Developers say that it’s difficult to provide rectification works as the government has halted all construction works in April.
With the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting renovation and construction works, some residents at new condominium projects have no choice but to live with the defects in their units for months.
Residents at The Alps Residences, for instance, revealed that they had filed numerous defect forms with the project’s developer – MCC Land – since they received the keys to their units in October. They noted, however, that management had been slow with replies, while repairs have been dragged out due to the pandemic, reported TODAY.
Related: Post-Circuit Breaker: Can You Resume Renovation Works Immediately?
Located at 115 Tampines Street 86, the 99-year leasehold condo features 626 units and had been granted Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) on 27 September 2019.
A 31-year old resident, who wanted to be identified only as Mrs Zhu, said the glass panels in her unit had scratches, while the marble walls in the bathroom had white stains. Her bedroom’s door frame had also split and fallen from the wall.
Although she reported the defects in November, she only had the door frame fixed on 24 July. Mrs Zhu is still waiting for the developer to replace the glass panels.
A 39-year old resident, who wanted to be known only as Mr Shashi, found popped tiles as well as wallpaper peeling off due to water damage within his apartment two weeks before moving in the unit in February.
When contacted on 14 August, Mr Shashi told TODAY that he has not yet resolved the issues in his unit with the developer.
Edward Quek and Janelle Quek, on the other hand, found various defects since collecting the keys for their penthouse unit, which they acquired for around $1.6 million.
Among the defects seen at their new home included popped tiles, scratch marks on marble flooring and wall cracks. They added that a glass door at one of the bathrooms had also shattered for no apparent reason.
The siblings noted that while some repair works had been initiated in February prior to the circuit breaker period, many of the defects remain unresolved. In fact, some of the defects such as the wall cracks had recently resurfaced.
Separately, residents Gem Residences, faced water pressure issues since January when they started collecting the keys to their units.
A resident, who wanted to be identified only as Ms C K, said the project’s management agent had been slow in responding to the various issues raised by residents during the circuit breaker period.
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The 41-year old private investor noted that while communication with the project’s developer, Evia Real Estate, had improved since the end of the lockdown in June, some outstanding matters – such as common area defects and water pressure issues – are yet to be addressed.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for MCC Land explained that they had been conducting rectification works at some of the units at The Alps since they handed over the keys to buyers in October 2019.
However, rectification works at some units had been affected by the government’s decision to halt all construction works in April.
Nonetheless, the developer had recently obtained government approval to progressively restart rectification works.
“Although we are not operating at our optimal manpower strength during this period, we are doing our best to complete as much rectification work as we can,” said the MCC Land’s spokesperson as quoted by TODAY.
Evia Real Estate’s spokesperson, on the other hand, revealed that they can only resume the bulk of rectification works at the end of this month. This comes as they are facing challenges with manpower.
“Although the authorities have announced the release of workers from purpose-built dormitories, there are a lot of other stringent requirements to meet in terms of safe accommodation and safe workplace,” she said as quoted by TODAY.
“All this coupled with the backlog of cases which have built up over the circuit breaker period mean we are hard pressed to meet the defect rectification deadlines.”
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Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg
