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From ST Forum: http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Online...ory_769537.html Lemon law should cover DBSS flats Published on Feb 23, 2012 I AGREE with Madam Ong Chiew Hong ('Extend 'lemon law' protection to dream homes'; Monday). My husband and I were excited to receive the keys to our new Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) HDB flat in January last year. To our dismay, we discovered many defects such as scratches, dents and chipped-off fittings inside our home. Some of them took many months to be rectified, while others were irreparable. Just as we were about to move in, we discovered the parquet flooring in all the bedrooms stained with moisture. Despite a replacement, the problem persisted and we have not received a proper explanation by the developer about what went wrong. Furthermore, the paint on the walls of our flat flaked off easily because the surfaces had not been properly prepared before the painting began. So the developer took several more weeks to redo the painting. The process caused our home to become dusty and messy. Our neighbours also encountered many of these defects. Even though we highlighted the problems to the HDB on numerous occasions, we were told that it had no control over defect rectification as our flat was built by a private developer. It was clear to us that our flats did not meet standards before the keys were handed to us. From my understanding, many other DBSS flat owners have also encountered many defects. It has been more than a year since we received our keys and new defects have begun to surface: Moisture stains started to appear again on a part of our bedroom's parquet flooring, and the back coatings of our mirrors have started to wear off, despite the fact that we have yet to move in. What we have experienced is utterly disappointing. We were promised high-quality fittings - purportedly one of the main reasons why DBSS flats cost more than build-to-order ones. Quite the contrary, what we have been given are inferior furnishings. I hope the HDB will do a thorough investigation into the quality and standards of DBSS flats, instead of letting private developers dictate what should be done. Huang Kai Qin (Ms)

Another alledged "lemon" flat? From STOMP: http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sg..._bto_flats.html Posted on 07 Feb 2012 Half a million for BTO flat and I get cracked walls, loose flooring, and misaligned hinges STOMPer Irad is unhappy with the shoddy quality of his newly purchased BTO flat. He says the flat has numerous defects such as cracked walls, loose flooring, sloppy paintwork and misaligned door hinges. The STOMPer wrote: "I really question the quality of the new built BTO flat that I purchased from HDB. "There are numerous defects that require rectification, such as cracked walls, hollow parquet, crooked vanity sink and paint that runs onto my window's metal sides. "If there were only a few defects I can close one eye, but some are so serious they need repairs. "BSC (Building Service Centre) has been kind enough to rectify the problems but at the expense of my time. "The pet peeve I have right now is the hinges of the doors. The doors are an aesthetic appeal to a homeowner but if there's something unappealing, it's the kind of installation done. "The hinges hang out of the door and are not flushed. Even then the hinges are not aligned with the door frame or the door. I was clever enough not to opt for room doors to be installed but they actually installed the misaligned hinges without the door, thus ruining my door frame. "I know many neighbours who have opted for the doors (extra $1890) and now regret it. "According to a BSC engineer from China, the timber doors and hinges were approved by HDB. "I am paying half a million dollars and more for this flat but I guess even this money is small change compared to my happiness level. "Just look at the silver hinges compared to the gold hinges. The gold hinges hang out.