Building and Construction Authority Bill

“appointed day” means the date of commencement of this Act;

“Authority” means the Building and Construction Authority established under section 3;

“Board” means the Construction Industry Development Board established under section 3 of the repealed Construction Industry Development Board Act (Cap. 51);

“Chairman” means the Chairman of the Authority and includes any acting Chairman of the Authority;

“Chief Executive” means the Chief Executive of the Authority appointed under section 13 and includes any person acting in that capacity;

“construction industry” means the industry concerning the carrying out of construction works and services;

“construction works and services” includes all aspects of architectural, engineering, development and construction works and services including such other related production, design and consultancy works and services which result in the construction, maintenance, retrofitting, repair or removal of all types of buildings and infrastructure;

“Deputy Chairman” means the Deputy Chairman of the Authority;

“member” means a member of the Authority.

The Authority shall, in every year, prepare and adopt annual estimates of income and expenditure of the Authority for the ensuing year.

Supplementary estimates of expenditure may be adopted by the Authority.

A copy of all annual and supplementary estimates shall, upon their adoption by the Authority, be sent to the Minister who may approve or disallow any item or portion of any item shown in the estimates, and shall return the estimates as amended by him to the Authority, and the Authority shall be bound thereby.

The Authority shall open and maintain an account or accounts with such bank or banks as the Authority thinks fit and every such account shall be operated by such person or persons as may, from time to time, be authorised in that behalf by the Authority.

The moneys of the Authority shall be applied only in payment or discharge of the expenses, obligations and liabilities of the Authority and in making any payments that the Authority is authorised or required to make.

Moneys belonging to the Authority may, from time to time, be invested in securities in which trust funds may, by any written law for the time being in force relating to trustees, be invested.

The Authority shall keep proper accounts and records of its transactions and affairs and shall do all things necessary to ensure that all payments out of its moneys are correctly made and properly authorised and that adequate control is maintained over the assets of, or in the custody of, the Authority and over the expenditure incurred by the Authority.

The Authority shall, as soon as practicable after the close of each financial year, prepare and submit financial statements in respect of that year to the auditor of the Authority.

The accounts of the Authority shall be audited by the Auditor-General or such other auditor as may be appointed annually by the Minister in consultation with the Auditor-General.

A person shall not be qualified for appointment as an auditor under subsection (1) unless he is an approved company auditor under the Companies Act (Cap. 50).

The auditor or any person authorised by him is entitled, at all reasonable times, to full and free access to all accounting and other records relating, directly or indirectly, to the financial transactions of the Authority.

The auditor shall in his report state —

The auditor shall, as soon as practicable after the accounts have been submitted for audit, send a report of his audit to the Authority.

The auditor shall submit such periodical and special reports to the Minister and to the Authority as may appear to him to be necessary or as the Minister or the Authority may require.

The auditor may require any person to furnish him with such information in the possession of that person or to which that person has access as the auditor considers necessary for the purposes of his functions under this Act.

Any person who fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with any requirement of the auditor under subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000.

The Authority shall, as soon as its accounts and financial statements have been audited in accordance with the provisions of this Act, send to the Minister a copy of the audited financial statements, signed by the Chairman, together with a copy of the auditor's report.

Where the Auditor-General is not the auditor of the Authority, a copy of the audited financial statements and any report made by the auditor shall be forwarded to the Auditor-General at the same time they are submitted to the Authority.

The Minister shall, as soon as practicable, cause a copy of the audited financial statements and of the auditor's report referred to in subsection (1) to be presented to Parliament.

All deeds and other documents requiring the seal of the Authority shall be sealed with the common seal of the Authority and all instruments to which the common seal is affixed shall be signed by any 2 members generally or specially authorised by the Authority for the purpose or by one member and the Chief Executive.

All courts, judges and persons acting judicially shall take judicial notice of the common seal of the Authority affixed to any document and shall presume that it was duly affixed.

The Authority shall consist of —

The Minister may appoint the Chief Executive to be a member of the Authority.

