Guidelines on Use of Telecommunication Riser Ducts

1. This set of guidelines is applicable to a building owner/developer (which may include a managing agent or a Management Corporation Strata Title holder) or a tenant who intends to lay cables within a single multi-storey and/or multi-tenanted commercial or residential building. 

2. The telecom riser ducts (or simply risers) in buildings are administered by IMDA under the provision of the Telecommunications Act. IMDA's policy is to reserve the risers for use by fixed-service Facilities Based Operators (FBOs). Any other person or enterprise intending to use the risers shall seek permission from IMDA. 

3. A building owner/developer or tenant is not allowed to use the riser except with the approval of IMDA and for the purpose of providing in-building internet services or to interconnect their offices for private communications networks. 

4. In the case where the building owner/developer provides internet access to their tenants, the building owner/developer shall operate such services with a licence obtainable from IMDA, or through a resale agreement with an Internet Access Service Provider licensed by IMDA. View the details regarding the appropriate licensing scheme.

5. A building owner/developer or tenant shall appoint a licensed telecom wiring contractor to provide the necessary in-building cabling. To this end, the building owner/developer or tenant shall assume the responsibility of complying with all requirements in connection with the installation and use of cables and submit the application to IMDA for approval. 

6. Any person or enterprise including building owner/developer, tenant or other non-fixed-service FBO shall write to IMDA to seek approval each time a riser is to be used. 

7. Before applying to IMDA for use of the riser, the building owner/developer or tenant is required to explore and exhaust all possibilities of using other facilities such as electrical riser or communication riser.

8. Approval for use of riser space will be granted on a case-by-case basis depending on the availability of space in the riser. 

9. In the case of application from a tenant, upon obtaining IMDA's approval the tenant is advised to obtain the necessary clearance from the building owner/developer to gain access to and carry out installation in the riser.

10. The applicant is required to complete the attached application form (156.50KB) and submit it together with the following information, via email to IMDA:

i. Details of the proposed installation work, including the quantity and sizes of cables; proposed cable position in the rise; the network configuration drawing indicating the segments of cables which will be installed in the riser;

ii. Digital photos of the risers indicating the dimensions of the risers, sizes of cable trays/conduits and the proposed cable locations. Pictures submitted should indicate the lowest, highest and a floor in between (most congested) where the cable is intended to run through;

iii. Where pictures mentioned in paragraph (b) are not available (e.g. the property management does not allow photos to be taken in the riser), the applicant must provide existing layout plans of the riser/s with measurements indicating the proposed cable location; and A floor plan of the building indicating the location of risers to be used if there are more than one riser in the building.

11. A building owner or tenant is required to:

i. Provide a separate cable tray or metal/plastic (PVC) trunking to house cables;

ii. Clearly mark all of their installation and own cables installed for easy identification of owners. The labels or markings shall be made of durable material and not fade and shall be fasten properly or imprinted/embossed on the cables;

iii. Ensure that no active devices are installed in the risers;

iv. Ensure that all cables are properly tied to the cable tray and neatly laid. All such cables shall be laid in such a way that it will not obstruct work space of other users or become a safety hazard;

v. Ensure that all floor opening holes are sealed according to the IMDA's Code of Practice for Info-communication Facilities in Building (COPIF) standards; and

vi. Ensure proper housekeeping after completion of the works.

12. Where necessary, IMDA may require a joint site survey with the building owner or the tenant to ensure that all requirements of IMDA are complied with.

13. Where the cables laid by the building owner/developer or tenant are no longer in use and there are no other parties interested in taking over the ownership of the cables, IMDA will require the building developer or tenant to recover the cables and the support structures from the riser at its own cost.

14. When a riser has been fully utilised and it is not feasible to accommodate laying of additional cables, IMDA may refuse access to or installation of any cables in the riser by the building owner/developer or any tenant, notwithstanding that the building owner/developer or the tenant has satisfied the requirement as stated in paragraphs 3, 4 or 5.

15. Where the building owner/developer or the tenant has been permitted by IMDA to use the riser and the usage has impeded the laying of cables and other support structures by a FBO, IMDA may require the building owner /developer or the tenant to make the necessary alteration or adjustments to its installation at its own cost to accommodate the requirement of the FBO. In the event that such alternation or adjustment is not feasible, IMDA may require the building owner/developer or the tenant to remove its installation at its own cost to make way for the installation by the FBO.

16. When a FBO's laying of cables or other support structures in the riser is impeded by cables already installed in the riser by the building owner /developer or the tenant without IMDA's approval, IMDA will require the building owner/developer or the tenant to remove the cables. The cost of such removal shall be borne by the building owner/developer or tenant who shall also undertake to indemnify IMDA of all liabilities that may arise there from.

17. These guidelines are subject to review from time to time by IMDA to take account of changes of regulatory environment.

18. Any enquiry or application for the use of riser is to be forwarded to:

Director, Interconnection & Access
Infocomm Media Development Authority
10 Pasir Panjang Road #03-01
Mapletree Business City
Singapore 117438

Email:

jimmy_tan@imda.gov.sg

gibson_tan@imda.gov.sg