Periodic facade inspection requirements under Singapore’s Building Control Act oblige owners of non-landed buildings taller than 13 metres to appoint a Competent Person once the building passes 20 years from its last Temporary Occupation Permit, then every seven years. BCA receives more than 20 reports of fallen facade elements a year on average. This blog walks you through each duty, from notice to repair, with Proof-Tech’s PFI compliance support.
What does the Building Control Act actually require of building owners?
The owner must appoint a Competent Person and submit that person’s inspection report within the period stated in BCA’s notice. If the report recommends works, the owner must complete them within the period the Commissioner of Building Control specifies.
Those duties sit in Part 5 of the Building Control Act 1989. Section 28 lets the Commissioner serve a written notice requiring an inspection of the facade to find any part subject to excessive erosion, corrosion, wear or fatigue that could lead to collapse and injury. The notice names the building and the deadline, and the clock starts from its date.
The Building Control (Periodic Inspection of Buildings and Building Façades) Regulations 2021 came into force on 1 January 2022 and set out how a Competent Person carries out the visual and close-range inspection. An amendment, S 594/2025, took effect on 1 October 2025 and added Regulations 16A and 16B on who can act as a facade inspector and what that inspector must do.
Worth noting: the notice is only the trigger for PFI. The general duty to keep exterior features securely fixed runs all the time under the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act, and a building with no PFI notice in hand still carries that duty today.
Which buildings fall under the PFI regime, and which are exempt?
Every building falls under the regime except landed houses used solely as residences, temporary buildings, and any building whose highest point is 13 metres or lower from the ground. Condominiums, office towers, shopping centres and industrial blocks are all in scope.
The 13-metre threshold is measured from ground level to the highest point of the building, roof or not. BCA’s Guidelines exclude rooftop installations such as antennas from that measurement, so a mast does not push a 12-metre block into the regime. Parliament described 13 metres as roughly four storeys when it passed the regime in 2020.
The landed exemption is narrower than it sounds. Section 27 exempts detached, semi-detached, terraced and linked houses only when used solely as residences. A terraced unit converted to office use loses the landed exemption, although most such houses still sit under 13 metres.
Developments with several blocks get one notice per address. BCA’s FAQ confirms owners must inspect every block over 13 metres at that address, while blocks at 13 metres or lower stay outside the regime. Physically linked blocks count as separate buildings if each can stand and be used independently, so a link bridge does not merge two towers into one inspection.
For strata developments, the MCST acts as owner. Where flats in a building are not subdivided, section 28(4) requires the individual owners to appoint one Competent Person jointly.
When is my building due, and how is the seven-year cycle counted?
A building becomes eligible for its first notice once it is more than 20 years old, counted from the last Temporary Occupation Permit granted for the whole building. Where no TOP exists, the count starts from the last Certificate of Statutory Completion. After that, BCA can serve the next notice at any time during the seventh or later year after the year the previous notice was given.
Two details change real planning. First, section 27(4) counts from a TOP for the whole building, so a TOP covering only an extension does not reset the age. Second, section 28(2B)(d) ties the cycle to the notice year, not the date your inspection finished. A condominium served in 2023 can receive its next notice from 2030, even if a slow appointment pushed the 2023 report into late 2024. Late inspections shorten your real gap between cycles.
BCA sends advisories about one year before a building is due. Treat that advisory as the start of budgeting. It gives an MCST one annual general meeting to approve sinking fund spending and to align the inspection with the next Repair and Redecoration cycle, which is the pairing Parliament cited when it set the seven-year interval.
What must an owner do once the PFI notice arrives?
Appoint a Competent Person within two months of the notice date, using BCA’s PFI_F1 appointment form. Everything after that runs on the deadline printed in the notice.
| Stage | Timeline | Who acts |
| Advisory letter | About 1 year before due | BCA |
| PFI notice served | Starts the clock | BCA |
| Appoint Competent Person (PFI_F1 form) | Within 2 months of notice date | Owner or MCST |
| Replace a Competent Person | Notify BCA within 7 days of new appointment | Owner or MCST |
| Inspection and report submitted via CORENET | Within the period stated in the notice | Competent Person prepares, owner is liable |
| BCA review, clarifications, possible joint site inspection | After submission | BCA and Competent Person |
| Remedial works | Within the period the Commissioner specifies | Owner or MCST |
| Completion of remedial works report | After works finish | Competent Person certifies |
| Next notice | 7th or later year after the year of the last notice | BCA |
The owner also supplies what the Competent Person cannot produce alone. BCA’s FAQ lists approved plans and facade drawings, the building’s repair history (particularly past water ingress repairs), previous inspection reports, and access equipment such as a gondola, mobile elevating work platform or scaffold. A Competent Person can purchase the building plans from BCA on the owner’s behalf with proof of ownership, such as the latest property tax bill.
