# Buildings can be easier to maintain and reap 'substantial' cost savings with DfM features: study

- **Source:** EdgeProp Singapore
- **Published:** 2026-07-23T05:53:34.000Z
- **Author:** Fiona Lam
- **Original:** https://www.edgeprop.sg/property-news/buildings-can-be-easier-maintain-and-reap-substantial-cost-savings-dfm-features-study
- **Topics:** Commercial & Industrial, Government & Policy

## Featured rationale

The findings may encourage developers to accept modest upfront construction premiums of 0.2% to 1.5% for lower lifecycle costs and reduced maintenance manpower.

## AI summary

A BCA-Surbana Jurong study found DfM features could save commercial buildings $310,000 to $950,000 annually, mostly with payback periods below six years.

## Original article

Demand for building maintenance works continues to increase as Singapore’s building stock grows and ages. The manpower available to maintain buildings also continues to shrink.

To ensure that buildings remain well-maintained over time, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) has been advocating for the built environment sector to factor longer-term maintenance considerations into the design process from the start.

This is known as Design for Maintainability (DfM). With it, buildings will be easier and more cost-effective to maintain through their operational phase.

Read also: Offices get pricier to rent and buy in 2Q2026, pipeline supply dwindles

Developers, building owners and tenants can expect to benefit from “substantial” maintenance cost and manpower savings over a building’s life cycle if DfM features are incorporated early in the design process. Architectural decisions can also give the biggest productivity boost.

That is according to preliminary findings from a study by BCA and Surbana Jurong (SJ Group), released on July 22.

“For too long, maintenance has been treated as someone else’s problem, to be addressed only after the building is handed over,” said Ang Kian Seng, group director of environmental sustainability at BCA.

“This study shows that designing for maintainability is not a cost burden, but a sound investment,” he added.

The additional cost of incorporating DfM for the commercial buildings ranged from 0.6% to 1.5% of total construction cost, and was just 0.2% for the residential project.

Ascent, SJ Campus, Shaw Tower, Copen Grand studied

To quantify the benefits of DfM, they studied four developments in Singapore: two existing commercial buildings, a new commercial development, and a new residential development.

Read also: Inventing Kaera: Architect and material scientist Kody Kato on building in harmony with nature

Developments in the study comprise Ascent from CapitaLand Development, SJ Campus from SJ Group, the recently opened Shaw Tower from Shaw Towers Realty with Lendlease as project and development manager, and the Copen Grand executive condo (EC) by City Developments and Sunway MCL.

Adopting DfM can yield annual operational savings and deliver net positive returns after “relatively short” payback periods, the findings showed.

Potential annual operational savings ranged from $310,000 to $950,000 across the three commercial buildings assessed — Ascent, SJ Campus and Shaw Tower — the findings showed. Most of the DfM measures there also achieved a payback period of less than six years.

As for the residential project, Copen Grand EC in Tengah, potential annual operational savings can go up to $110,000, with the majority of DfM measures achieving payback within five years.

For example, if dedicated access is not built into the design, maintenance workers servicing the fan and basin at the top of a cooling tower will need to use temporary scaffolding, which is costly and time-consuming.

But by incorporating a cat ladder into the design, maintenance teams can have safer and direct access to the cooling tower. In the case of Shaw Tower, this “straightforward” design decision can generate potential life-cycle savings of over $750,000, with a payback period of just three years, BCA said in the July 22 announcement.

Read also: The new Shaw Tower marks its debut, 50 years on

Given that cooling towers have a typical lifespan of 15 years, being able to recover the investment in three years would mean net positive returns thereafter for the next 12 years, BCA added.

Besides, there can be meaningful productivity gains from adopting DfM. All DfM features studied helped reduce annual maintenance man-days — many achieved reductions of more than 60%.

The largest productivity gains came from architectural decisions such as choices about design specifications, floor materials, ceiling types and facade access.

“We encourage developers, designers and building owners to embrace DfM and the Green Mark Mt Badge, as we shift from building for completion to building for long-term performance,” said BCA’s Ang.

BCA and SJ Group will work with trade associations and chambers in the built environment sector to hold a series of engagements with architects, engineers, developers and facilities management practitioners, to share the study’s findings and gather industry feedback.

Using CORENET X will be mandatory for larger, new projects

In the same announcement, BCA also noted that adoption of CORENET X — a one-stop digital platform for approval of building works — will be mandated for certain projects.

From Oct 1, 2026, all new projects with a gross floor area (GFA) of 5,000 sq m (53,820 sq ft) and above will be required to make submissions via the platform.

It will no longer be mandatory for projects with GFA below 5,000 sq m to make submissions via the CORENET X gateway processes.

Ongoing projects on CORENET 2.0 and projects with GFA below 5,000 sq m can continue to use CORENET 2.0 to make submissions for now.

