Chamber of Architects welcomes establishment of new Building and Construction Agency

The Chamber of Architects has welcomed the establishment of a new Building and Construction Agency through the publication of Legal Notice 192 of 2019, which was issued on Tuesday.

“This new Agency is the precursor of the Building and Construction Authority that will be set up in the coming months, and which the government is committed to establish as outlined in the letter of commitment addressed to the Chamber last week.”

The Transport Ministry, in that letter of commitment, agreed that a comprehensive reform of the building and construction industry is long overdue. Both sides had agreed that the legislation for the setting up of the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) shall be subjected to Parliamentary procedure by the end of October 2019 and that such legislation should include a number of principles. The letter confirmed that all the building and construction regulatory functions dispersed in a number of public entities are to be consolidated under the BCA.

Other pieces of legislation, including the Civil Code and Code of Police Conduct, should be amended or abrogated accordingly.

The letter had also confirmed that the BCA has to issue two sets of regulations within 24 months of the setting up of the said authority.

The new Agency which was created through the recently issued legal notice 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 Chamber looks forward to presenting its proposals outlined in a consultation paper it had previously issued, to the Agency, with a view towards implementing them in the near future,” the Chamber said.