Singapore. Public Works Department. Building Control Division
During the 1930s, the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) became responsible for building development control. A Development Control Committee, consisting among its members, the Chief Building Surveyor, was created within the SIT to inspect and approve public and private building plans. However the question of authorised buildings remained an unsolved problem in the 1930s and 1940s. Following the enforcement of the Control of Building Ordinance in 1948, an Architect and Building Surveyor's Department functioning within the Singapore Municipality took over the task of approving building plans in the city area, while the Building Surveyor's Section in the Rural Board was responsible for the remaining part of Singapore. Following 1959 when Singapore became a self-governing state, the two Building Surveyor's Sections were detached to form the Chief Building Surveyor's Department under the overall direction of the MND. The submission of building plans became centralised.
On 1 February 1972, the Building Control Division was established within the PWD and took over from the Chief Building Surveyor's Department. It carried out the following functions: to process and approve building plans and specifications; to issue certificates of fitness for occupation of buildings; to carry out enforcement action against unauthorised buildings and to license exhibition of advertisements and signboards. A year later, its work was expanded to include the processing of plans for the provision of lifts, airconditioning equipment, fire prevention and protection measures in buildings.