A member of the Authority shall hold office for such term not exceeding 3 years as the Minister shall specify in his appointment, and may from time to time be re-appointed.

Any member of the Authority may at any time by notice in writing to the Minister resign his office.

The Minister may, at any time, revoke the appointment of any member without assigning any reason.

If a member dies or resigns or has his appointment terminated, the Minister may appoint a person to fill the vacancy for the residue of the term for which the vacating member was appointed.

The Authority shall pay to the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman and other members of the Authority such salaries, fees and allowances as the Minister may, from time to time, determine.

At all meetings of the Authority, 4 members shall form a quorum.

The Chairman or, in his absence, the Deputy Chairman shall preside at all meetings of the Authority and, in their absence, the members present shall elect one of their number to preside.

Meetings of the Authority shall be held at such times and places as the Chairman may determine.

All questions arising at any meeting shall be decided by a majority of votes of the members present and voting.

At any meeting of the Authority, the Chairman or, in his absence, the Deputy Chairman shall have a deliberative vote and, in the case of an equality of votes, he shall also have a casting vote.

The validity of any proceedings of the Authority shall not be affected by any vacancy amongst its members or by any defect in the appointment of any member.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Authority may regulate its own proceedings.

A member of the Authority who is in any way, directly or indirectly, interested in a transaction or project of the Authority shall disclose the nature of his interest at a meeting of the Authority.

The disclosure by a member shall be recorded in the minutes of the Authority and the member shall not take part in any deliberation of the Authority with respect to the transaction or project.

For the purpose of determining whether there is a quorum, a member shall be treated as being present at a meeting notwithstanding that under subsection (2) he cannot vote or has withdrawn from the meeting.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, the functions and duties of the Authority shall be —

The Minister may, after consultation with the Authority or otherwise, give such directions, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, as to the performance of its functions and the exercise of its powers and the Authority shall give effect to any such directions.

The Authority may, from time to time, appoint, alter and discharge committees, consisting of one or more persons (whether members of the Authority or not), and define and vary the terms of reference of those committees.

Subject to this Act and any regulations made thereunder and to the control of the Authority, each committee appointed under this section may regulate its procedure in such manner as it thinks fit.

The Authority may, from time to time, in respect of a specified matter or class of matters, by writing, delegate any of its powers to a member, officer or committee of the Authority.

Every member, officer or committee purporting to act pursuant to a delegation under this section shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be presumed to be acting in accordance with the terms of the delegation.

A delegation under this section shall be revocable at will, and no such delegation shall prevent the exercise of any power, function or duty by the Authority.

The Authority shall, with the approval of the Minister, appoint a Chief Executive on such terms and conditions as the Authority may determine.

The Chief Executive shall be —

The Authority may, from time to time, appoint such other officers, employees, consultants and agents as it thinks fit for the effective performance of its functions.

If the Chief Executive is temporarily absent from Singapore, or is temporarily unable to perform his duties by reason of illness or otherwise, another person may be appointed by the Authority, with the approval of the Minister, to act in the place of the Chief Executive during any such period of absence from duty.

As from the appointed day, such movable and immovable property vested in the Board, or in the Government as may be determined by the Minister for Finance and used or managed by the Building Control Division of the Public Works Department and all assets, interests, rights, privileges, liabilities and obligations of the Board or of the Government relating to the Building Control Division of the Public Works Department shall be transferred to and shall vest in the Authority without further assurance, act or deed.

If any question arises as to whether any particular property, or whether any particular asset, interest, right, privilege, liability or obligation has been transferred to or vested in the Authority under subsection (1), a certificate under the hand of the Minister for Finance shall be conclusive evidence that the property, asset, interest, right, privilege, liability or obligation was or was not so transferred or vested.

Any immovable property to be transferred to and vested in the Authority under subsection (1) shall be held by the Authority upon such tenure and subject to such terms and conditions as the President may determine.

As from the appointed day, all persons employed immediately before that day by the Board and in the Building Control Division of the Public Works Department shall be transferred to the service of the Authority on terms no less favourable than those enjoyed by them immediately prior to their transfer.

