This year marks the 6th year of BCA Universal Design (UD) Mark, which is a voluntary certification scheme introduced in October 2012 to accord recognition to developments and stakeholders that adopt a user-centric philosophy in their design, operations and maintenance. It also aims to raise greater public awareness towards user-friendly buildings.
The scheme allows project parties to assess their projects at design stage, facilitating the incorporation of UD principles from the onset of project development. A built development will be awarded a display plaque, indicating one of the four UD Mark ratings: Certified, Gold, GoldPLUS or Platinum. For ongoing developments, UD Mark ratings will be determined based on their design and indicated as Certified (Design), Gold (Design), or GoldPLUS (Design).
There is no restriction on the number of entries that each individual, firm or team can submit and the application is open all year round.
All developers, building owners, qualified persons and designers involved in creating an inclusive built environment are strongly encouraged to participate in the scheme.
Assessment and application
Interested parties please submit an application form to BCA to register your interest in participating in the UD Mark scheme by 29th December 2017. The assessment process would include:-
(a) Preliminary meeting with the BCA assessment team for clarifications on the request for relevant documentation;
(b) Actual assessment involving design and documentary reviews;
(c) Site verification by BCA assessment team.
The scheme is currently opened to the following categories:-
(a) New non-residential developments – this would include commercial (offices, hotels, retail malls), industrial, institutional, infrastructural and mixed use developments;
(b) Refurbished non-residential developments;
(c) New residential developments – this would include public and private residential developments.
(d) Parks and public spaces – this would include new or existing parks and public spaces developments.
Details on the assessment and application process can be found in the BCA website at http://www.bca.gov.sg/friendlybuilding. For clarifications, please contact Ms Christina Seet at 6804 4275, or email: bca_ud@bca.gov.sg.