Verzjoni bil-Malti

It was on the 25^th July 1919 that Herbert Plumer, then Governor of Malta, brought into force the Architects’ Ordinance, which governed the profession of Land Surveyor and Architect and paved the way for the establishment of the profession of Architect and Civil Engineer (Perit) as we know it today. This year, the Kamra tal-Periti is therefore celebrating the 100^th anniversary of the Ordinance, and is marking this special occasion with the second edition of its Premju Emanuele Luigi Galizia.

The Premju Galizia was first launched in 2018, the culmination of a long-held ambition of the Kamra to award excellence in architecture, civil engineering, urban regeneration and interior design. In this year’s edition, the Kamra is once again also awarding the best emerging practice, as well as launching two new categories, one for multiple dwelling projects having three or more units, and one for the best international project carried out by a locally warranted perit.

Following a shortlisting process which took place earlier this month, the finalists will now present their projects to various panels of judges. The 2018 cohort of graduates of the Faculty for the Built Environment will also be presenting their Master of Architecture and Master of Engineering theses and dissertations, after also having gone through a shortlisting process last October. The presentations are open to the public and will be held at the Phoenicia Hotel between Monday 22^nd and Wednesday 24^th July as per the program at this link: https://kamratalperiti.org/event/premju-galizia-2019-jury-presentation-sessions/

The final Awards will be presented during a Gala Dinner to be held on the 25^th July 2019, which will also be accompanied by an outdoor exhibition of the finalist projects which will be installed near the Christ the King monument in Floriana, and which will remain open until the 2^nd August 2019.

This year’s Premju Galizia is sponsored by JM Vassallo Vibro Steel Ltd and Satariano, and supported by Brands International Ltd, Halmann Vella, Vivendo Group, AX Group, Bathroom Design Malta, Creations, Light Design Solutions and Simonds Farsons Cisk.

 

Notes to press:

The press are invited to attend the public presentation sessions which will be held as per the program at this link: https://kamratalperiti.org/event/premju-galizia-2019-jury-presentation-sessions/. It would be appreciated if you could include this link in your reporting to encourage the public to attend.

Further information about the Awards including the 2019 finalists can be found here: https://premjugalizia.org/

Last year’s winners can be viewed here: https://premjugalizia.org/2018-winners/

 

Verzjoni bil-Malti

The Kamra tal-Periti welcomes the announcement made on Friday by Minister Ian Borg and Parliamentary Secretary Chris Agius regarding the setting up a of a system of registration of contractors which will commence next Wednesday. This follows on from various calls that the Kamra has been making since 2007, which was strongly reiterated in recent weeks following the introduction of Legal Notice 136 of 2019 regarding the Avoidance of Damage to Third Party Property. Safety on site is paramount, and registration, licensing and classification of contractors are essential to ensure that contractors are given the adequate training and are equipped with sufficient skills to improve the quality of works execution and safety on construction sites.

The Kamra tal-Periti has taken a leading role in pushing for the introduction of registration, licensing and classification of contractors, and has drafted its proposals for a new Legal Notice to outline the processes and requirements to attain such goals. Discussions are currently under way with Government with a view towards enacting this Legal Notice later this year.

With regard to Legal Notice 136 of 2019, there are still a number of points which the Kamra tal-Periti is insisting need to be changed, in the interest of public safety as well as in the interest of the profession, contractors and developers. These include primarily the role, responsibilities and competences of the Site Technical Officer, a clear division between the Works Specifications that must be prepared by a perit, and the Method Statement which must be prepared by the contractor in order to state how the Specifications are to be achieved, a clearer distinction between temporary and permanent works, and also various inconsistencies between the Maltese and English versions of the Legal Notice. The Kamra tal-Periti will be seeking further meetings with Government next week to address such issues.

Yesterday, the Kamra tal-Periti has received letters of support for its position from the international community of architects. Thomas Vonier, President of the International Union of Architects (UIA), expressed “support for the Kamra tal-Periti’s efforts to prevent the profession of architects from assuming responsibility for services provided by third parties, as foreseen in the Legal Notice 136 of 2019. The Union commends the profession as it advocates clear and rigorous guidelines describing the responsibilities of the various stakeholders on construction sites in the interests of safety and quality of the built environment.”

