Ccs Woes Spur Tengah Residents Seek Legal Recourse Against Sp Group
When it was introduced six years ago, the Tengah eco-town estate was marketed as a “forest town” with sustainable features, including the debut of a central cooling system (CCS) – the first in a public housing estate. The CCS was hailed as an eco-friendly and efficient system that uses centralised condensers to pipe chilled water as the main coolant, with cost savings of up to 30% compared to conventional air conditioning.
However, some residents who have moved into the estate have encountered issues with the CCS and have resorted to seeking legal action against SP Group, the company responsible for designing and implementing the system. According to a Telegram chat group, “Tengah CCS Issues”, out of 500 respondents, 21 have opened a case with the Small Claims Tribunal (SCT) and another 92 indicated they planned to do so.
The majority of complaints about the system stem from water condensing or leaking from the piping. Residents have shared that they are seeking to cancel their contracts with SP with minimal financial losses due to a lack of faith in the company’s promises for the CCS. However, terminating the contract incurs a penalty of 17.5% of the total installation charge if cancelled before installation is completed, and 50% if cancelled after. The 30-day cooling-off period has no cancellation charge.
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One resident successfully dismissed SP’s claim of damages incurred due to the cancelled contract, but others have had their cases dismissed by the SCT, and are still liable for the cancellation fee. As a result, a future resident of Tengah’s Park District, who wishes to be known as Jay, has decided not to pay the fee and wait for SP to file an SCT claim against him. He believes there will be fewer people seeking legal action now due to stories of cases being thrown out.
As of February 12, SP reported having more than 9,000 CCS subscribers in Tengah, but claims to resolve issues within 10 business days of the initial inspection. According to a spokesperson for SP, the company is committed to delivering a reliable, energy-efficient, and cost-effective CCS. Interior designer Russell Pang has renovated five flats in Tengah, all of which subscribed to the CCS. Of these, three had issues with leaking and condensation, which were resolved by technicians from SP within two to three weeks at no additional cost. Pang advises subscribers not to hide or cover the coolant pipe’s trunking so that any faults can be detected and remedied more easily. He believes that the CCS is a brilliant idea, but has teething issues that can be ironed out.
The author of the article is a future resident of the Tengah estate and has opted to install the CCS in his future home.