As part of efforts for Singapore's built environment sector to build better, faster and more sustainably, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) will give it an "Iron Man upgrade" with two new initiatives — robot leasing support scheme (RLSS) and whole-of-government virtual inspection.
Announcing this at the 2nd Construction Technology Summit's closing ceremony on Wednesday (Sept 2), Minister of State for National Development Alvin Tan said innovation and its adoption can help the sector move past its traditional reliance on pure, heavy human labour.
He likened this to Marvel character Tony Stark, noting that the character's true power was in how he used technology to augment human capability.
"Today, we are giving our sector its own Iron Man upgrade," the minister of state said, adding that equipping the built environment workforce with high-tech tools can help it to "build better, faster, and much safer".
Robot leasing support scheme
And while adoption of tools like integrated digital delivery and prefabrication has grown from the 20 per cent in 2018 to roughly 70 per cent in 2025, Tan said the Government understands that buying advanced robotic hardware outright can be capital-intensive for builders.
Therefore RLSS can provide co-funding to robotics and automation solution providers so they can lease proven machines such as concrete-levelling and tile-grouting robots, directly to construction firms.
It provides co-funding support of up to 50 per cent for each robot, thereby lowering entry barriers and putting robotic power within reach of more builders.
This, in turn, can help them to achieve time savings, reduce physical strain on workers, while raising productivity, Tan said.
Virtual inspection for TOP, CSC
He also announced that launch of the whole-of-government virtual inspection (WOG VI) process for temporary occupation (TOP) permit and certificate of statutory completion inspections (CSC).
Eight regulatory agencies — BCA, Infocomm Media Development Authority, Land Transport Authority, National Environment Agency, National Parks Board, Public Utilities Board, Singapore Civil Defence Force and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) — are part of this initiative.
Under WOG VI, project teams will have to option of submitting 360 deg virtual scans of their project sites to the agencies for compliance checks required for TOP/CSC approvals.
During the initiative's pilot at a private residential project, the initiative delivered up to 30 per cent of time savings for project parties, Tan said.
The participating agencies will begin accepting WOG VI applications immediately, with practical details outlined in a new guidebook available on BCA's website.
Rounding off his speech, Tan said that no single start-up, main contractor, researcher, or Government agency can go through transformation by itself.
"Singapore’s greatest strength is our ability to assemble everyone around the same table: pairing agile tech start-ups with experienced builders, forward-looking regulators, and research institutions.
"That spirit of tight partnership is our real secret sauce," the minister of state added.
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