Prefab component joints leak, and warranty clauses dodge responsibility, making repairs hard to enforce

In a newly completed subsidised (HOS) flat, the moisture meter on the bathroom floor reads over 25%, and the owner discovers on handover that the prefabricated component joints are inexplicably seeping a fixed waterline — the whole unit is still in bare-shell condition, yet water has already pooled. Local consumers report that with kitchen and bathroom modules built using the Modular Integrated Construction (MiC) method, inadequate edge-sealing at the joints traps rainwater and seepage in the gap between the module and the structural wall, where it struggles to dry, raising fears of ceiling spalling or rebar corrosion over the long term.

The core problem is not the prefabrication technology itself, but the quality of the on-site connections between modules, and whether handover-inspection standards recognise instrument readings. When owners raise the issue with the Housing Department, repairs are refused on grounds such as pooled water being a normal phenomenon or the owner having cleaned the unit themselves, and the ten-year structural warranty also leaves gaps through its alteration and improper-use clauses.

The authorities, on one hand, push hard to expand supply and speed up first-time ownership through this construction method, while on the other, when handover-quality problems arise, they shift responsibility between the management office and the contractor, leaving small owners in a weak position within the warranty framework.