The Maltese government has shown commitment to establishing an authority to regulate the building and construction industry, which will be accompanied by the promulgation of new building and construction regulations in line with the Kamra’s proposals published last May. This is outlined in the Letter of Commitment addressed to the Kamra tal-Periti last week.

The new agency is tasked with the design, implementation and dissemination of policies together with the consolidation and review of laws and regulations, in the form of a national building code, as well as with carrying out all the necessary preparations to set up the Building and Construction Authority.

“This is an important milestone in ensuring better regulation of the industry, and the Kamra tal-Periti looks forward to presenting its proposals outlined in A Modern Building and Construction Framework for Malta to the Agency, with a view towards implementing them in the near future,” the Kamra tal-Periti says.

Consolidation ahead

“We need to ensure that the building and construction industry is regulated uniformly and with a clear direction,” said Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects Ian Borg, according to a press statement by the government’s Department of Information (DOI).

“We started working last year when we published the white paper for the setting up of the Malta Construction and Building Authority (MCBA) and consulted with all interested parties. The setting up of this Agency was the next step before we finally set up the authority in the near future. We should also remember that a few weeks ago we carried out an important reform in the same industry, to continue working towards more safety, responsibility and transparency. I am now looking ahead to the setting up of the MCBA,” the minister added.

The Malta Construction and Building Authority is expected to eventually consolidate the various current entities, in particular, the Building Regulation Office (BRO), the Masons Board and the Building Regulation Board (BRB) under one authority. This authority is tasked not only to focus on buildings during the construction stage but will also monitor the performance of completed buildings once occupied, the DOI press statement adds.

Turbulent times

After the walls of three buildings collapsed in the past two months in Malta near construction sites, forcing the government to temporarily halt demolition and excavation works, the Kamra called for an extraordinary general meeting.

Prior to the EGM the Kamra published its preliminary position, and after the EGM the Kamra pledged commitment to improving the public safety of citizens and urged the government to enter discussions with the association.

The Kamra also welcomed the recent listing of licensed masons published on the website of the Building Regulation Office (BRO). 

The Kamra sent a letter to the minister, asking to clarify a number of points. At the same time, the Kamra also asked for a meeting prior to the publication of the legal notice.

Kamra tal-Periti met the government to discuss the new regulations that were brought into force, during which the association outlined its issues with the current regulations, and the positions voted upon in the extraordinary general meeting on 21 June.

EDITORIAL NOTE: The present article has been updated with a quote from the infrastructure minister and with additional information from the DOI press release, as well as the “Consolidation ahead” crosshead has been added.

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The Code of Police Laws stipulates that it is not lawful to exercise masonry without a licence, which requires to give assurance to the architect in charge of the project and confirms that such a person is qualified to carry out such operations as having received the appropriate training.

“If any mason, through unskilfulness, imprudence or carelessness, shall, in the construction of any work entrusted to him, and appertaining to his trade, cause any injury to any person or property, it shall be lawful for the Court of Magistrates to interdict such mason from the exercise of his trade for any time to be stated in the sentence, ordering, at the same time, the withdrawal of the licence,” The Code of Police states, according to the Kamra press release. Therefore, the responsibilities arising out of the code are clear and no lesser legal instrument can be used to infer otherwise, the association says.

In addition, the publication of the list is welcome and it is expected that the BRO will not permit works to continue on any site where masons are found not to be on the list, the Kamra underscores.

Moreover, the Civil Code places the onus for the structural integrity jointly on the architect and the contractor. The Building Regulation Act also places the obligation on the BRO to issue licences and registration of masons, fire consultants, other consultants in the building industry, building contractors and tradespeople, the press statement says, the Kamra reminds.

The Kamra tal-Periti held an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on Friday, June 21, to discuss the state of the Maltese construction industry, after the review of the Avoidance of Damage to Third Party Property Regulations draft and the interruption of all demolition and excavation activities on 13 June 2019. The Kamra says this very EGM was the largest in the history of its existence. This meeting was attended by approximately 400 architects, declaring the urgent intervention of the government in order to collaborate with the Kamra and to ensure the safety of people as a first priority.

In fact, after the EGM and following discussions, the Kamra tal-Periti reiterates its willingness to support the Maltese government in setting up systems for the registration and licensing of contractors in accordance with the BRO’s obligations as set out in the Building Regulation Act, according to the press release.

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The EGM stressed that no effort should be spared to ensure that the safety of people in their homes, and their quality of life, are the topmost priority of all involved in the construction industry, including the respective regulators.

The EGM also reiterated the profession’s full commitment to ensure public safety and urged the government to enter into discussions with the Kamra, as the sole and legal representative of the profession, rather than depend on advisors or entities which may not be adequately familiar with the technical and engineering aspects of the construction process.

The EGM was called after the walls of three buildings collapsed in the past two months in Malta near construction sites, forcing the government to temporarily halt demolition and excavation works. After consulting architects, the chamber also issued a preliminary position prior to the EGM.

“The time is long overdue for the government to properly address in a holistic manner, the problems besetting the construction industry, and not through a piecemeal approach,” the Kamra stresses after the EGM. “Hastily drafted and ill-thought revisions to a Legal Notice will not serve to ensure public safety, but rather serves only to confuse the various roles and responsibilities on construction sites. In particular, the EGM emphasised that under Malta’s Civil Code there are only two figures responsible for construction work, namely the Perit and the Contractor,” the statement notes.

“Consequently, the role of a site manager, as conceived in the Legal Notice, could only be assumed to be within the contractor’s setup, since the Contractor was obliged at law to understand and follow the instructions issued by the perit [Maltese word for architect], and be sufficiently knowledgeable to understand the significance of such instructions,” the press statement adds.

Taking responsibility

During the EGM, architects reaffirmed their commitment to take full responsibility for the tasks that were within their remit. They, however, demanded that the Maltese government “stops dragging its feet, and immediately takes the necessary steps to ensure that the framework which allows periti [architects] to ensure public safety is in place and effective.”

After the EGM, the association representing Maltese architects has come forward with the following demands:

• adoption of the amendments to the Periti Act, that the Kamra tal-Periti has been insisting on for the last 12 years, be approved, in full consultation with the Kamra;
• that the government enters into immediate discussions with the Kamra, on the Building and Construction Regulation Framework it has proposed, and to agree on its implementation within a reasonable timeframe;
• that, even before the setting up of the Building and Construction Authority, a proposal which the Kamra has supported since its inception, the government immediately provides the Building Regulation Office with all the necessary financial, human, and technical resources it requires to deal with its workload;
• and finally, that the government implements the obligations of the regulator as far as concerns the certification of all building products, both produced locally or imported, as required by the Laws of Malta since 2011.

Furthermore, the chamber says that any Legal Notice should, rather than contain technical detail that is better placed in building regulations, include provisions that empower the architect to suspend works, and lodge a report with the Building Regulations Office, without having to relinquish their commission, if the contractor or developer refuse to comply with the architect’s instructions on matters relating to structural integrity, the press statement adds.

Finally, the architects demand a clear separation between planning application and permitting processes, and the processes by which building and construction are notified, regulated and monitored. “Nearly five years have been wasted as a result of the misguided advice given to the government that the two processes should be brought together under the remit of the Planning Authority,” the press statement by the Kamra underscores.

The Maltese government halted all demolition and excavation works in the country on 13 June 2019, as an emergency action in view of the recent spate of structural collapses which occurred adjacent to construction sites. The Council of the Kamra tal-Periti considered this measure necessary, due to the potential risks to public safety. Therefore, Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced that new regulations would be published regarding excavation and demolition works, in order to address a number of issues.

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