New regulation on the registration of construction companies

Ministry of National Planning and Infrastructure published a bill on Sunday, to regulate the registration of construction companies.

The regulation was filed under the Construction Act (No: 4/27) that was compiled in 2017, with the purpose of highlighting the role and responsibilities of the companies and to create a system for submitting and reviewing complaints.

The new regulation will be implemented from June 3, 2019.

Under the new bill, there are two categories to register as a construction company.

In order to register for 'Category 1' the institution must have technicians employed.

Companies that do not employ technicians would be registered under 'Category 2'. According to the bill, a 'Category 2' company must come to an agreement with a 'Category 1' company in order to be authorized to carry out any construction work.

A technician’s responsibility is to fulfil mandates and to issue permits under the regulation.

The bill stipulates that complaints regarding the conduct of the companies and inappropriate responses for permits requests can be submitted to the National Planning Ministry for review.

It is a punishable offence for unregistered institutions to carry out construction works. Additionally, companies which fail to submit any altered information to the Ministry in relation to the new regulation will be fined as well.

The Planning Ministry holds the power to charge a fine between MVR 2,500 to 250,000 for the first offence, while Institutions that do not convey information to the Ministry would be charged a fine between MVR 2,000 to 50,000.

Following the fatal incident of 8-year-old Rawshan Jian succumbing to her injuries when a cement bag fell on top of her head from the fifth storey of a construction site in December 2018, lawyers had submitted a case to the Criminal Court to introduce protective measures in construction sites.

The Civil Court on January 15, ordered the state to enact 13 out of 14 of the pending regulations, including the Building Code and regulations on safety protocols.

The newly amended safety protocol came into effect on January 31, while the court extended deadlines throughout March for the rest.