Uneven walls, 'hollow walls' and water ponding: Punggol BTO residents cannot move in as defects remain

Dreams of a new home have apparently turned into a living nightmare for a group of residents of Punggol Point Cove, as they grapple with a litany of defects in their recently-completed BTO flats.

From uneven walls and hollow structures to water ponding and missing belongings, the homeowners told TNP they were caught in a frustrating battle with shoddy workmanship and unresponsive authorities.

One resident, who wanted to be known as Mr Iman, said his flat had defects.

"My unit has uneven and hollow walls," he told TNP on June 20. The 34-year-old administrator received keys to his five-room flat in March.

Mr Iman checked in with Building Services Centre (BSC) and was apparently told that the walls are hollow because "youngsters nowadays like to hack the wall".

He lamented that his flat had holes, the windows bore dents and scratches, and his master bathroom sustained water ponding.

Another resident, who had picked the full range of optional components, shared in the neighbourhood Telegram group that he discovered the cement screed beneath his chosen vinyl flooring was poorly done.

"He had to spend a bit of money to remove the vinyl that he already paid for using his CPF money," shared Mr Iman.

"The cement screed was not levelled properly - it had holes and boot marks."

Mr Iman showed TNP scores of photographs shared by the residents in the chat group. The homeowners said their attempts to seek redress have been met with roadblocks and frustration.

Mr Iman reached out to Dr Janil Puthucheary, MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, on April 28, providing photographic and video evidence of the defects.

However, the initial positive response in the correspondence tapered off and he received a message stating that the evidence he sent to the MP via WhatsApp had been deleted "to protect (Mr Iman's) privacy and confidential information".

After subsequent attempts to schedule a meeting with Dr Janil or his office, Mr Iman was told the MP would meet him at his Meet-the-People Session, which most of the new Punggol Point Cove homeowners were unable to attend.

"Most of us have not moved in yet," explained Mr Iman, adding that he could not get satisfying rectifications by BSC.

"If a window grill was scratched or dented, they would just sand and spray-paint it."

In an e-mail to TNP on June 23, Dr Janil said: "I have been in regular contact with the residents of Punggol Point Cove, the Resident's Network and the staff involved at HDB and the BSC. The work is ongoing to ensure that the homes are ready and the defects and concerns properly addressed. A meeting has already been arranged."

Dispirited by the ongoing issues, Mr Iman has decided to engage his own renovation contractor to work on the defects in his his flat.

Some residents also claimed they were advised by BSC to "slam it hard" to close poorly-fitted bomb shelter and bedroom doors. Others found holes in their walls taped up and painted over after BSC rectification.

Another resident, who wanted to be known only as Diana, told TNP on June 21: "When we went over, it felt like the estate was not at all ready to be handed over. When we entered our flat for the first time, there were cigarette butts littered in every room."

There were also expletives etched on one of her walls.

"There was a 'f*** you' scraped into the paint," she said, showing TNP photos of the cigarette butts and defaced wall.

When she engaged BSC contractors, "they simply painted over it".

Ms Diana claimed she was put through multiple rounds of inadequate rectification work by BSC.

"We had three rounds of rectification as, after the first round, many of the things we had flagged were not rectified at all," she said, citing wires sticking out of walls, and misaligned windows and pipes as some of the issues left unaddressed.

She also highlighted a pattern of delays and incomplete repairs: "They would address things like the alignment of the switches and the paint job but ignore the misaligned and scratched windows, and the electrical distribution board."

The misaligned water pipes and damaged door frames were not rectified.

"I doubt any cleaning was done - the bathroom tiles were so dirty the inspector we engaged could not check the water ponding properly," said Ms Diana.

"By the time they finished the second and third rounds of work on the windows, more than two months had passed since we collected our keys."

The 30-year-old mother of one said the project did not complete as promised: "It was estimated to be ready early-2023 but it was delayed to the end of the year. The completion was further delayed to the first-quarter of this year. We received our keys in the last week of March and there was no compensation for any of the delays."

In a reply to TNP on June 24, a spokeperson for HDB said: "Keys handover at Punggol Point Cove, which is a 1178-unit BTO development, started in mid-February 2024. Based on data received at the BSC so far, the defects reported at Punggol Point Cove are within the range of what we have seen at other new BTO projects.

"Most of the defects reported are surface imperfections such as uneven/chipped wall surface and scratched/chipped tiles, which can be rectified without extensive works and fairly quickly. All of them do not affect the structural integrity of the flat."

The spokesperson added: "Since the start of BSC operations at Punggol Point Cove, more than 90 per cent of the defects reported were rectified within 14 working days. This is in-line with the overall rectification rate for new BTO projects.

"In addition, over 9 in 10 cases were rectified and closed within the first round of feedback. Repeat feedback make up less than 8 per cent of the total cases received, and most of them submitted feedback to BSC twice. Majority of the subsequent feedback were on new defects, with some highlighting previous defects rectification that they were not satisfied with."

On the conduct of workers performing the repairs and touch-up works, prior to the commencement of the operation of the BSC operation, contractors and their workers are briefed on the protocols in carrying out repair works in the flat, said the HDB spokesperson.

"Should the contractors or workers be found to have committed any misdemeanours (for example, unauthorised use of electricity, water or the WC), HDB will issue them stern warnings and/or impose demerit points. Demerit points can impact a contractor's application when he tenders for another HDB project. Additionally, errant workers can also be disallowed from working at the project site," the spokesperson added.

"Flat owners at Punggol Point Cove are advised to report any feedback or concerns directly to the BSC so that our contractor can follow up closely on the rectification works. HDB will also investigate any misdemeanours surfaced in residents' feedback and take appropriate action against the contractor if necessary."

Meanwhile, TNP understands that a walkabout at Punggol Point Cove has been scheduled to take place on June 29.

In the e-mail from the People's Association on June 22 seen by TNP, it stated Dr Janil, HDB officials and Town Council officers will be involved in the walkabout that aims to address residents' concerns and potentially form a new Residents' Network for the precinct.

HDB clarifies

In a June 26 e-mail, the Housing Board explained that the "hollow walls" mentioned by Mr Iman are drywalls filled with sound-insulation materials and can support common fixtures.

Since November 2014, under the Building and Construction Authority's requirement, all residential non-landed developments (private and public development) have to use non-concrete drywalls for internal partitions, except for wet areas such as the bathroom and kitchen areas.

The HDB statement also pointed out that Mr Iman collected his keys on March 27, conducted a joint inspection with BSC on April 8 and signed the completion of rectification works form on May 7.

"He has not indicated to BSC any outstanding items for rectification since then," it added.

HDB also explained that although Punggol Point Cove was originally expected to be completed in early-2023, the Delivery Possession Date (DPD) was early-2024.

The completion of Punggol Point Cove was delayed due to the pandemic but the flats were delivered to buyers before the DPD. Hence in Ms Diana's case, the issue of compensation does not arise.

Editor's note on July 25: The earlier version of the story mentioned the termination of a previous contractor due to unsatisfactory progress. We have removed it as that detail pertained to another project.

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This article was first published in The New Paper. Permission required for reproduction.