Take-up Rate and Use of Building and Construction Authority's Accessibility Fund

35 Ms Hany Soh asked the Minister for National Development (a) in the past three years, what has been the take-up rate of the Building and Construction Authority's Accessibility Fund; and (b) how many of the applicants have made use of the fund to construct family-friendly facilities, such as lactation room and diaper changing stations.

Mr Desmond Lee: The Building and Construction Authority's (BCA's) Accessibility Fund (AF) provides funding support for private building owners who undertake voluntary upgrading of their buildings to improve accessibility. AF co-funds up to 80% of the construction cost of basic accessibility features, such as ramps, lifts and accessible toilets, and up to 60% of the construction cost of Universal Design features, including family-friendly facilities.

Twenty-five building owners applied for AF from 2019 to 2021. Four of these applications included the provision of family-friendly features, such as lactation rooms, diaper changing stations and other child-friendly sanitary facilities.

BCA enhanced AF on 1 August 2022 to encourage more building owners to undertake voluntary upgrading works to improve the accessibility of their buildings. Under the enhanced AF, buildings that were built between 1990 and 2014 are eligible for up to $100,000 in funding support for the construction of Universal Design features, including family-friendly facilities.