HDB FLATS IN UBI AVENUE (Repairs to defective wall and floor tiles)

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Encik Wan Hussin bin Haji Zoohri asked the Minister for National Development (a) if he will give the breakdown of Housing and Development Board units affected by falling wall tiles and "popping out" floor tiles in the Ubi Avenue Neighbourhood; (b) what is the progress of the repair work undertaken by the HDB; (c) whether other HDB estates are facing a similar problem; and (d) what measures the HDB will take to prevent the recurrence of bad workmanship.

The Senior Minister of State for National Development (Dr Lee Boon Yang)(for the Minister for National Development): Mr Speaker, Sir, the neighbourhood in Ubi Avenue 1 has 19 blocks of flats with a total of 2,076 dwelling units. To date, residents of 1,334 units in this neighbourhood have complained of the problem of falling wall tiles and "popping out" of floor tiles. This is made up of 881 units with a problem of falling wall tiles, 397 units with loosened floor tiles and 56 units with both defective wall and floor tiles.

1,178 units out of the 1,334 complaints have thus far been attended to. As at 23rd February 1989, there were 156 complaints outstanding. These are currently being attended to.

Other estates facing the same problem are Tampines, Bukit Batok, Hougang, Serangoon, Bedok and Yishun. Repairs are being carried out to all the affected units in these estates.

The HDB has taken the following measures to prevent the recurrence of this problem caused by bad workmanship:

(i) stop the use of adhesives for all tiling works;

(ii) continue with the conventional and proven wet method of laying tiles for all the new buildings;

(iii) introduce strict quality control to make sure that every tile laid is checked according to approved standards.

Encik Wan Hussin bin Haji Zoohri (Aljunied GRC): Sir, obviously the problem is quite serious in Ubi Avenue Estate. May I ask of the Senior Minister of State if he would institute a thorough inspection of other units having this problem in this Ubi Avenue Estate, particularly those built by this particular contractor. Secondly, Sir, if after this experience the residents somehow or other lose faith in the contractors of the HDB and if they so decide to repair these defects on their own, would they be compensated accordingly?

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, HDB presently has a system of carrying out quality control checks on all the new flats before they are handed over by the contractors. In the case of wall tiling and floor tiling, the check is carried out by knocking on the tiles to listen for any hollow sound and whenever tiles with a hollow sound are detected they will be rejected and replaced. With this quality checks in place, it is not necessary for HDB to conduct a test on all occupied flats because owners of these occupied flats can always report to HDB if they encounter any building defect, including defective wall tiles or floor tiles. Defects arising from such poor workmanship will be rectified by HDB as and when reports are made. HDB will undertake to rectify such defects even beyond the normal one year defects liability period.

Sir, as to the question of whether flat owners will be compensated or not, firstly, since HDB has undertaken to rectify any defects caused by poor workmanship for the lessees even beyond the one year defects liability period, it is not necessary for HDB to offer compensation. Secondly, if the owners have any desire to do it on their own, they should first consult HDB and perhaps HDB is in the best position in this case to rectify the defects.