Punggol lift with faulty door suspended until further notice: BCA

Punggol lift with faulty door suspended until further notice: BCA

SINGAPORE - The operation of a lift at a Punggol HDB block was suspended on Saturday (Jan 23) after a resident reported a malfunction a few days ago, said the Building and Construction Authority (BCA). 

Businessman Ben Tng took the elevator (Lift B) with his son at Block 114 Edgefield Plains on Friday (Jan 22) morning when one of its doors did not close. The lift continued to descend 10 floors despite the left car door being open. 

By the time Mr Tng returned home at 3.20pm on Friday, the lift had been repaired, reported The Straits Times

BCA said its engineers visited the site on Saturday, together with representatives from Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council and a lift contractor. 

"In the interest of public safety, the incident lift has been suspended by BCA for further investigation," the authority said.

BCA said the Town Council is required to appoint an independent Authorised Examiner (AE) to inspect, test and certify that the lift is safe for use.

It is unclear when the lift will be back in operation as BCA said in a statement on Sunday (Jan 24) that "the lift will only be allowed to resume operation when BCA receives the AE report and is satisfied with the findings".

Mr Tng told AsiaOne that he is glad the authorities are looking into this matter. "I hope more can be done for lift safety," he said. 

As a safety precaution, BCA also said that it will be conducting checks on lifts at other blocks that are within the vicinity of Block 114.

maryanns@sph.com.sg

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