United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

Timely processing of permits for construction of buildings and infrastructure is of critical importance to Singapore’s economic growth and national development. As construction projects involve multiple disciplines/trades, regulatory approval usually requires clearances from several regulatory authorities that target at specific disciplines/trades. In Singapore, the main regulatory authorities are the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Land Use and Urban Planning, Fire Safety and Shelters Department on Fire Safety and Civil Defence Shelters, Land Transport Authority on roads, rails and infrastructure, Public Utilities Board on Drainage, Sewerage and Water Utilities and, finally, the Building and Construction Authority on building control and structural safety matters. Whilst decentralisation of regulation functions has its merits like efficiency and specialisation, it presents challenges to the industry and the investors in terms of multiple-front submission points, cross-referencing of clearances, compliance and policy co-ordination.

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
To resolve the challenges of multiple-front submission and coordination, BCA as the lead agency rolled out an Internet-based one-stop Government to Business (G2B) e-Services, known as the CORENET e-Submission System (“ESS" in 2001). CORENET allows construction industry professionals to access and transact with different regulatory authorities anytime and anywhere. It has altered the previous paradigm of multiple-front regulatory applications by integrating related activities across and within the various diverse Government agencies, to realise the concept of “Many Agencies, One Government” for superior public service. CORENET has transformed the industry’s building plans approval practice in the very early stage of the internet era. The system allows more than 6000 professionals to conduct building plan e-Submissions daily. In 2008, more than 400,000 submissions of $32 billions worth of construction projects were transacted via the system. More than 95% of the firms reported savings in a recent survey. The saving from printing and dispatch cost alone comes close to $5 million per annual. It was also featured in the World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business Report 2009” as the system contributes significantly in the area of dealing with construction permits reform. Because of the e-submissions, the industry professionals have gained a lot of confident in Internet transactions. This has opened up new frontier to these professionals to undertake overseas projects while they are still able to handle regulatory submissions of their projects in Singapore remotely with the help of Internet. Another positive outcome of electronic submission is the drastic reduction in the use of hardcopies drawings and the need for traveling to and fro, all of which leads to significant reduction of the industry’s carbon footprint. A survey conducted on customer satisfaction level of CORENET e-Submission System users in 2007 showed that 95% of the respondents confirmed that they experienced savings in the areas of hardcopies printing (72%) as well as dispatch or traveling (81%). The respondents also experienced cost reduction in storage/warehousing (54%), manpower resources (44%) and preparation time (42%). With e-Submission, users no longer need to rush to various regulatory authorities to submit multiple different sets of hardcopy drawings during office hours.

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
CORENET is a major information technology (IT) initiative of the Ministry of National Development and driven by the Building and Construction Authority, as the lead agency, in partnership with 15 other Government agencies and key industry professional associations as follows Participating Regulatory Authority - Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) - Building and Construction Authority (BCA) - CITYGAS - Energy Market Authority (EMA) - Defence Science & Technology Agency (DSTA) - Fire Safety and Shelter Department (FSSD) - Housing & Development Board (HDB) - Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) - JTC Corporation (JTC) - Land Transport Authority (LTA) - Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) - National Parks Board (NPARKs) - National Environment Agency (NEA) - Public Utilities Board (PUB) - Singapore Land Authority (SLA) - Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Industry Representatives - Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA) - Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES) - Association of Consulting Engineers, Singapore (ACES) - Real Estate Developers Association of Singapore (REDAS) - Singapore Contractors Association Limited (SCAL)

Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
a. What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
The main strategies of CORENET are : • to bring all the stakeholders, both the private and the public bodies, onto a single platform for submission and one single Building Information Model (BIM) model to meet multiple agencies requirements • to standardise & simplify the regulatory submission processes and rules • to set a target date to make e-submission mandatory 3 years from the launch date • to provide a comprehensive customer care programme which includes training, hand-holding, site & phone support and financial incentive to prepare all 6000 over users for the adoption. More importantly to overcome their fears for the use of new IT and to demonstrate its tangible benefits.

