National Development Minister Lawrence Wong stated on 4 May 2020 that the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) will soon require lift technicians to be certified before they can maintain lifts independently once the Bill is passed in Parliament.
He was responding to Labour MP Zainal Sapari’s parliamentary question on how the BCA ensures that all lift technicians’ skills and competencies remain up to date.
“To ensure a high standard of maintenance as our lift stock continues to grow, BCA will require lift technicians to obtain either a Nitec in Built Environment (Vertical Transport) or a Certificate of Competency (CoC) in Lift Maintenance for Lift Specialist before they are allowed to maintain lifts independently,” said Mr Wong.
According to Mr Wong, there are currently around 2,400 lift technicians employed in Singapore, and that BCA has various measures to attract, develop and retain lift technicians.
“These include introducing a Progressive Wage Model (PWM) for the industry in 2019, which sets out structured pathways for progression.
The Government targets to mandate PWM adoption for the lift industry by 2022.
“BCA is also exploring the use of remote monitoring and diagnostics technology to increase productivity,” said Mr Wong.
Mr Wong added that once the Bill has been passed, it will be an offence for contractors to deploy technicians without the required certification to maintain lifts independently.
“BCA will inspect lift maintenance operations and take enforcement actions against errant contractors,” said Mr Wong.
