About 500 building professionals, members of the building management sector, government officials and academics today attended the Building Safety Symposium 2019 at the Convention & Exhibition Centre.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Under Secretary for Development Liu Chun-san said the Government has introduced a number of policy initiatives to raise property owners’ awareness of building repair and maintenance.

Together with co-operation from the industry, recent years have seen rising public awareness of building safety, he added.

Mr Liu also noted that Operation Building Bright 2.0, which was launched in mid-2018 by the Buildings Department and the Urban Renewal Authority, offers technical and financial assistance to needy owners of old buildings, and helps them co-ordinate necessary building inspection and repair works.

Additionally, the department conducts risk assessment on buildings whose owners are unable to comply with mandatory building inspection notices by themselves, and arranges for government contractors to carry out inspection and repair works on selected target buildings.

Mr Liu said he hoped that with the programme, some 2,500 old buildings will have repair works underway by 2023.

Themed “Holistic approach on building safety”, the symposium featured speeches by local and overseas experts from Singapore and Italy, and two panel discussion sessions.

It was the finale of the six-day Building Safety Week 2019 which helped people better understand building safety messages and fostered a buildings care culture.