What is temporary propping and when is it needed?
Temporary propping means shores, braces or props installed to carry loads while a structural element is removed or weakened. The WSH (Construction) Regulations prohibit demolition where an adjacent structure may become unsafe unless shoring, bracing or other means are provided to keep it stable. In practice, any removal of a beam, column, slab or load-bearing wall, or work that leaves a slab resting on walls being demolished, needs a propping design from a PE.
From the RRD Field Guide, checked against the sources cited in Demolition and Strip-Out Safety in Singapore: Permits, Structural Stability, Asbestos and Waste. General information, not advice for your project.
The fuller picture
In Singapore, demolition is high-risk construction work needing a permit-to-work system. Hacking non-load-bearing walls and false ceilings is exempt from BCA plan approval, but removing columns, beams, slabs or load-bearing walls needs approved plans, a BCA permit and a PE's method statement. Older buildings need an asbestos survey first, and debris must go through NEA-licensed collectors.
More questions on this topic
- Do I need a BCA permit to strip out an office?
- Is a strip-out 'demolition work' under the WSH regulations?
- Who must prepare the demolition method statement?
- What happened in the Tanjong Pagar demolition collapse?
- Do I need an asbestos survey before demolition?
- Can demolition debris go into the building's bins?
- What are the dust and noise rules for demolition?