Monitoring Lift Maintenance and Repair

71 Ms Sun Xueling asked the Minister for National Development (a) what recourse do residents have apart from calling up the Essential Maintenance Services Unit to repair lifts that constantly break down; and (b) whether maintenance frequencies can be increased for lifts that constantly break down and their performance stability monitored so as to re-establish confidence for users of these lifts.

Mr Lawrence Wong: Town Councils have the statutory responsibility to carry out maintenance of lifts in Housing and Development Board (HDB) estates. Therefore, besides contacting the Essential Maintenance Services Unit appointed by their Town Council, residents may also call their Town Council directly if they encounter lift breakdowns.

Under the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act (Lift and Building Maintenance) Regulations, all lifts must be maintained at least once a month. However, Town Councils can work with their appointed lift servicing contractors to review whether a higher maintenance frequency is needed for specific lifts. This can be done with the help of the Tele-Monitoring System (TMS) installed in all HDB blocks, which provides data on lift performance, including lift breakdown rates.