About 15 per cent of MBAS’ members have joined the scheme and the association hopes more will sign up as it looks to decrease the yearly average of disputes by half.
Mr Kelvin Bing, the owner of Renaissance Planners and Designers, told CNA that the scheme helps to reduce conflicts and misunderstandings between owners and builders regarding defects.
“BuildTrust … encompasses professionals in Singapore … the assessors themselves used to be from (the) industry or the BCA,” he said.
“It (aligns) homeowners’ expectations, for example, like tiles or marble finishes, (with) what the industry expects in terms of the gaps (or) the pointers between the tiles.”
MORE DEFECT CHECKING COMPANIES
Some defect checking firms said they have seen an increase of at least 10 per cent in the number of landed property owners seeking their services compared with two years ago.
Mr Ng Kim Wah, director of Uncle Defect, said the demand has led to more such firms entering the industry.
He added that regulations are long overdue as some defect checkers harbour vested interests, such as finding fault with negligible issues like patchy paint, and recommending solutions they can profit from.
“I feel there’s a conflict of interest, because the more they check, the more defects they find … (and) the more they can sell their services,” said Mr Ng, who has been in the business for five years.
Defect checkers, hired by some homeowners when their houses are being constructed or renovated, usually place a sticker to mark a possible construction fault, such as uneven wall plaster or plumbing problems.
