical 15-year service life, recovering the investment in three years means net positive returns thereafter for the remaining 12 years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Across the three commercial buildings studied, the extra cost of incorporating DfM measures amounted to 0.6 per cent to 1.5 per cent of total construction cost. For the residential development, it was just 0.2 per cent of the total construction cost.<\/p>\n
Less manpower<\/p>\n
There are also meaningful manpower productivity gains. The study found that DfM features helped cut annual maintenance, with many achieving savings of more than 60 per cent.<\/p>\n
Chee said: \u201cThe biggest gains came from architectural decisions \u2013 choices about design specifications, floor materials, ceiling types, and facade access \u2013 reinforcing the point that maintainability should be an upfront design consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that BCA will be working with the Singapore Institute of Architects and others to get feedback on how the study\u2019s findings can be of more use before the final report is released later in 2026.<\/p>\n
Changes to Corenet X platform<\/p>\n
Chee also touched on the adjustments made to Corenet\u00a0X, a digital platform to help streamline the approval process for construction projects on a single platform, instead of going through multiple agencies.<\/p>\n
From Oct 1, 2026, all new projects with 5,000 sq m gross floor area (GFA) and above will be required to make submissions via Corenet X.<\/p>\n
This will extend to medium-sized projects, which number about 50 new projects a year, he said. It is also no longer mandatory for projects with GFA below 5,000 sq m to make submissions via Corenet X.<\/p>\n
For now, ongoing projects and projects below 5,000 sq m can continue to use the Corenet 2.0 system, which is an e-submission system for building-plans approval, and requires separate submissions to multiple agencies.<\/p>\n
Firms that are ready to use Corenet X for these projects are still encouraged to do so, as there are benefits to using Corenet X even though it is not mandatory, Chee said.<\/p>\n