SAFETY inspections are on the cards for all HDB blocks under the charge of the Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council that are fitted with external decorative boards.

The town council has engaged a consultant and mass checks are being planned after two such boards, made of calcium silicate – a material often used for fire-proofing purposes – crashed to the ground from the eighth storey of Block 107 in Toa Payoh Lorong 1 on Wednesday.

Although no one was hurt, the checks have been ordered as the impact of such objects falling from a height could cause death or injury.

Each board measured 0.7m wide and 2.8m long, and weighed 3kg.

The loud bangs at about 11am on Wednesday shocked shopkeepers in the usually quiet and sleepy neighbourhood.

‘We heard this really loud crash, followed by another one,’ said Ms Tan Siew Zhu, the owner of a store selling religious items.

‘I was scared and wanted to find out what happened, but could not see anything.’

The area where the incident occurred has been cordoned off.

The Housing Board said the affected block is about 40 years old.

‘The boards are part of the architectural design of the block,’ said an HDB spokesman, who added that the boards fell because the material they were made of had deteriorated over time.

She added: ‘This is a localised and isolated incident, and it does not affect the structural safety of the building.’

The HDB and Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council are currently working to repair the block’s external facade, which now has a gaping hole.

A contractor who was surveying the site yesterday said such incidents are uncommon, but added that heavy rain and strong winds over the past few days could have caused the already weakened boards to tumble to the ground.

The repairs are scheduled to begin on Monday and will be completed in about a week if the weather is good, said the contractor, who did not want to be named.

Some who frequent the area, like designer Jack Lim who works in the same block, said they were shocked.

‘I am surprised this happened. Luckily no one got hurt,’ said the 26-year-old. ‘Why are the boards on the outside of the building anyway, where they are exposed to rain and sunshine?’

Retiree Wang Xi Tao, 68, who lives in a neighbouring block, said: ‘I am going to walk only along sheltered corridors now.

‘How do you know it won’t happen with the other blocks? They are just as old.’

Source, Straits Times, 6 Nov 2009