Two public toilets have been built at vehicle parking spaces and common areas at the Oxley Bizhub, a light industrial development, seemingly in contravention of building rules.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) conducted a fire safety inspection at 61 Ubi Road 1 in October and found “unauthorised change of use” of the area.
It issued a Notice of Fire Safety Offence to the Management Corporation Strata Title (MCST), asking that the situation be rectified, but a check earlier this year found this had not been done. A second notice was issued.
An SCDF spokesman said: “The MCST is required to rectify the fire safety violation by either regularising through the submission of plans to SCDF for approval, or to revert to the original intended purpose of a premises… SCDF will escalate to court action should the fire safety violation remain unrectified.”
The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) said its engineers inspected the toilets and found they were built using partition walls made of lightweight blocks.
These walls did not impact the structural integrity of the building and did not require any plan approval by the BCA. But it added that “such works may need to comply with regulatory requirements from other relevant authorities”.
The two toilets were still there when The Sunday Times visited the site yesterday.
An Urban Redevelopment Authority spokesman told The Sunday Times that converting common property into facilities like toilets is subject to approval from URA and relevant agencies. URA is following up with the MCST. Mr Kelvin Toi, executive director of Avalon Asset Management which manages the property, said: “There were proper approvals done. BCA is investigating this matter.”
Mr Derrick Chan, chairman of the management council, said a resolution was passed at an annual general meeting in 2017 to build three toilets but only two were constructed last year. He said the development has 728 commercial units, but no toilet on the ground floor. There is a handicap toilet on every level from the first to the 10th storey so it was justified to have common toilets there, he added.
The SCDF said enforcement action will be taken when there is a violation like unauthorised change of use or unauthorised fire safety works as these can affect means of escape and effectiveness of safety measures. Last year, it issued 675 Notices of Fire Safety Offences for unauthorised works, including for 519 industrial premises. Notices are issued when contravention is of a serious nature and warrants a heavier penalty. The maximum penalty is a fine of $200,000 and two years’ jail.
In extreme cases, the SCDF can require a temporary closure of the premises. It urged members of the public to report fire hazards by calling 1800-280-0000.
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