In practice, access is the item that slips. Section 28(5) gives the Competent Person and facade inspector a right of access to any part of the building at reasonable times, and anyone who obstructs them faces a fine of up to $5,000. BCA reviews extension requests case by case, but expects a written reason.
Who qualifies as a Competent Person, and who is barred?
A Competent Person is a Professional Engineer in the civil or structural discipline or a Registered Architect who has passed the Certificate in Façade Inspection course. The Competent Person must have no professional or financial interest in the building.
BCA’s FAQ gives a direct example of that conflict: a Professional Engineer or architect who designed or built any part of the building cannot inspect it. BCA publishes a list of qualified Competent Persons on its periodic facade inspection page, and accredited facade inspectors appear on the Institution of Engineers, Singapore registry.
Facade inspectors do the hands-on work under the Competent Person’s direct supervision. They are typically Resident Engineers or Resident Technical Officers accredited through a joint committee of IES, the Association of Consulting Engineers Singapore and BCA.
The 1 October 2025 amendment tightened who that inspector can be. Under Regulation 16A, a Competent Person must not appoint a facade inspector who is a partner, officer or employee of the building owner, the builder who constructed the building, or anyone involved in building works on the facade, including their associates.
Our position is simple. Keep inspection and repair in separate firms. A contractor that expects to quote the remedial works should not supply the people deciding how much remedial work is needed, and since October 2025 the Regulations say so directly.
What does a facade inspection actually cover on site?
A Competent Person must visually survey 100% of the facade, then carry out a close-range inspection with physical contact on at least 10% of the surface area of each elevation. Scope covers the building exterior and anything attached to it, from windows, louvres and glass panels to cladding, plaster, tiles and sunshades.
BCA’s Guidelines calculate each elevation’s area as height multiplied by length. Recessed areas count towards that total, and so does the underside of sky bridges and cantilevered floors. For a 60-metre tower with a 40-metre elevation, that means at least 240 square metres of close-range work on that face alone.
Close-range inspection is tactile. Inspectors tap plaster and tiles with a tapping rod or rubber mallet to detect hollowness and delamination, and push a borescope behind cladding panels to check brackets and fixings. The Guidelines ask the Competent Person to pick areas different from the previous cycle’s, weighted towards spots above heavy foot traffic.
Drones help with the visual survey, not the tactile part. The Competent Person must use an accredited drone service provider, which the Singapore Accreditation Council lists, and notify the Commissioner through BCA’s e-form before flying. Infrared thermography supplements the 10% requirement and never replaces it.
The Competent Person records the date, time and location of every defect found. Most managing agents call this the defect register, although the Guidelines simply require the records to be kept. BCA also rejects boilerplate. Its Guidelines call a report written so it could fit any building with a changed title block non-compliant.
Where defects look systemic, the Competent Person can propose a full facade investigation. That step needs the Commissioner’s prior approval and can involve removing panels and laboratory testing.
What happens when the report says “Require Repair” or “Unsafe”?
The Competent Person classifies every facade type on the building as “Safe”, “Require Repair” or “Unsafe”. Once BCA accepts a report containing either of the last two, it writes to the owner with the period for remedial works, and the Competent Person must later certify completion.
“Require Repair” means the facade is deteriorating without imminent danger. “Unsafe” means immediate attention. For both, BCA’s Guidelines tell the Competent Person to recommend immediate protective steps. Loose or dangling elements come off at once, and cordons or protective hoarding go up where people walk below. BCA’s letter is what the industry calls the rectification notice. Section 28(7) of the Act binds the owner to the period it sets.
If a facade element actually falls, a separate duty applies. The Building Control (Reportable Matters) Regulations 2025 require a call to BCA’s safety incident hotline within 6 hours of becoming aware, followed by a written report within 24 hours.
Remedial scope usually lands in a few trades. Hollow plaster and cracked concrete ledges call for spalling concrete repair. Where corroded reinforcement reaches beams, columns or cantilevered slabs, the Guidelines advise engaging a civil or structural Professional Engineer, and works touching structure need plan approval and a permit, where applicable, before structural repair works start. Failed sealant joints and cracked render let rain into the wall behind, so repairs often extend to preventing water damage at the source.