These changes come after a review of CORENET X, which had found that the platform’s benefits are more significant for larger and more complex projects, which usually involve more agencies and regulatory submissions.

“Early coordination through CORENET X helps these projects surface and resolve issues earlier, reducing downstream delays,” BCA said.

For smaller projects, which generally involve fewer agencies and are often undertaken by smaller firms with more limited manpower resources, the costs of mandatory adoption may outweigh the benefits, according to BCA.

## Chinese translation

> Translation model: grok

### 研究：采用DfM功能可让建筑更易维护并实现“可观”成本节省

商业建筑潜在年节省可达95万新元，住宅项目如Copen Grand最高约11万新元

随着新加坡建筑存量扩大与老化，楼宇维护需求持续上升，可用于维护建筑的人力却不断收缩。

为确保建筑长期得到妥善维护，建设局（BCA）一直倡导建筑环境业界从设计阶段起就纳入更长远的维护考量。

这被称为“可维护性设计”（Design for Maintainability，DfM）。借此，建筑在运营阶段将更易维护、更具成本效益。

延伸阅读：2026年第二季办公楼租买价格齐升，未来供应收窄

若在设计早期就纳入DfM功能，发展商、业主与租户可望在建筑全生命周期中获得“可观”的维护成本与人力节省。建筑决策也能带来最大的生产力提升。

这是BCA与盛裕集团（SJ Group）于7月22日公布的初步研究结果。

BCA环境可持续发展组主任洪建成（Ang Kian Seng）表示：“长久以来，维护被当作别人的问题，要等到建筑移交后才处理。”

“这项研究表明，为可维护性而设计不是成本负担，而是明智的投资，”他补充道。

商业建筑纳入DfM的额外成本约占建造总成本的0.6%至1.5%，住宅项目则仅为0.2%。

研究案例：Ascent、SJ Campus、Shaw Tower、Copen Grand

为量化DfM效益，研究考察了新加坡四个项目：两座既有商业建筑、一座新建商业项目，以及一座新建住宅项目。

延伸阅读：Inventing Kaera：建筑师兼材料科学家Kody Kato谈与自然和谐建造

研究项目包括凯德发展的Ascent、SJ Group的SJ Campus、由Shaw Towers Realty开发、Lendlease担任项目与开发管理的新落成Shaw Tower，以及城市发展与Sunway MCL开发的腾中执行共管公寓Copen Grand。

研究显示，采用DfM可带来年度运营节省，并在“相对较短”的回收期后实现净正回报。

三座商业建筑——Ascent、SJ Campus与Shaw Tower——潜在年度运营节省介于31万至95万新元；其中多数DfM措施的回收期不足六年。

至于腾中的Copen Grand执行共管公寓，潜在年度运营节省最高可达11万新元，多数DfM措施可在五年内回本。

例如，若设计未预留专用通道，维护人员检修冷却塔顶部的风机与水盆时需使用临时脚手架，既昂贵又耗时。

但通过在设计中纳入猫梯，维护团队可更安全、更直接地抵达冷却塔。以Shaw Tower为例，BCA在7月22日的公告中表示，这一“简单”设计决策可带来逾75万新元的潜在全生命周期节省，回收期仅三年。

延伸阅读：新Shaw Tower亮相，距首座大楼已历50年

鉴于冷却塔典型使用寿命约15年，三年收回投资意味着其后12年可获净正回报，BCA补充道。

此外，采用DfM还可带来显著的生产力提升。所有受研究的DfM功能均有助于减少年度维护工日——许多实现超过60%的降幅。

最大的生产力收益来自建筑决策，如设计规格、地面材料、天花类型与外立面通道的选择。

BCA的洪建成表示：“我们鼓励发展商、设计师与业主拥抱DfM与Green Mark Mt徽章，从为完工而建，转向为长期表现而建。”

BCA与SJ Group将与建筑环境业界的商会协会合作，与建筑师、工程师、发展商及设施管理从业者开展一系列交流，分享研究成果并收集业界反馈。

较大型新项目将强制使用CORENET X

同一公告中，BCA亦指出，一站式建筑工程审批数字平台CORENET X将对特定项目强制采用。

自2026年10月1日起，所有建筑总面积（GFA）达5,000平方米（53,820平方英尺）及以上的新项目，须通过该平台提交。

GFA低于5,000平方米的项目将不再强制通过CORENET X网关流程提交。

目前使用CORENET 2.0的在建项目，以及GFA低于5,000平方米的项目，暂时可继续通过CORENET 2.0提交。

这些调整来自对CORENET X的检讨：研究发现，该平台对更大、更复杂的项目效益更显著，此类项目通常涉及更多机构与监管提交。

“通过CORENET X的早期协调，有助于这些项目更早发现并解决问题，减少下游延误，”BCA表示。

对于涉及机构较少、往往由人力更有限的中小企业承接的小型项目，强制采用的成本可能超过收益，BCA称。