SINGAPORE — With the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) has advised government agencies to take a sympathetic view of construction project delays and grant requests for extension of time for their completion, Mr Zaqy Mohamed said.

The Minister of State for National Development said on Wednesday (March 4) in Parliament that the Government had sought the support of the Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (Redas) for private sector developers to take the same view as well.

“We will continue to monitor the situation,” Mr Zaqy said. “If delays are prolonged, we will consider whether additional measures are necessary.”

The reply came as a few Members of Parliament (MP), during the debate on the Ministry of National Development’s budget, asked what more the Government can do to help the construction industry. 

Among them was MP Lee Bee Wah from Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency (GRC) who suggested that the public health crisis now could be an opportune time to review and adjust the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) to make it more equitable and effective.

She said that the current rules are not calibrated. They stipulate that property developers must fully sell all residential units in five years to qualify for an upfront remission of the 25 per cent ABSD that is imposed on the purchase price of the land.

And it is a “one size fits all” regime to some extent, she said.

However, she stressed that this is not a call for an easing of the cooling measure but an appeal for a temporary relief for the real estate industry to cope with the current situation.

To this, Mr Zaqy said that apart from monitoring the construction industry, the Government is also closely monitoring the property market.

“We will adjust our policies as necessary to ensure a stable and sustainable property market.”

At the same time, the Government had been selectively allowing extensions of the completion period for a few property projects due to the “extenuating circumstances” and it would be prepared to do the same for some other projects on a “case-by-case basis”, Mr Zaqy said.

As for cash flow concerns from delays arising from the Covid-19 outbreak, he said that main contractors taking charge of public sector projects may now submit progress payment claims fortnightly instead of monthly.

As for ongoing prefabricated, prefinished volumetric construction (PPVC) projects affected by delays in the supply of construction materials from China, BCA has adopted a “facilitative approach”, he said.

This involves giving approval for contractors to install the partially completed precast components on-site for 13 construction projects.

The delayed materials can be installed later, as part of the projects’ finishing works, Mr Zaqy added.

The PPVC technology is widely used for the construction of the Housing and Development Board’s Build-To-Order (BTO) flats.