In a separate letter, Wassim Naghi, President of the Union of Mediterranean Architects (UMAR), stated that the 25^th General Assembly of the organisation held in Rome this week had expressed its “support for the Kamra‘s relentless efforts over the past three weeks to ensure that the profession is safeguarded following the introduction of new legislation which was introduced suddenly, and without, what seems, an adequate period of consultation. We salute the Maltese profession in its efforts to retain its independence and impartiality, and for promoting clear and strong guidelines delineating responsibilities of the various stakeholders on construction sites in the interests of safety and quality of the built environment. The General Assembly also supports the Kamra tal-Periti in its strong calls requesting Government to immediately allocate sufficient and adequate resources to the local Regulator in order to allow it to carry out its statutory functions in a timely and efficient manner in the interest of public health and safety on and around construction sites.”

 

Verzjoni bil-Malti

The Kamra tal-Periti would hereby like to notify the following developments since the bringing into force of LN 136 of 2019.

 

Meeting with Government

Government requested an urgent meeting with the Kamra tal-Periti to discuss the new regulations that were brought into force earlier this week. The Kamra tal-Periti immediately accepted the offer for a meeting which happened yesterday afternoon.

During this meeting, which lasted almost three hours, the Kamra outlined in detail the several issues in the regulations and the positions voted upon in the Extraordinary General Meeting held on Friday 21^st June 2019. The Kamra also expressed its deep concern for public safety due to conflicts between the Civil Code and the new regulations, and the confusion surrounding the apportionment of responsibilities.

The Kamra tal-Periti also insisted on the urgency for the setting up of a system of registration of contractors so members of the public, and periti themselves, can begin to regain confidence in the industry.

It was agreed that further meetings would occur in the next few days during which amendments to the new regulations will be proposed by the Kamra together with its team of legal consultants for Government’s consideration.

The Kamra tal-Periti reiterates its commitment to assist Government in fulfilling its intention to bring about a positive reform of the industry in the interest of public safety.

 

Exemptions under Regulation 26

Regulation 26 states that “[w]hen before the start of the works, the perit in charge of the project certifies, after giving clear reasons, that the structural interventions will not affect third party property, the provisions of regulations 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 do not apply”.

 

This implies that if a perit certifies that no damage will occur to third-parties during works, the entire set of regulations can be circumvented. If damages do occur, the perit issuing such certification would carry personal criminal and civil responsibility for anything that happens, even when the contractor is at fault.

This has put members of the profession under immense pressure to sign such declarations as contractors and developers are incurring extremely high costs due to the effective suspension of works. The Kamra has received multiple reports from members of the profession who received personal threats as well as threats of crippling and vexatious lawsuits if they do not sign such declarations.

The Kamra tal-Periti is hereby making it clear that if any such lawsuits are filed against periti who are diligently and responsibly applying the law, it will enter such lawsuits parte civile and put all its resources to defend its members against cowboy operators.

The Kamra will also be writing to the Chief Justice to request that such lawsuits are dismissed on a prima facie basis in the interest of public safety.

 

Exemptions under Regulation 25

Regulation 25 states that “[w]orks of excavation, demolition and construction, that would have started but are not complete on the date of the 25^th June 2019, as well as those works of excavation, demolition and construction, that still need to begin, fall under the provisions of these regulations provided that the Director of the Building Regulation Office reserves the right to issue appropriate orders according to the requirements and nature of the particular site.”

Members of the public are urged to write to the Director of BRO on commencement.bro@gov.mt keeping in copy their perit asking for clearance to proceed with works, and insisting that a clear scope of works and a list of the specific exemptions from the regulations are specified in such clearance.

 

 

The Kamra tal-Periti will continue to defend and promote the interest of public safety first at all times.

 

Verzjoni bil-Malti

The Kamra tal-Periti notes with deep regret that L.N. 136 of 2019 Avoidance of Damage to Third Party Property Regulations, 2019, was published by Government yesterday afternoon without prior consultation with the Kamra as required by law, despite various requests for meetings over the past two weeks. The Kamra tal-Periti has again requested to meet Government after the new regulations were published to discuss its grave concerns for public safety resulting from the new regulations themselves. The questions that the Kamra sent to Minister Ian Borg yesterday remained unanswered.

The Kamra tal-Periti has consistently insisted that responsibilities should be clearly and unambiguously defined in the interest of public safety. The Civil Code specifically identifies two figures who should carry such responsibility: the perit and the contractor. Any regulation that purports to contradict the Civil Code is only contributing to the confusion that has characterised the industry in the last decades.

The responsibilities in the Civil Code are clear.