Where a gondola cannot reach a set-back ledge or a single damaged bay, rope access on high-rise facades lets a small crew work the defect directly.
Proof-Tech is a BCA-registered contractor with specialist workheads CR05 Concrete Repairs, CR09 Repairs and Redecoration, and CR13 Waterproofing Installation, which covers most “Require Repair” scopes on concrete and plastered facades.
What are the penalties for ignoring the PFI regime?
An owner who ignores a PFI notice faces a fine of up to $20,000. Failing to appoint a Competent Person, submit the report or carry out recommended works adds possible imprisonment of up to 12 months and daily fines while the breach continues.
| Offence | Legal source | Maximum penalty |
| Owner fails to comply with the PFI notice | Building Control Act s28(8) | $20,000 fine |
| Owner fails to appoint a Competent Person, submit the report or carry out recommended works, without reasonable excuse | Building Control Act s28(9) | $20,000 fine or 12 months’ jail or both, plus $500 per day while continuing, and $2,000 per day after conviction |
| Competent Person fails to inspect in the prescribed manner or follow BCA directions | Building Control Act s28(10) | $50,000 fine |
| Anyone obstructs or delays the Competent Person or facade inspector | Building Control Act s28(5A) | $5,000 fine, plus $500 per day while continuing |
| Person responsible fails to keep exterior features maintained and securely fixed | Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act (per BCA FAQ) | $10,000 fine or 12 months’ jail or both |
The daily figures matter most. A $500 continuing fine over a 90-day remedial delay adds $45,000 on top of the base fine.
Is a seven-year cycle enough for Singapore facade materials?
For metal brackets and sealants, yes. For tiled facades, the margin is thin, and BCA’s own published research shows why.
The interval was chosen with material life in mind. Minister of State Zaqy Mohamad told Parliament on 6 March 2020 that the seven-year cycle “takes into consideration the expected lifespan of some facade materials.” He also noted that about 70% of Singapore’s building stock was then more than 20 years old.
Since then, BCA has added a 2024 National University of Singapore study to BCA’s PFI Guidelines for Competent Persons. The NUS team used accelerated weathering tests and Meteorological Service Singapore climate projections to 2100. Tile adhesive came out worst: its service life can drop to 10 years under climate stress, a reduction of up to 30%. Aluminium rivets fall to about 22 years, up to 11% shorter, while steel brackets and sealants held up well.
Put a 10-year adhesive life against a seven-year inspection gap and the problem is plain. A tiled elevation that passes one PFI can reach the end of its adhesive life before the next Competent Person taps it. Where this breaks down is the owner who reads “Safe” as a seven-year guarantee.
The cleaner approach for tiled facades is a tap test between cycles, timed around the midpoint R&R. It fits naturally into routine maintenance in tropical conditions and finds hollow tiles while they are still on the wall.
Conclusion
The Act places every PFI duty on the owner, yet the dates that drive cost come from BCA: the notice year and the repair period. Owners who start budgeting at the advisory letter, and keep their inspector independent of their contractor, stay ahead of both. Tiled elevations need checks between cycles, since the 2024 NUS findings show tile adhesive ageing faster than the cycle allows.
Send your Competent Person’s PFI report to Proof-Tech for a costed remedial works scope covering concrete repair, waterproofing and rope access, planned around the repair period BCA has given your building.
Frequently asked questions
Does a periodic structural inspection count as a facade inspection?
No. BCA treats PSI and PFI as separate regimes requiring two separate reports. PSI checks structural elements such as columns, beams and slabs and needs a structural engineer, while PFI checks non-structural facade elements like plaster, tiles and glass. A civil or structural Professional Engineer holding the Certificate in Façade Inspection can handle both when notices arrive together.
Can I sell my building to avoid PFI repairs?
No. The owner served with the PFI notice stays bound by the Building Control Act to carry out the Competent Person’s recommended works. BCA still requires the inspection during a sale, although it will consider holding the buyer accountable if the buyer agrees to comply with the notice and BCA is informed.
Can PFI be postponed if our condo is doing repair and redecoration works?
Only with BCA’s approval. BCA reviews written deferment requests case by case, because most R&R contracts do not include the Competent Person’s inspection and report required under the 2021 Regulations. MCSTs planning recladding should attach the works timeline and recent maintenance records to the request.
