Derek Tan, executive director of planning and chief infrastructure planning officer at Singapore’s Ministry of National Development (MND), has been named the new chief executive officer of the Building and Construction Authority (BCA). He will join BCA as CEO-designate on 1 April 2026 and officially assume the role of CEO on 1 May 2026, succeeding Kelvin Wong.
As CEO of BCA, Mr Wong played an instrumental role in steering the built environment (BE) sector’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. He led coordinated efforts with industry leaders, trade association and chambers (TACs), and government agencies to address manpower and financial challenges while ensuring the safe restart of construction activities.
Following the pandemic, Mr Wong oversaw key policy changes, including the shift to firm-based regimes for supervision and safety inspections, the introduction of Mandatory Energy Improvement and the Accessibility Code review to enhance the safety, sustainability and liveability of Singapore’s physical environment.
Under Mr Wong’s leadership, BCA fostered a stronger innovation eco-system and made strides in industry transformation, technology adoption and enterprise development through the launch of Corenet X, new grants and incentives, sectoral manpower development initiatives and collaborative procurement practices.
“We would like to thank Mr Wong for his invaluable contributions to the built environment sector and BCA, and welcome Mr Tan to his new appointment at BCA,” said MND and BCA.
In his current role at MND, Mr Tan led transformation efforts in Singapore’s underground utilities space and worked closely with BCA and the National Parks Board (NParks) on strategic policies and initiatives. He previously served concurrently as group director of special duties at the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and founding CEO of EV-electric Charging Private Limited (EVe), driving the rollout of electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Mr Tan started his career at HDB where he held several diverse portfolios. In particular, he served as HDB’s group director of housing management, where he oversaw large-scale operations with over 2,000 staff to manage more than one million sold and public rental flats.
“Mr Tan’s extensive experience and familiarity with the built environment sector position him well for his new appointment as CEO of BCA,” said MND and BCA.
All images: MND/BCA
