Leaking water pipe likely caused ceiling to collapse at JEM

Leaking water pipe likely caused ceiling to collapse at JEM

SINGAPORE - A leak in a water-pipe led to the Wednesday night collapse of a portion of the false ceiling at JEM Shopping Mall.

Site inspections by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) engineers on Thursday morning revealed that the water, which collected on the false ceiling had likely caused it to buckle.

Here is the full press release from BCA:

On 18 September 2013, a portion of the false ceiling (approximately 50 metres long, 4 metres wide) at level 1 of JEM Shopping Mall collapsed.

Site inspections by BCA engineers early this morning revealed that there was a leak in the water-pipe and the weight of the water, which collected on the false ceiling, was a likely cause of the false ceiling collapse. The structural integrity of the building is not affected.

Nevertheless, in the interest of public safety, BCA has ordered the building owner to close off the affected area and to get a Professional Engineer to check all the false ceilings in the mall and investigate the nature of the false ceiling collapse. The building owner has also asked its consultants to check the water pipes for any other signs of leakage.

None of tenants at Jem will be open today, say management

Members from the Jem management, who were seen managing people on the ground, said that no tenants will be open on Thursday. The mall's management said they had tried to communicate the news to as many of the tenants as possible on Wednesday night.


Get the full story from The Straits Times.

 

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