New measures to accelerate productivity and innovation in the Built Environment Sector

At the Construction Technology @ Punggol Digital District (ConTech@PDD) event, Minister for National Development Mr Chee Hong Tat announced new initiatives to support the transformation for the Built Environment (BE) sector. These efforts build on the ongoing work of the Action Team to Improve Built Environment Productivity (“Action Team”), established earlier this year to drive improvements and savings in time, cost and manpower across the BE sector.

Amid high construction demand, new technologies, such as Robotics & Automation (R&A), will be key to helping Singapore’s BE sector build better, faster and more sustainably. To increase the adoption of market-ready solutions, the Government strongly supports innovation, streamlining rules and helping successful innovations scale-up adoption.

Taking Risks to Spur Innovation

The Government provides sandboxes for firms to pilot and test their innovations. For example, the Built Environment Innovation Hub (BEIH) at BCA Braddell Campus has hosted more than 170 technology demonstrations and testbeds since 2023.

To make it easier and less costly to innovate, BCA will be waiving space rental fees for BEIH technology sandboxes for two years from July this year. For a start, this will be offered to teams trialling solutions that improve productivity, such as R&A solutions, which are the most common types of technologies test-bedded at the BEIH. This waiver can be extended to other areas if there is demand for other types of technologies (more details in Annex A).

Complementing this, JTC will set up a sandbox in Jurong Innovation District to test large-scale autonomous construction technologies and heavy construction equipment systems. The inaugural project is an inter-agency collaboration between JTC, S&TPPO and HDB, in partnership with Kajima Corporation. More details on the sandbox and JTC’s robotics roadmap will be shared later this year.

To make it easier for proven technologies to move from testing to the real-world use, JTC will launch the Innovative Procurement Partnership (IPP) tender for technologies, such as construction inspection robots and remote-controlled tower cranes. The IPP is a new procurement approach introduced by the Ministry of Finance to reduce administrative barriers for pilot testing. Awarded tenderers with successful pilots can apply for other JTC projects without the need for new tenders.

JTC’s first two IPPs received close to 20 submissions. These include innovative computer vision solutions to monitor worksite productivity, and robotics solutions to automate time-consuming and potentially hazardous inspections of covered drains (more details in Annex B).

Enabling Regulations to Support Innovation

Taking in feedback from stakeholders, the Government continues to remove unnecessary red tape and ensure that our rules and regulations keep pace with innovation.

For instance, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and BCA have reviewed the first batch of projects deploying smart hoists on construction sites and exempted them from the prevailing Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) requirement to station operators within smart hoists. This will allow companies deploying smart hoists to reap greater cost and manpower savings. To ensure safety, these projects will put in place safeguards, such as interlocks to keep hoist doors secure.

MOM and BCA will learn from this first batch of projects to streamline the process further. For instance, agencies may consider whitelisting smart hoist solutions that have proven safety records in future, for pre-approved exemption from the rules. (more details in Annex C).

Taking Innovation One Step Further

To drive industry-wide adoption of successful innovations, JTC onboarded the first batch of innovative solutions to its Integrated Digital Delivery Technology Alliance (IDDTA). (more details are in Annex D). The IDDTA provides JTC’s project partners with a curated marketplace of digital solutions endorsed by JTC, and can connect to OPTIMUS1, JTC’s Connected Data Environment, that allows seamless information sharing across project teams from design to completion.

1OPTIMUS is a shared digital workspace that enables seamless information sharing across project teams. By integrating with OPTIMUS, digital solutions reduce data fragmentation and improve coordination, progress tracking and decision-making throughout the project lifecycle.

Construction companies can save time and costs by adopting IDDTA solutions, instead of going through their own trial and error processes. For technology start-ups, IDDTA certification could serve as a mark of quality for other prospective customers.

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About ConTech@PDD

Co-organised by BCA and JTC, ConTech@Punggol Digital District (PDD) brings together public agencies, industry leaders, contractors and technology providers to showcase deployable Robotics & Automation (R&A) solutions. The inaugural event features industry sharing, panel discussions and technology demonstrations, providing practical insights into technology adoption journeys, implementation challenges and opportunities to scale innovation across the sector.

Download the PDF version of the media release here [PDF, 340.67 KB]

Factsheets

ANNEX A – Waiver of space rental fees for sandboxes

ANNEX B – Innovative Procurement Partnerships (IPPs)

ANNEX C – Review of Regulatory Frameworks to Support Innovation

ANNEX D – Integrated Digital Delivery Technology Alliance (IDDTA)

Download the PDF version of the factsheets here [PDF, 296.85 KB]