The Association of Property and Facility Managers (APFM), as well as the Association of Strata Managers (ASM) accreditation schemes have been recognised by BCA in a bid to raise the industry standards of managing agents.
In a bid to help the industry raise the standards of managing agents (MAs) that manages the operational and administrative tasks for Management Corporate Strata Titles (MCSTs), the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) has recognised two new accreditation schemes for MAs that were introduced by the Association of Property and Facility Managers (APFM) as well as the Association of Strata Managers (ASM).
BCA will issue ASM and APFM with a Certificate of Recognition that requires renewal every three years.
In a release issued on Wednesday (23 June), BCA said the recognition is part of its efforts “to support the industry bodies in raising professionalism and improving competencies of MAs at both the individual and firm levels”.
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It added that MAs can obtain accreditation by going through a structured training programme, which covers areas like the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act (BMSMA) framework, building services, application of the BMSMA as well as communication and office administration.
“The training will equip MAs with the capabilities to carry out duties professionally and provide sound advice to MCSTs,” noted BCA.
Since the training programme commenced in June last year, over 300 MAs have completed the training and met the criteria to be accredited.
MA firms can also be accredited if they have a sufficient number of accredited staff.
“To date, 16 MA firms have trained the minimum number of staff required for accreditation,” said BCA.
BCA Commissioner of Buildings Chin Chi Leong revealed that Singapore has more than 3,500 MCSTs, of which 75% engage MAs to run their estates.
“BCA recognises the need for competent MAs and has worked with both APFM and ASM to develop and recognise a more structured framework to train and upskill MAs in the industry. We would like to encourage MA firms to send their staff for training and accreditation so they have a pool of competent MAs to provide quality services to their clients,” he said.
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Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this story, email: victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg
