Equipping Building Industry Firms to Use Drone Technology for Efficient Inspection, Repairs and Maintenance

35 Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for National Development whether BCA is actively encouraging construction and infrastructure companies to use drones for inspections of projects, especially for the facades of high-rise buildings.

36 Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for National Development whether the Ministry is educating and equipping construction and infrastructure companies to utilise drone technology to increase efficiency and safety in the workplace.

37 Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Minister for National Development (a) how has the use of drones by the building industry helped to improve productivity and effectiveness in building inspections, repairs and maintenance; and (b) whether the process of seeking approvals for the use of drones can be streamlined and the turnaround time for granting approvals improved.

The Senior Minister of State for National Development (Mr Tan Kiat How) (for the Minister for National Development): Sir, the Government has been exploring the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to perform facade inspections and maintenance for high-rise buildings.

Mr Speaker: Senior Minister of State, if I could just interrupt, are you answering for the three questions?

Mr Tan Kiat How: Yes, Sir, if I could take Question Nos 35 to 37 together?

Mr Speaker: Okay. Please proceed.

Mr Tan Kiat How: The use of UAS in periodic facade inspections allows inspections to be conducted more quickly while reducing costs incurred by building owners. It also improves workplace safety for facade inspectors as they can now inspect building façades from ground level without the need to work at height.

To better equip the industry, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) published two Technical References in 2020 that provide specifications for the industry in using UAS for building facade inspections. In addition, BCA and Enterprise Singapore jointly launched the UAS Accreditation Programme in 2023, which aims to standardise the competencies of service providers and ensure that inspections are carried out by competent drone service providers (DSPs). The Government has also been investing in research and development to advance facade inspection technologies.

Beyond facade inspections, the Government is currently exploring how UAS can be used in building maintenance. For example, agencies, such as Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA), Housing and Development Board (HDB) and JTC are exploring the potential of using UAS, in tandem with robotics, to undertake the cleaning of building facades. As the use of UAS in building maintenance and repairs is nascent and has not been widely adopted in the industry, BCA will continue to partner the industry and research institutes to explore new use cases for UAS in the sector.

On the approvals required to use drones, BCA's approval is required for facade inspections where Competent Persons (CPs) intend to use technology, including the use of UAS. Typically, BCA's approval will be issued within three working days.

DSPs will also need to obtain the necessary permits from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) prior to using UAS to carry out the inspections. CAAS will assess the safety of the UAS operations and coordinate the airspace for UAS activities.

In 2022, CAAS and the relevant Government agencies established a "green lane" approval process for locations with lower risk, where the UAS activity permits are processed within three working days. CAAS also leverages on information technology systems to better track and enhance the efficiency of processing approvals.

To keep pace with the application of UAS across more use cases, CAAS will continue to review its regulations and processes with Government agencies to streamline the approval process for UAS activities without compromising aviation and public safety, as well as security.

Mr Speaker: Mr Liang Eng Hwa.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Bukit Panjang): Sir, indeed, like what the Senior Minister of State says, in the HDB towns, we are seeing more of these building contractors and repair contractors using drones to inspect HDB flats for any defects or seepages and so on.

The Senior Minister of State mentioned that under the "green lane", it will take three days to get the approval to use a drone. From my experiences with the contractors, some told me it took as long as two weeks to get approvals to be able to fly the drone. So, I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State whether in cases like for very localised use for HDB heartlands just to inspect the HDB blocks, can a kind of blanket approval be given for the whole works, for example, repair and redecoration (R&R) work? Can approval be just given for the whole stretch rather than you need to go for a case-by-case approval in the use of the drones?

[Deputy Speaker (Mr Christopher de Souza) in the Chair]

Mr Tan Kiat How: Sir, the majority of submissions are approved by BCA within three working days from when BCA receives a submission from the CP. For CPs who engage DSPs that BCA has not previously engaged, BCA may require these DSPs to present their track records and technical capabilities, and that may take more than three days.

So, it really depends on the DSPs that the CP assigns the work to. For HDB Town Councils, actually, the instruction for facade inspection is issued to the Town Council and the Town Council could then decide which CP and DSP to appoint. So far, we have not come across significant issues around permit approvals for most of the cases that we have seen.

In Mr Liang's case, if there are specific issues that he or his Town Council has encountered, we will be happy to take it up and look at it.