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
The whole development of CORENET is more than creating a system based on IT services but a complete capability building and an important change management programme. • Formation of project steering and working committee to oversee the project • Comprehensive review of the construction life-cycle processes to identify areas for improvement where IT can be a key enabler • Define clear visions, goals, key performance indicators, deliverables, action plans and key success factors • Conduct public consultations of the action plans to gain buy-in • Justify resources and secure funding • Procurement, requirement study, design, quick prototype, development, testing and commissioning of the system • Public awareness and communication • Set up customer care centre and programme, conduct customers survey and focus group discussions • Continuous system fine-tuning, capacity expansion and functionality enhancement

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
As with most new systems launched, there are issues regarding its acceptability and the same happened with CORENET. Though the system was launched on end 2001, the number of users embracing the system was not very high and there was a level of skepticism and lack of confidence. To remove these barriers, comprehensive programme that includes mass briefing, class room hands-on training, comprehensive user’s-guide, phone & on-site technical support, setting up of e-Kiosk, focus group feedback sessions, as well as the provision of financial grant to ensure availability of assistance to overcome the learning curve were rolled-out. Training for all construction firms/professionals involved in the e-Submissions & BIM modeling is provided to ensure capability building & embracing of key CAD technology that will give our industry the competitive edge & productivity improvement. The effect of rolled-out programme has moved the submission volume up steadily from less than 8000 transactions in 2002 to more than 400,000 transactions in 2008.

d. What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
Development The System’s development started in June 2000 at a capital cost of S$1.65 million and was commissioned in November 2002 as one of the earliest multi-agency e-service. Assistance 1) Training A team of CORENET facilitators was formed to train the architect and engineers on e-Submission requirements within their own office premises or via classroom hands-on style training. 2) e-Kiosk Setup Key participating Authorities in e-Submission have pulled resources to assist especially the small design practices lower their entrance barrier by setting up an “e-Submission Kiosk” within their premises. 3) Service Desk A team of service desk was setup to provide phone support and on-site support with the increase of architects and engineers making e-Submission. Incentives To encourage early adoption, incentive schemes were introduced to allow industry small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to overcome financial constraints associated with the adoption of e-Submission by subsidizing 50% of the qualified development cost in the areas of consulting and training services, e-business solution development and implementation as well as hardware and software purchase. A 70% subsidy was also given for e-Submission hands-on training course.

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
Since the launch, we saw a steady increase in the adoption rate in Singapore. In 2008, more than 400,000 e-submissions were transacted via the system. The system has also undergone two major capacity upgrading in 2004 and 2009 to cater to the growing demand of the system. As all the architects and engineers becoming more conversant and confident in e-submitting 2D Computer-Aided Drafting (CAD) drawings. The CORENET participating agencies are working together again to ride the next wave of 3D Computer-Aided Design Technology, known as the Building Information Modeling (BIM). The architects and engineers can make use of CORENET to submit 3D BIM e-submissions in 2010. With BIM e-submission template, our industry professionals only need to prepare and maintain “one BIM model to meet multiple agencies requirements” in a consistent manner. Our BIM e-Submission initiative was recognized by Autodesk, the world leading vendor for the AEC industry, as probably world first by any government authority. A BIM Recognition Award was also presented by Autodesk to BCA on 14 August 2009 for its leadership, innovation and excellence in driving the transformation of the building industry through BIM in Singapore. BCA has acceded to many invitations/requests from overseas delegates such as Brunei, Malaysia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Russia, Finland, Norway and Nigeria to share the CORENET development and implementation journey. BCA Academy has also developed and offered a 1 day Executive Management Programme under Singapore’s Building Control Framework in 2008 to train overseas delegates on the various topics includes CORENET. To date, we have more than 150 overseas delegates attended this programme and received positive feedback from them.

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
• The acceptance and practice of e-submission could only happen with significant support and partnership of all stakeholders which include the construction industry community and government agencies that regulate the industry. • The support of the respective Ministries facilitated management buy-in at the 16 Government agencies, thus enabling business processes & rules streamlining & standardization. • Private-public sector and cross-agency collaborations in the form of consultation forums to solicit feedback from all stakeholders, and in the form of joint seminars where early adopters shared useful users’ experiences and best practices contributed much towards converting many hesitant customers into the world of e-submission. • The introduction of financial incentives and on-site technical support to train and equip the users and a realistic target date for mandatory adoption of e-submission. • The introduction of a national code of practice on computer-aided design developed by a private-public sector partnership to standardise various aspects of computer-aided design also made e-submission preparation and checking easier. The passing of the Electronic Transactions Act Cap 88 (ETA) in 1999 that made public e-services possible by according legal recognition for electronic records and signatures thus providing legislative support for this project.


Institution Name:		Building and Construction Authority
Institution Type:		Government Agency
Contact Person:		Tay Chiou Peng
Title:		Deputy Director of Managing for Excellence Office
Telephone/ Fax:		+65 6325 5088
Institution's / Project's Website:		+65 6325 4800
E-mail:		tay_chiou_peng@bca.gov.sg
Address:		5 Maxwell Road, #17-00 Tower Block, MND Complex
Postal Code:		069110
City:		Singapore
State/Province:		Singapore
Country:		Singapore

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information