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SINGAPORE – The maintenance of air conditioning mechanical ventilation (ACMV) ducts within buildings is not subject to regulatory requirements, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) said in a statement on Wednesday (September 2).
Responding to inquiries from The Straits Times, a BCA spokesperson added that “building owners are responsible for the maintenance of their buildings, ensuring that all parts of their buildings are kept in good repair and serviceable condition.”
This includes “maintenance of interior accessories such as ACMV ducts”.
On Sunday at the Nex shopping center, a vent that fell off at the Shaw Theaters injured two customers.
The BCA has since ordered that the theater be closed for a thorough review, and investigations by a professional engineer appointed by the building owner are ongoing.
A Nex spokesperson said that “all maintenance of various engineering and mechanical systems for the common areas in the building is carried out according to a schedule planned by designated specialist contractors.”
“Additionally, when the on-site maintenance team observes any anomalies in the course of their work of these systems in the common areas, they will conduct further inspections or verifications to determine the cause and take appropriate action,” he said.
The shopping center is co-owned and managed by Mercatus and Gold Ridge.
Associate Professor Daniel Wong from the construction department at the National University of Singapore’s School of Design and Environment said that maintenance of duct systems in buildings tends to be very ad hoc and infrequent, due to high costs. involved and the disruptions it causes.
“The suspended ceiling has to be cut for inspection and cleaning of the duct systems, which are done separately, and this is usually very disruptive, so it is done infrequently,” said Professor Wong.
He said some companies avoid maintenance work for five to 10 years.
Ideally, the inspection of duct systems should be scheduled periodically, as it is not possible to complete the entire inspection in one go, as it can be spread throughout the building and over several floors, said Professor Wong.
Instead, multiple rooms or floors are broken into a check routine, and it could take more than a year to complete the full inspection.
Also, deep cleaning the duct systems would cost at least $ 30,000 and could be too expensive. As such, companies often clear essential or heavy-use areas, although he said the frequency of their cleaning varies, depending on the company.
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