Reader's Response Final Draft

In “Use of Cladding in Buildings Here Have Grown in Recent Times”, Mokhtar (2017) states that the use of cladding in Singapore has increased in the past few years. This is because cladding provides a variety of advantages, such as noise reduction and beautifying the building. It also helps to provide insulation, thus, reducing the amount of energy needed to cool down a building. In Singapore, Asia Square Tower and The Cathay are some buildings that uses cladding.

Despite the advantages of cladding, it may also pose as fire hazards. For example, during the incident of the Grenfell Tower blaze, ventilation gaps caused by cladding had provided the fire with more oxygen, therefore resulting in the fire spreading quickly. Nonetheless, Singapore still adopts the use of cladding but follow strict safety standards on the materials used to meet the class ‘0’ standard.

According to the article mentioned above, cladding can be a fire hazard. However, I believe that by following the requirements defined in the Singapore Fire Code and standards of procedures required to obtain the Fire Safety Certificate strictly, the risk of fire caused by cladding can be reduced.

According to Ng (2017), firstly, before cladding materials can be distributed in Singapore, suppliers must submit samples of the materials to an accredited certification laboratory to test batch the class of the materials. They will then obtain a certificate of conformity (COC) that states the class of the materials, he mentioned. Only materials meeting the class ‘0’ standards can be used for cladding. This means that in the case of a fire, the flames will not escalate along the surface of the material.

Secondly, the COC must be submitted to the architect for approval and the materials, which have their fire-rating class stamped on them, will then be delivered to the project site (Ng, 2017). It is the responsibility of the resident engineers and technical officers to check that the correct materials are delivered.

Thirdly, after installation of the cladding, a declaration of compliance must be issued by the contractor to ensure that the class of the materials in the COC matches the number stamped on the materials (Ng, 2017).

Finally, inspectors hired by the developer and SCDF will check on the fire-rating number and a Fire Safety Certificate will be issued for the building (Ng, 2017).

However, the loophole present in the process of purchasing and receiving the materials may result in the cladding being a fire hazard. For example, according to Singapore Civil Defence Force (2017), a local supplier had confused the safety classification of two models of materials, and stocks of the different class materials were mixed up at the warehouse. These materials were then delivered to the developer and used for the external claddings, resulting in the claddings not meeting the class ‘0’ standards (Ng, 2017).

To prevent this loophole, suppliers also must be alert by stamping the correct fire-rating class number on the materials and store the different materials separately to prevent mix up. Also, the developer must follow the standards of procedures strictly by allocating their resident engineers and technical officers to check that the correct materials are delivered by looking at the fire-rating number stamped on it before installing the cladding. This will ensure that the material of the correct class standard is being used. If incorrect material is received, it can be identified in this stage and highlighted to the supplier. If all parties work well to conduct necessary actions to follow the standards defined in the Singapore Fire Code strictly, the risk of fire caused by cladding can be reduced.

Reference:

Mokhtar, F. (2017, June 17). Use of cladding in buildings here have grown in recent times: Experts. Retrieved September 14, 2017, from Today Online Website: http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/use-cladding-buildings-here-have-grown-recent-times-experts

Ng, J. S. (2017, August 24). 36 buildings may have combustible cladding that do not meet safety rules; police report lodged. Retrieved September 27, 2017, from The Straits Times Website: http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/36-buildings-may-have-combustible-cladding-police-report-lodged

Ng, J. S. (2017, August 25). How did cladding woes happen despite layers of checks? Retrieved September 27, 2017, from The Straits Times Website: http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/distributor-placed-two-models-of-cladding-in-one-stock

Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). (2017, August 24). SCDF Press Release 24 Aug 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2017, from Singapore Civil Defence Force Website: https://www.scdf.gov.sg/sites/www.scdf.gov.sg/files/SCDF_Press_Release-24_Aug_2017.pdf

The Straits Times. (2017, August 24). Distributor of cladding material expresses 'shock' at SCDF's flammability test results; says cooperating with authorities. Retrieved September 27, 2017, from The Straits Times Website: http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/distributor-of-flammable-cladding-material-expresses-shock-at-scdf-test-results-says-it-is