SINGAPORE – Manufacturer Daikin, which is responsible for installing the centralised cooling system in Tengah flats, has tripled its team of workers rectifying condensation issues after some residents reported leaks stemming from the system.

It has also doubled its quality control team in order to conduct extra checks and reduce workmanship issues, a spokesman for Daikin told The Straits Times.

He said the firm has doubled the number of installers, and is stepping up efforts to train them, with an emphasis on “quality work methodologies and processes” to minimise workmanship issues.

On average, about 170 Daikin workers in Tengah are carrying out installation, maintenance and rectification works daily.

The firm will deploy more workers when the need arises, the spokesman added. These efforts come as some residents across the first three Build-To-Order (BTO) projects in the new Tengah town told ST that they had encountered leaks from their cooling systems.

Plantation Village resident Nur Afifah Hazali said she faced recurring leaks from the centralised cooling system in her new home for nearly three weeks in January, after she moved into the four-room flat while it was still undergoing renovation.

Despite reporting on several occasions the issue to SP Group – which manages the cooling system in Tengah – the leaks persisted, even after extra layers of insulation were added to the pipes, the 31-year-old nurse said.

She added that water would drip along the cooling system’s pipes from the main door to the master bedroom, even when the air-conditioning was turned off.

“We thought it was going to be a smooth renovation, and there would be air-con, so we felt that it was fine to move in. We expected everything to be finished before February, but the leaking issues derailed that,” said Ms Afifah.

She cancelled her contract for the centralised system on Jan 18 and forked out $4,300 to install a conventional one.

Ms Afifah, who paid about $3,500 for four fan coil units, is waiting to receive a 50 per cent refund – a goodwill gesture that SP implemented in November following an outcry from residents.

“We wasted a lot of money, but I just want peace of mind – that when we go out, we won’t come home to a leaking house,” she said.

SP and Daikin told ST that cases of condensation – which may result in leaks in some incidents – were largely caused by workmanship issues due to the Housing Board’s “compressed timeline” to hand over units to residents. As a result, they had insufficient time to install the fan coil units, piping and trunking, as well as to fully test, stabilise and commission the systems.

The spokesman for Daikin added that it also faced a “challenging timeline” to recruit skilled labour and conduct proper training.

He said Daikin has formed dedicated teams to focus on rectifying issues, and apologised for the inconvenience caused to customers.

A spokesman for SP said the company expects to reduce the number of cases still being resolved to 30 by the end of March, down from 80 in mid-February.

ST spoke to eight residents who faced leakage issues; four of them had chosen to cancel their contracts.

More than 1,000 households have cancelled their contracts for the cooling system, based on figures from SP. It said it had more than 9,000 subscribers to the system as at Feb 12 – seven out of every 10 Tengah flat owners.

In comparison, an archived webpage date-stamped Nov 15, 2023 on the myTengah website showed that there were 10,600 subscribers to the system, representing eight in 10 flat owners in the new town.

The website is run by SP.

Mr Hamizan Jailani, 32, said he decided to cancel as it was “not worth the stress” of having to travel from Yishun to Tengah nearly every day to check his Plantation Grange unit for leaks. The leaks cropped up after he opted for additional tests on the cooling system in January, and he said workers had changed the insulation material and sealed several areas with duct tape to address the issue.

“Water would still leak throughout the whole day... I felt that it was not solving the root of the problem,” said Mr Hamizan, who works in the transport industry.

Procurement executive Jerome Low, 33, had a better experience.

He said a palm-sized puddle of water had formed in his living room in December as condensation had formed around the cooling system’s trunking. The issue was resolved within a week, after workers added extra layers of insulation around the pipes.

Tengah, an eco-friendly and car-lite “forest” town, is the first HDB estate to provide a centralised cooling system as an option for home owners.

The system uses chilled water to remove heat, unlike conventional air-conditioning units that are connected to outdoor compressors and use refrigerants to cool down flats. Centralised chillers on the blocks’ rooftops produce chilled water that is piped directly into homes.

There were teething problems, with some residents saying the air-conditioning in their units was not cold enough.

ST had reported in December 2023 that some residents were upset that despite getting their keys, the cooling system had not been installed in their units, while others encountered leaks.

Ms Mitchell Ee, 30, said the vinyl flooring in parts of her home was soaked, and there was water damage to a wall after the HDB’s Building Service Centre alerted her to leaks in the unit on Feb 13. Although SP is repairing the damage to her unit, Ms Ee said the incident put a bad taste in her mouth. “I cancelled my contract as I don’t want to risk it ‘flooding’ again,” said the allied health professional.

A resident who wanted to be known only as Mr Chung, 60, said that shortly after he and his family moved into their five-room flat in January, he observed water droplets forming on the piping along his corridor, and there were some watermarks on his false ceiling.

“I quickly shut off the water valve as I heard of other leaking cases, and did not want our false ceiling and carpentry to be damaged. We have slept without air-conditioning for the past three weeks,” said Mr Chung, adding that he had spent $54,000 on renovating his home.

The SP spokesman said new BTO flats have a 12-month defects liability period that covers the fan coil units, piping and trunking within their units.

The Daikin spokesman said condensation in air-conditioning is a common issue in Singapore due to high humidity. He cited a written parliamentary reply from the Ministry of National Development in January that said the HDB receives an average of 715 cases of feedback a year about condensation in conventional air-conditioning. 

Asked about the leakage issues, a spokeswoman for the HDB said it was aware of feedback on the cooling system from some residents, and has been supporting SP to address them.

Its BTO contractors will also assist with some touch-up works, such as those arising from installation of the cooling system, and rectification works done by SP or Daikin workers, on a goodwill basis, she added.

“HDB will continue to monitor the feedback on the centralised cooling system together with SP Group, and support them to ensure that the roll-out of the system in Tengah proceeds as smoothly as possible,” the spokeswoman said.