Periodic Facade Inspection (PFI) is a Building and Construction Authority inspection regime for buildings more than 20 years old whose highest point is more than 13 metres above the ground. BCA states that those buildings must undergo it every seven years. A competent person carries it out, the owner appoints and pays, and the owner submits the report.
The regime sits in Part 5 of the Building Control Act 1989, headed "Inspection of Buildings and Building Façades", inserted by Act 12 of 2020 with effect from 1 January 2022. The detailed procedure is in Part 3 of the Building Control (Periodic Inspection of Buildings and Building Façades) Regulations 2021 (S 785/2021), amended by S 594/2025 with effect from 1 October 2025.
Is your building in scope?
Three tests, all from the Building Control Act:
- Age. The Act sets the trigger at a building more than 20 years of age (s.28(2B)). BCA puts it in its own FAQ as a regime that "applies to buildings aged 20 years and older and over 13 metres in height".
- Height. PFI does not apply to a building whose highest point, whether or not a roof, is 13 metres or lower measured from the ground (s.27(3)(b)). Where a notice covers an address with a mix of buildings above and below 13 metres, the owner must inspect all buildings at that address to which the regime applies; the sub-13 metre buildings stay outside it.
- Building type. Detached, semi-detached, terraced and linked houses used solely by the owners or occupiers as their residence are excluded, as are temporary buildings (s.27(1)).
Age is counted from the date the last Temporary Occupation Permit was granted for the whole building, or where no TOP was granted, the date the last Certificate of Statutory Completion was issued (s.27(4)). If you cannot find either date, it can be retrieved from BCA: see Certificate of Statutory Completion.
The seven year cycle, and how a notice actually arrives
Statutorily, s.28(2B)(d) permits a facade inspection notice to be given "at any time during the 7th or later year after the year during which the last notice requiring a façade inspection to be carried out was given". BCA states it plainly in its FAQ: buildings are required to undergo Periodic Façade Inspection every 7 years.
The duty crystallises when the notice is served, not on a private anniversary in your asset register. BCA issues advisories to responsible parties about a year in advance of when their building is due, so owners can plan funding and align the inspection with the building's repairs and redecoration cycle.
Who may carry it out
A competent person. Under BC Act s.26(1) and s.2, read with PSI/PFI Regs reg 9, that is a registered architect under the Architects Act 1991 or a registered professional engineer under the Professional Engineers Act 1991, in each case holding a practising certificate in force, who has also completed BCA's Certificate in Façade Inspection course.
A facade inspector may assist, or carry out the inspection under the competent person's direct supervision and control. Facade inspectors are accredited with BCA or with the Joint Accreditation Committee established by the Institution of Engineers, Singapore, the Association of Consulting Engineers Singapore and BCA (reg 11), and must meet one of the twelve qualification and experience combinations at reg 10(2).
Independence is statutory. A competent person must not be appointed if he has any professional or financial interest in the building or its facade (s.29(1A)), and he is treated as having one if he is or has been responsible for the design or construction of the facade (s.29(2A)). Being paid the inspection fee is not an interest (s.29(4)). Since 1 October 2025, reg 16A also bars a competent person from appointing a facade inspector who is a partner, officer or employee of the owner, the builder, any person involved in carrying out building works on the facade, or an associate of any of those.
What the inspection consists of
Reg 15(2) sets two separate mandatory components. Both must be done before the competent person can consider escalating.
1. Visual inspection (reg 15(2)(a), reg 15(3))
A visual survey to observe and assess the condition of the entire facade, carried out at an appropriate distance from ground level or other suitable vantage points, and "using photographic cameras whereby photographs or still images of the entire façade may be taken". The Regulations give a worked example of an equivalent method: "Drone or similar unmanned aircraft designed for aerial survey."
2. Close-range inspection (reg 15(2)(b), reg 15(4))
A hands-on inspection of suitable parts of each elevation, being at least 10% of the surface area of each elevation, directed at defects beneath the surface of the facade material such as hollowness or corrosion of concealed connections. It must run along one or more vertical drops or trails from the top floor to the ground floor or vice versa, using a probing tool such as a tapping rod or rubber mallet, a borescope, or scanning equipment that does not require special training to operate. Equivalent technologies named in the Regulations are a robotic automated tapping device, automated scanning equipment for close-range inspection, and infrared and ultrasound scanners.
