CHANGES TO THE BUILDING CONTROL REGULATIONS 2003 IN RELATION TO THE CLEARANCES, PERMITS, APPROVALS, NOTIFICATIONS OR CERTIFICATIONS THAT ARE REQUIRED TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE COMMISSIONER OF BUILDING CONTROL FOR TEMPORARY OCCUPATION PERMIT AND CERTIFICATE OF STATUTORY. COMPLETION APPLICATIONS AND THE STANDARDISATION OF TECHNICAL AGENCIES’RESPONSE TIMES FOR INSPECTIONS FOR TEMPORARY OCCUPATION PERMIT AND CERTIFICATE OF STATUTORY COMPLETION APPLICATIONS
Objective
This circular is to inform the industry of the following:
(a) Changes to the Building Control Regulations 2003 (“BC Regulations”) in relation to the clearances, permits, approvals, notifications or certifications that are required to be submitted to the Commissioner of Building Control (“CBC”) for temporary occupation permit (“TOP”) and certification of statutory completion (“CSC”) applications; and
(b) The standardisation of technical agencies’ response times for inspections for TOP and CSC applications by the Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee (“IACC”). Formalising Requirements for TOP and CSC Applications and Related Legislative
Amendments
2. Upon completion of any building works, the developer is required to make an application to the CBC for TOP or CSC. During such application, the relevant clearances, permits or approvals from the Commissioner of Civil Defence, the Public Utilities Board, the Director General of Environmental Protection, the Land Transport Authority and the Commissioner of Parks and Recreation, are currently required to be submitted to the BCA as part of the CSC or TOP application under Regulations 42 and 43 of the BC Regulations.
3. To formalise current industry practice, the BCA will be making legislative amendments to require the submission of the following clearances, permits, approvals, notifications or certifications to the BCA as part of the CSC or TOP application:
(a) Any clearance issued by the Urban Redevelopment Authority confirming that all the conditions of an approval by an authorised officer under section 10(1), 12(1) or 13(1) of the Common Services Tunnels Act 2018 have been complied with;
(b) Any notification or certification issued by a market support services licensee that it has checked an electrical installation mentioned in regulation 5(1)(b) of the Electricity (Electrical Installations) Regulations (Rg 5) in accordance with the requirements of the Energy Market Authority of Singapore*;
(c) Any approval by the Commissioner of Infrastructure Protection of a certificate of works completion under the Infrastructure Protection Act 2017; and
(d) Any clearance issued by the Urban Redevelopment Authority acknowledging that a declaration has been submitted in accordance with section 24B(4) of the Planning Act 1998.
4. Details of the changes to the BC Regulations are shown in Annex A and such changes will come into effect on 1 June 2023. Standardisation of Technical Agencies’ Response Times for Inspections for TOP and CSC Applications
5. The IACC was formed in July 2011 as a platform to look at issues related to conflicting regulatory requirements by different technical agencies encountered in construction projects, as well as conflicting policies implemented by different technical agencies, which have an impact on construction productivity. Project parties who encounter such problems can write-in to the IACC Secretariat to facilitate a resolution.
6. As part of our continuous efforts to improve the current processes, the IACC has worked together, and the technical agencies will adopt standardised service standards of responding within 7 working days for inspections for TOP/CSC applications. Please see Annex B for details.
For Clarification
7. We would appreciate if you could convey the contents of this circular to members of your organisation. For clarifications, please contact us through BCA’s Online Feedback Form at https://www.bca.gov.sg/feedbackform/.
ANNEX A: AMENDMENTS TO THE BUILDING CONTROL REGULATIONS 2003
* Notice of Unit Inspection Completion issued by the Market Support Services Licensee (MSSL), licensed by Energy Market Authority (EMA), is only applicable for all new residential developments excluding residential developments with not more than 10 units/houses.
# Certificate of works completion issued by Commissioner of Infrastructure Protection is only applicable to Special Infrastructures and Special Developments designated under the Infrastructure Protection Act 2017. Please refer to the Guide for Responsible Person (Annex H) at www.police.gov.sg for details on the application process for the certificate of works completion.
