The public consultation has been launched on amendments to the current legislation announced by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to increase safety on building and construction sites as well as to safeguard third party property rights.
The Ministry for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects has said in a statement that various changes are included in the new proposed legislation.
The Ministry explained that specific regulations will be added to the Legal Notice which is already in place. These are intended to ensure that construction and excavation works are conducted in a manner that does not pose danger to both workers on site and also to any third parties involved.
It added that other regulations include – “The roles and responsibilities of any professionals involved in any works related to construction and excavation should be clarified as much as possible with the proposed amendments.
“There should also be more clarity with regard to the right of recourse methods and/or fines to be applied if an individual, professional, contractor or anyone else involved in any such works defaults on the said roles and responsibilities.
“In particular, it is now mandatory to ensure that a site manager who is competent is present on site from the very outset to monitor all key decisions,” the Ministry said.
Among others, prior to any excavation works taking place, the Ministry said that the proposals include the need for the architect to prepare a geotechnical design report which, if the need arises, should be supported by a geological survey.
This report will be the responsibility of the architect who drafts it. The Ministry added that in this report, the architect has to establish beforehand, the rock characteristics, the geometry of the rock and whether it has fissures so as to determine the foundation stability, the strength of the rock itself and the load paths of surrounding buildings.
The Ministry for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects also explained that over the past months it has been also working on another legislation to establish the new Malta Construction and Building Authority, which authority is aiming to consolidate all rules and regulations in the building and construction industry, among other objectives.
The Ministry went on to say that “in view of the incidents that have occurred in recent weeks, and also in view that the process to establish the new Authority is a more laborious and intricate one, the need to establish new regulations imminently is needed.”
“The proposed regulations are being published with the principle aim of ensuring more safety on construction and excavation sites.” The document with full details can be accessed by clicking here [1].
The public consultation will close on Friday the 21st June.
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