How the 10% is measured
From BCA's Guidelines on Periodic Facade Inspection, Version 1.2, July 2022, hosted on the BCA Periodic Façade Inspection page:
- The area of each elevation is its height multiplied by its length (para 6.4.2.1). Annex B gives worked examples for rectangular, hexagonal and circular plan buildings.
- Recesses within a facade elevation count towards that elevation's total area (para 6.4.2.2).
- So do the undersides of sky-bridges and the overhanging floors of cantilevered buildings, and close-range inspection applies to the external facade elements there (para 6.4.2.3).
- Selection should take account of human traffic below the facade, areas where the visual inspection flagged possible defects, and the deterioration risk of the associated facade elements (para 6.4.3.2).
- Areas should differ from those selected in previous cycles where possible, and be well spread out around the facade perimeter (para 6.4.3.3).
- Where supports are concealed and equipment cannot reach them, the inspection should include localised removal of selective facade elements or panels in each elevation (para 6.4.4.2).
The report must include "Drawings/plan of selected areas as record (example showing the 10% area)", and defects should be identified using photos and mark-ups on drawing plans and elevations. Buildings without elevation drawings have to produce them from somewhere, which is where a measured facade survey earns its place in the programme.
Drones: what BCA permits, and what it does not replace
This is the part most commonly overstated, so here it is exactly, from BCA Circular APPBCA-2025-09 of 23 May 2025, which records the Commissioner's approval under reg 15(2)(a)(ii).
Since 23 May 2025 the Commissioner of Building Control has given standing approval for a competent person, or a facade inspector under his direct supervision and control, to use an unmanned aircraft system operated by an accredited UAS service provider to carry out the visual inspection, provided the competent person notifies the Commissioner in advance on the prescribed form. That approval covers the visual survey of the entire facade. It does not cover the close-range inspection, which requires physical contact with at least 10% of the surface area of every elevation using probing tools, a borescope or scanning equipment. The drone operator must also fly in the presence of the competent person or the facade inspector and in accordance with the competent person's instructions, and the competent person must personally review every photograph, image, reading and report produced.
Two further points from the circular. The approval does not apply to a UAS operated by a non-accredited service provider, for those, the Commissioner's written approval must still be obtained case by case. And accreditation status is verified on the Singapore Accreditation Council website, under the programme launched in July 2023 by BCA with the Institution of Engineers Singapore, Enterprise Singapore and GovTech. The Technical Reference for facade inspection using unmanned aircraft systems is TR 78.
On imagery, BCA's Guidelines para 8.2 recommends a minimum photo ground sampling distance of 0.15 cm/pixel, and for thermography a minimum resolution of 320x240 at a suitable sampling distance. Good resolution far views, all elevation views, medium long shots up to four storeys and close-up views are all required in the report.
When a full facade investigation is triggered
Only where, after both inspections, the competent person reasonably suspects a sign of excessive erosion, corrosion, wear, fatigue, stress or strain, or another situation likely to give rise to a probability of collapse and death, injury or property damage, and is of the opinion that a full investigation is necessary. It may be carried out only with the prior approval of the Commissioner (reg 15(5)), and the application must be accompanied by an interim report, the design and maintenance history information, and a proposal setting out the percentage of each elevation to be investigated and how the design checks and tests will be done (reg 15(7)).
Reg 15(6) sets out what the investigation includes, and one limb matters more than the rest to any owner with an incomplete drawing set. The competent person must carry out design checks by checking with reasonable diligence the structural plans of the facade and the calculations contained in the plans, or if the plans cannot be obtained, reconstructing with reasonable diligence such structural plans where the Commissioner so requires (reg 15(6)(b)(i)(B)). The obligation to recreate missing facade drawings is written into Singapore law. Reconstruction is exactly what measured survey and laser scanning support: the competent person does the engineering, the survey supplies the geometry. If that is your situation, start at what to do when the floor plan is missing or wrong.
Deadlines once a notice is served
| Step | Deadline | Maximum fine |
|---|---|---|
| Owner appoints a competent person | Within 2 months after the date of the notice, or any extension allowed | S$20,000 |
| Owner appoints a replacement competent person | Within 2 months after becoming aware the first cannot or will not continue | S$20,000 |
| Owner notifies the Commissioner of the appointment | No later than the 7th day, or the next working day, after the end of the 2 month period | S$10,000 |
| Inspection completed and report submitted by the owner | Within the period specified in the notice. The Act fixes no standard number of months. | See below |
| Recommended remedial works carried out | Within such period, and subject to such conditions, as the Commissioner specifies | See below |
Sources: PSI/PFI Regs regs 12 to 14; Building Control Act ss.28(2C)(b), 28(3)(b), 28(7).
