safety and maintenance of lifts in condominiums


d2xpeter

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Dec 6, 2012
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which authority and/or ministry in Singapore control the safety and maintenance of lifts in condo?
BCA?
 

which authority and/or ministry in Singapore control the safety and maintenance of lifts in condo?
BCA?
check with the MA of the condo. should have one to manage one.
 

The reason i ask this question is that the MA is having a EGM for resident to vote for several facilities upgrade.
The lift is one of them.

Recently we encountered some serious accidents resulting from the lifts malfunctioning.
I was wondering, if it concerns safety of the residents, why should we vote for it. It should be MANDATORY!.

That is why i would like to consult the relevant authority.
 

The reason i ask this question is that the MA is having a EGM for resident to vote for several facilities upgrade.
The lift is one of them.

Recently we encountered some serious accidents resulting from the lifts malfunctioning.
I was wondering, if it concerns safety of the residents, why should we vote for it. It should be MANDATORY!.

That is why i would like to consult the relevant authority.

You have to know what causes the lifts to malfunction and the subsequent accidents. Things happen not only due to hardware failure. Human factor also contribute to accidents. If its that latter and it doesn't get addressed, no amount of upgrade will solve the problem.
 

Best way is to canvass for votes to pass the resolution. I've seen lift lifespan marked at 25years in sinking fund computation.
 

It is all about money.
Bitter quarrels at EGMs of condominiums is not unusual.

That is when one realises the condo swimming pool is a liability. It costs a lot to maintain, repair and operate.
The swimming pool was a novelty for 1 month after the condo residents moved in. After that they seldom use it.
Lower floor residents complain why should they pay for the repair to the roof.
Top floor residents suffering from leaking roofs are angry that others try to block the repair.

Condo MA office holders can be accused of being on the take and handing out repair/replacement contracts to their pals.

Welcome to your friendly condominium living environment.
 

It is all about money.
Bitter quarrels at EGMs of condominiums is not unusual.

That is when one realises the condo swimming pool is a liability. It costs a lot to maintain, repair and operate.
The swimming pool was a novelty for 1 month after the condo residents moved in. After that they seldom use it.
Lower floor residents complain why should they pay for the repair to the roof.
Top floor residents suffering from leaking roofs are angry that others try to block the repair.

Condo MA office holders can be accused of being on the take and handing out repair/replacement contracts to their pals.

Welcome to your friendly condominium living environment.

Actually, i don't give a damn on all these trivial issues mentioned by you.

But serious mech lift failure can cause life/death threat and is of paramount safety concerns. Heard some resident mentioned that someone got trapped inside and hv to crawl out thru a small gap when the lift's inner section does not align with the outer doors. Scary!
 

If the lift is bust, repair is needed, but any work that requires large amounts of money, which is beyond what a Management Committee (volunteers) and the Management Agency (MA- paid) are allowed to approve.
If your EGM baulks at the cost, you could be looking at shutting down the lift and taking the stairs..

Many condo members want the cheapest fees, but everything costs money, and sometimes, that calls for increases to fees.

Now with everyone calling for higher pay for cleaners, expect that your monthly maintenance bill will soon go up.


The reason i ask this question is that the MA is having a EGM for resident to vote for several facilities upgrade.
The lift is one of them.

Recently we encountered some serious accidents resulting from the lifts malfunctioning.
I was wondering, if it concerns safety of the residents, why should we vote for it. It should be MANDATORY!.

That is why i would like to consult the relevant authority.
 

Last edited:
If the lift is bust, repair is needed, but any work that requires large amounts of money, which is beyond what a Management Committee (volunteers) and the Management Agency (MA- paid) are allowed to approve.
If your EGM baulks at the cost, you could be looking at shutting down the lift and taking the stairs..

Many condo members want the cheapest fees, but everything costs money, and sometimes, that calls for increases to fees.

.

ditto ditt and triple ditto above comment

dont talk about walking up .... walking DOWN more than 24 floors in office wear also very siong

exact same thing happened at my old 40+ year old place. The place is OLD and I was jaw-dropped when the majority voted for cheapest option ..... barely 3 months after the repair job.... lifts started breaking down again ....

lesson learnt, 8 months later, everyone higher than 3rd floor voted for the better higher cost option
 

The reason i ask this question is that the MA is having a EGM for resident to vote for several facilities upgrade.
The lift is one of them.

Recently we encountered some serious accidents resulting from the lifts malfunctioning.
I was wondering, if it concerns safety of the residents, why should we vote for it. It should be MANDATORY!.

That is why i would like to consult the relevant authority.

There are many reasons why such issues are put up for EGM approval, it could be due to:

- the high cost involved
- restriction placed on the council at the last AGM
- selection of options for the work to be done (usually for high cost matter running at least into the 5 to 6 fig sum)
- against or cost above resolutions passed at the last AGM
- lack of funds where a special levy may need to be collected
- council's decision to let the general body (all owners) decide

There may be other reasons so it may be good to find out more from the MA or the council, anyway by the time BCA get back to you the EGM may likely had been over
 

Recently we encountered some serious accidents resulting from the lifts malfunctioning.
I was wondering, if it concerns safety of the residents, why should we vote for it. It should be MANDATORY!.

That is why i would like to consult the relevant authority.

But serious mech lift failure can cause life/death threat and is of paramount safety concerns. Heard some resident mentioned that someone got trapped inside and hv to crawl out thru a small gap when the lift's inner section does not align with the outer doors. Scary!

Base on your above 2 post it seems like your lift is an old system where there are no Auto Rescues Devise (ARD) and when there is a power failure to the lift it did not go down to the nearest level to open the door to let people inside the lift to exit, this is not unusual for some lifts system about 10 years old. The failure by the lift contractors to manually bring the lift down to the nearest level to conduct man trap rescue may point to an electrical fault with the controller or other mechanical fault, all of which are rather costly to install / repair. The occurrence of such and other incidents may be what triggers a possible upgrade of the system and thus the EGM since there are also other items which are proposed for upgrading.

You are right to say that if it is safety and/or mandatory than it should be done and not wait for an EGM to decide, ask the council why they are asking the residents to decide if it is a safety issue (lift upgrading is not a safety issue), it could be due to some of the reasons in my earlier post.
 

Best way is to canvass for votes to pass the resolution. I've seen lift lifespan marked at 25years in sinking fund computation.

Lifts are marked for 25 years in the sinking fund for total replacement as that is the "normal" expected lifespan and it is an accepted industry practice, the council is not bounded by it but will have to exercise their judgement on when to execute / implement repair and improvement works as and when it occur, usually before the 25 years life span.
 

It is all about money.
Bitter quarrels at EGMs of condominiums is not unusual.

That is when one realises the condo swimming pool is a liability. It costs a lot to maintain, repair and operate.
The swimming pool was a novelty for 1 month after the condo residents moved in. After that they seldom use it.
Lower floor residents complain why should they pay for the repair to the roof.
Top floor residents suffering from leaking roofs are angry that others try to block the repair.

Condo MA office holders can be accused of being on the take and handing out repair/replacement contracts to their pals.

Welcome to your friendly condominium living environment.

Hahaha :bsmilie:, that is the "exciting" behind-the-scene happenings of condo living. At the end of the day it is how the MA advise and manage the estate and the residents, and how strong and conscious of the residents the council is.