Until such time as terms and conditions of service are drawn up by the Authority, the scheme and terms and conditions of service in the Board or the Government, as the case may be, shall continue to apply to every person transferred to the service of the Authority under subsection (1) as if he were still in the employment of the Board or the Government.

The terms and conditions to be drawn up by the Authority shall take into account the terms and conditions of service (including salaries and accrued rights to leave) enjoyed by the persons transferred to the service of the Authority under section 26 while in the employment of the Board or the Government.

Any term or condition relating to the length of service with the Authority shall recognise the length of service of the persons so transferred while in the employment of the Board or the Government to be service with the Authority.

Nothing in the terms and conditions to be drawn up by the Authority shall adversely affect the conditions that would have been applicable to persons transferred to the service of the Authority as regards any pension, gratuity or allowance payable under the Pensions Act (Cap. 225).

In every case, where a person has been transferred to the service of the Authority under section 26, the Government shall be liable to pay to the Authority such portion of any gratuity, pension or allowance payable to such person on his retirement as the same shall bear to the proportion which the aggregate amount of his pensionable emoluments during his service with the Government bears to the aggregate amount of his pensionable emoluments during his service under both the Government and the Authority.

Where any person in the service of the Authority, whose case does not fall within the scope of any pension or other schemes established under this section, retires or dies in the service of the Authority or is discharged from such service, the Authority may grant to him or to such other person or persons wholly or partly dependent on him, as the Authority thinks fit, such allowance or gratuity as the Authority may determine.

Where on the appointed day any disciplinary proceedings were pending against any employee of the Board or the Government transferred to the service of the Authority, the proceedings shall be carried on and completed by the Authority; but where on that day any matter was in the course of being heard or investigated or had been heard or investigated by a committee acting under due authority but no order or decision had been rendered thereon, the committee shall complete the hearing or investigation and make such order, a ruling or a direction as it could have made under the authority vested in it before that day.

Any order, ruling or direction made or given by a committee pursuant to this section shall be treated as an order, ruling or direction of the Authority and have the same force or effect as if it had been made or given by the Authority pursuant to the authority vested in the Authority under this Act.

The Authority shall, as soon as practicable after the end of each financial year, cause to be prepared and transmitted to the Minister a report dealing generally with the activities of the Authority during the preceding financial year and containing such information relating to the proceedings and policy of the Authority as the Minister may from time to time direct.

The Minister shall, as soon as practicable, cause a copy of every such report to be presented to Parliament.

The Authority shall have the exclusive right to the use of such symbol or representation as it may select or devise and thereafter display or exhibit in connection with its activities or affairs.

Any person who uses a symbol or representation identical with that of the Authority, or which so resembles the Authority's symbol or representation as to deceive or cause confusion, or to be likely to deceive or to cause confusion, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

Any person who obtains payment of any grant or loan or any other form of financial assistance from the Authority by means of any false or misleading statement or any document that is false or misleading in any particular shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $25,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.

Where an offence under subsection (1) committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent and connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Where a person is convicted of an offence under this section, the court may, in addition to imposing a penalty under this section, order the person to make repayment of the amount of any money wrongfully obtained.

Where an order has been made under subsection (3), a certified copy of the order may be filed in a court having civil jurisdiction to the extent of the amount ordered to be repaid and the order is thereupon enforceable in all respects as the final judgment of that court.

The Construction Industry Development Board Act (Cap. 51) and the Land Improvement Act (Cap. 153) are repealed.

Any scheme, contract, document, certificate, licence, permission or resolution prepared, made, granted or approved under the repealed Construction Industry Development Board Act shall, so far as it is not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, continue and be deemed to have been prepared, made, granted or approved under this Act.

Any subsidiary legislation made under the repealed Construction Industry Development Board Act and in force immediately before the appointed day shall, so far as it is not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, continue in force as if made under this Act until it is revoked by subsidiary legislation made under this Act.

Where in any written law reference is made to —