Penalties
- Owner contravenes or fails to comply with a periodic inspection notice: fine up to S$20,000 (s.28(8)).
- Owner, without reasonable excuse, fails to appoint, fails to submit the report, or fails to carry out the recommended works: fine up to S$20,000 or imprisonment up to 12 months or both, plus up to S$500 for each day of continuing contravention, and up to S$2,000 a day if it continues after conviction (s.28(9)).
- Competent person fails to carry out the inspection in the prescribed manner, prepare the report, give it to the owner, or comply with the Commissioner's directions: fine up to S$50,000 (s.28(10)).
- Facade inspector contravenes his duties under reg 16B: fine up to S$20,000 (reg 16B(2)).
- Hindering, obstructing or delaying a competent person or facade inspector exercising the statutory right of access: fine up to S$5,000, plus up to S$500 a day of continuing offence after conviction (s.28(5A)).
What the owner has to supply
From BCA's PFI FAQ, the owner should be:
- appointing a competent person promptly;
- providing access to the perimeter of the building to be inspected;
- providing the necessary access system such as a suspended working platform or gondola, a mobile elevating work platform or scaffold, or a combination, to carry out the close-range inspection;
- "Providing a set of approved plans and façade drawings";
- providing information on the maintenance and history of the facade, particularly past repair work;
- providing previous periodic inspection reports if available;
- carrying out rectification works and monitoring of defects promptly;
- maintaining the building facade in good condition at all times.
Where the plans are not to hand, the competent person can purchase a set of the building's plans on the owner's behalf, attaching documentary proof of ownership such as the latest property tax bill, title deed or notice of transfer. Where no information is available at all, BCA's position is that the competent person reviews against the standards and codes of practice applicable in Singapore at the time the facade was installed, referenced to the date of the TOP or CSC.
After the report goes in
BCA vets the report, may seek clarification from the competent person, may conduct a joint site inspection, and may require the competent person to present to BCA. On acceptance, BCA writes to the owner to follow up on the recommendations, and the owner must complete remedial works within the period the Commissioner specifies and then submit the competent person's certification that they are done.
Two frequently asked follow-ups. Selling the building does not clear the obligation: the duty stays with the owner on whom the notice was served. And where a building has just undergone facade-related A&A works, the owner may write to BCA to request a waiver, submitting details of the A&A works accompanied with drawings and description of the works carried out.
What a scan or drone survey can and cannot do
Stated precisely, because this audience will check it.
It can:
- Record the geometry and visible condition of a building at a specific date, to a stated accuracy, with full coverage of what is visible from the survey positions.
- Produce elevation drawings, floor plans, sections and reflected ceiling plans of an existing building where none exist or where the existing ones are unreliable.
- Support a comparison between as-built condition and approved plans, which BCA itself recommends owners and prospective buyers carry out.
- Supply the geometric basis from which a Professional Engineer may reconstruct structural plans, which the Building Control (Periodic Inspection of Buildings and Building Façades) Regulations 2021 expressly contemplate at reg 6(4)(b)(ii) for buildings and reg 15(6)(b)(i)(B) for facades.
- Deliver the reg 15(2)(a) visual inspection for facade inspection, where the drone service provider is accredited, the competent person notifies the Commissioner in advance, and the competent person or a facade inspector is present.
It cannot:
- Be a statutory inspection. Periodic Facade Inspection is a competent person's personal act under reg 16(1), and Periodic Structural Inspection is a Professional Engineer's personal act.
- Satisfy the facade close-range inspection, which requires tactile assessment of at least 10% of the surface area of every elevation.
- Detect concealed defects. Surface capture records the finish, not the structure or the fixings behind it.
- Replace opening up. The obligation to arrange removal of claddings and concealments sits with the owner.
- Be a building plan, a record plan, a schedule of dilapidations, a strata title plan, a valuation, or an as-built plan under Planning Act s.20A. Each of those has a defined author.
- Regularise unauthorised works, satisfy a developer's handover obligation, or discharge any statutory duty.
Measured documentation is the input that lets the competent person do their statutory job properly, and the evidence that survives a dispute. If your building is due and the drawing set is thin, tell us the address, age and elevation count and we will scope the survey around your competent person's programme.