Product Requirements

WHAT IS PRODUCT REQUIREMENTS?

From raw materials to finished products, materials used in constructing buildings are often exposed to climatic changes, as well as wear and tear. If left unchecked, it may potentially be hazardous to health and environment. Therefore, to ensure safety, stability, comfort, and durability, building materials and products need to undergo rigorous testing in accordance to stringent standards and regulations. The standards governing building products and materials cover a wide spectrum, such as structural stability, structural safety or fire protection etc, as they have a significant environmental impact and affect the quality of a building’s interior and exterior appearance. They also influence the processes used to extract, manufacture, transport and lastly, to reuse or dispose them. Therefore, stakeholders such as manufacturers, importers, distributors etc need to understand the importance of testing and certification and strictly follow building and construction codes and regulations.

Requirements for building products under Fire Safety and Shelter Department

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) places great importance in the selection of buildings products with respect to fire safety of buildings. These products might be in discrete forms such as fire doors and fire extinguishers, or they might be non-discrete in nature such as fire rated partition and glass blocks.
The proper selection and installation of these products ensure that the intent of the approved fire safety plans is achieved, namely that in a fire situation, occupants are able to evacuate to safety quickly, spread of smoke and fire is contained, fire protection systems are able to function as they should, and the SCDF is able to conduct its rescue and fire-fighting operations.

Hence, SCDF have been dedicating a significant amount of their time and effort to ensure that there is an adequate level of control over products going into the buildings. SCDF has worked together with TÜV SÜD to implement the PLS as the vehicle of building products approval from the fire safety perspective. SCDF's new role in this approval process would be one of setting requirements and enforcement. Product control, such as type testing, batch testing, factory audit, market and factory surveillance, labelling, listing and publishing of listing directories would be carried out by TÜV SÜD under the PSB Product Listing Scheme. 

BENEFITS OF PRODUCT REQUIREMENTS

Manufacturers can address complex product testing and certification issues, including sustainability, safety, quality, fire resistance, and energy efficiency etc, through engaging a reliable third-party testing and certification body. This helps to facilitate compliance to regulatory standards and building codes.  

TÜV SÜD PRODUCT REQUIREMENTS

TÜV SÜD can provide complete testing services for building products. These services include:

• Mechanical properties (tensile, compression, shear, bend, torsion, hardness, creep, impact, fatigue and fracture toughness)
• Material characterisation (chemical composition, elemental contents, toxic metals and outgassing)