The perit is responsible to design, specify and direct the works to ensure that the building is safe.  The contractor is responsible for executing the works, including following the design, specification and direction of the perit. It is up to the contractor to decide the composition and qualifications of his personnel to fulfil his responsibilities. This is the norm in developed countries.

The Kamra believes there is a third responsibility that needs to be borne, and that is the responsibility to regulate. This responsibility can only be borne by Government. To date, Government has failed to fulfil its duty to regulate the industry adequately, as discussed below.

1. The BRO was left severely underfunded for years, with a meagre annual capital budget of €150,000, which is barely equivalent to the salary of six of its employees, rendering it effectively powerless and ineffective.
2. The BRO has not put in place a system for registration and licensing of contractors in breach of Article 5 of the Building Regulation Act. This exposes the public to inordinate levels of risk.
3. The list of licensed masons was only published last Friday during the Kamra’s EGM. The Kamra’s numerous requests for such a list over the past years, were dismissed by the BRO on the basis of data protection considerations. It is pertinent to point out that the list as published is in breach of Article 22 of the Services Directive which requires that the identification and contact details of masons and contractors be published so they may “be contacted rapidly and communicated with directly”.
4. The planning process was never clearly separated from the building regulation process, resulting in institutional confusion and inadequate enforcement. This confusion was further exacerbated when the Planning Authority (PA) issued two circulars yesterday evening about the Legal Notice, which falls under the remit of the BRO. Moreover, instead of Government investing in developing the BRO’s IT infrastructure, the PA has taken over the implementation of the new regulations from the remit of the BRO, and extended its online planning application system for this purpose. This is exacerbating further an already confusing situation.
5. No centralised building and construction regulations in line with those of other European Member States are in place. The few that are in place are contradictory or obsolete and fall under the remit of over 22 public entities.
6. The draft Periti Act has been left in abeyance for over 12 years, leaving the profession unable to modernise itself in line with contemporary requirements and EU regulations.
7. The Construction Products Directive, which falls under the remit of the MCCAA, was never enforced. This means that virtually no building and construction products on the market, which forms part of the wider European single market, are CE certified, and are therefore illegal. This has significant consequences for the consumer and the perit, in that there is no way to verify that the specifications are being met by the suppliers of building products, including bricks and pre-stressed concrete planks.

The Kamra tal-Periti is of the opinion that the Legal Notice does little to guarantee public safety primarily because it further confuses the responsibilities on site. This, coupled with the fact that the requirement for registration and licensing of contractors has not been brought into force, results in a situation where effectively the STO is being made to bear the shortcomings of Government to regulate the sector.

Verzjoni bil-Malti

At an Extraordinary General Meeting held on the 21^st June 2019, and attended by around 400 Periti, it was unanimously agreed that public safety is paramount, and 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 construction industry, including the respective regulators.

The time is long overdue for Government to properly address in a holistic manner, the problems besetting the construction industry, and not through a piecemeal approach. 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. 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, and be sufficiently knowledgeable to understand the significance of such instructions.

 

 

A contractor may employ or engage any knowledgeable person, including technical professionals, to take control of the site, and to help the contractor and all personnel understand the instructions received, without diminishing the contractor’s responsibility in terms of the Civil Code in any way. Periti must, on the other hand, bear responsibility for all instances where there may have been negligence, or where due diligence was not sufficiently exercised by them in discharging their services, which include designing the structure so as to be safe and in accordance with regulations,  issuing particular works instructions and specifications, particularly for excavation, demolition and alterations or extensions to existing buildings,  During the EGM, Periti reaffirmed their commitment to take full responsibility for the tasks that were within their remit. They however demanded that Government stops dragging its feet, and immediately takes the necessary steps to ensure that the framework which allows Periti to ensure public safety is in place and effective.

In this context, the EGM is demanding that 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 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, 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 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.

The EGM is demanding that any Legal Notice should, rather than contain technical detail that is better placed in building regulations, include provisions that empower the Perit to suspend works, and lodge a report with the Building Regulations Office, without having to relinquish his commission, if the contractor or developer refuse to comply with the Perit’s instructions on matters relating to structural integrity.

Finally, the EGM is demanding that there should be a clear separation between planning application and permitting processes, and the processes by which building and construction is notified, regulated and monitored. Nearly five years have been wasted as a result of the misguided advice given to Government that the two processes should be brought together under the remit of the Planning Authority.

The EGM finally 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.