LIFTS (Proper maintenance of)

Mr Teong Eng Siong asked the Minister for Law and National Development (a) whether there are statistics of the lifts installed in Housing and Development Board estates, private housing estates and in Government and private buildings; (b) whether these lifts had been checked and approved by the Government department concerned before they were installed and again, after installation, before they were put into operation; (c) whether steps have been taken to set up a body to make compulsory periodic inspections of all lifts after installations; and (d) for public safety and the cleanliness of lifts, if he will consider introducing legislation to require lifts to be operated by lift attendants only.

The Minister for Law and National Development (Mr E. W. Barker): Mr Speaker, Sir, as at the 31st of January this year, there were 1,350 lifts in Housing Board estates and another 117 in Government buildings. There are no statistics available for private buildings at the moment. But with the introduction of the Buildings and Common Property (Maintenance and Management) Rules sometime this year, statistics of lifts in such buildings will become available. The lifts in Housing Board flats are installed in accordance with the Board's specifications and under the supervision of the Board's electrical engineers. The lifts are tested for a period of two weeks before use. They are cleaned regularly and serviced and oiled fortnightly. The Board also maintains a 24-hour Lift Emergency Unit to deal with breakdowns.

Lifts in Government buildings are checked and approved before and after installations by the electrical branch of the Public Works Department which is also responsible for their maintenance. Regular cleaning is carried out by the user department.

Lifts in private buildings were previously subject to the 1931 Lift by-laws which required owners of buildings to engage and authorise lift contractors to carry out regular maintenance and to ensure safe operation. As this piece of legislation is not adequate to cope with the high-rise developments, the Building Control Division has been given the responsibility for the control and installation of lifts and escalators by the Building Control Act of this year. The Division proposes to introduce regulations that will require lifts to be installed and maintained by a professional engineer in accordance with the code of practice for installation, operation, and maintenance of lifts. The code is being finalised in conjunction with the Singapore Institute of Standards and Industrial Research.

Sir, apart from the Building Control Act which I have mentioned, action has also been taken to ensure the proper maintenance of lifts in private buildings under the Buildings and Common Property (Maintenance and Management) Rules which I have mentioned. The Commissioner of Buildings will be responsible to ensure that owners keep their lifts in clean and proper working condition at all times and have them serviced monthly and inspected annually at least. It is not practicable to make it compulsory for all lifts to be operated by lift attendants, as too large a number of attendants will be needed and it will be difficult to recruit or retain such persons. The Housing and Development Board would then require about 3,375 lift attendants to man the 1,350 lifts now in operation. The presence of a lift attendant may ensure that the lift is clean, but not necessarily safe. The Robinson fire is an example.

Legislation is being drafted to ensure that stand-by generators are installed in all public lifts so that they can be brought down to a safe floor in the event of fire or a power failure. There will also be provision for all public lifts to be provided with a communication system, whereby if the hon. Member for Sembawang is trapped in a lift, he can always call for help from outside.