Builders ‘yes’ to 18-month liability for new houses
Posted on | April 4, 2007
By DAILY EXPRESS
Kota Kinabalu: Potential house buyers will enjoy better protection for their dream homes following nil objections from the Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (Shareda) to the proposed 18-month defect liability period.
Disclosing this, Local Government and Housing Assistant Minister, Edward Yong, said the developers agreed to the extension of the liability period from the present six months. It would take effect from the date Occupation Certificates (OC) are issued to the buyers.
He said the move was proposed to further safeguard the interests of house buyers in the State once the developers complete housing projects.
The unanimous decision was reached in a “Quality House” meeting chaired by him, with local housing developers, consultants, architects, engineers, lawyers, surveyors and relevant local authorities involved in the Sabah housing industry at Wisma Tun Fuad Stephens, Tuesday.
Yong said the meeting was held under the directive of the Minister, Datuk Hajiji Mohd Noor, to seek views from relevant parties on the proposed move to be assimilated into rules under the Housing (Control and Licensing) Enactment 1978.
“Initially, the Ministry proposed a 24-month defect liability period but the developers felt the period was too long when the defect period in Sarawak is only 12 months and 18 months in the peninsula.
“We did explain to them the rationale and reasons behind the proposed extension period. And one of them was the type of guarantee the developers can give to the house buyers once the housing projects are completed.
“We also explained that the proposed move is necessary as a guarantee of their (developers) products as well as ensuring quality is rendered to the house owners,” he said after the meeting.
After much discussion, the developers agreed to an 18-month defect liability period.
Yong said the proposed longer protection period would also cover repairing and rectifying any infrastructure problems and facilities in the housing projects within the 18-month period like the drainage system, sewerage treatment plant, and open space, among others.
The Ministry would now prepare a draft of the amendment to be made to the rules under Section 26 of the Housing (Control and Licensing) Enactment 1978 that may empower the Minister to make rules for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of the enactment.
Once completed, it would be submitted to the Minister concerned who would forward to the State Cabinet for endorsement.
On a related issue, he said the developers also agreed that professional consultants would have the same responsibilities towards housing projects.
“We (Ministry) are of the same opinion that the developers and consultants would be jointly responsible and supervise what is needed for completing the projects.
“The reason is because we do not have enough technical staff to actually certify their drawings or development plan except for City Hall, Sandakan Municipal Council, Tawau Municipal Council and Penampang District Council,” he explained.
Yong also acknowledged that some consultants are worried over payment of their fees by the developers but that the project account itself and using the consultant agreement are already a guarantee for their payment.
It was also proposed that consultants and engineers be registered with the Institution of Consultants and Engineers of Malaysia (ICEM) for easy referral should any problems arise.
The list should also be submitted to the Ministry so that any misconduct can be referred to the ICEM for further action including de-registering their names from the institution when proven they are at fault for problems which occur in the housing projects.
“We also proposed that any outside consultants from peninsula and Sarawak including from foreign countries must be associated with local consultants here so that house owners can turn to the latter once the project is completed.”
Yong said so far no consultants were blacklisted but that more than 30 errant developers have been blacklisted for abandoning housing projects in Sabah since 1986.
On the latest figure, he revealed that the Ministry had blacklisted less than five out of over 30 errant developers last year.
On development projects, Yong said the Ministry has so far approved 188 licences, including new ones, to develop housing projects in Sabah.
You might also like
|
|
|
|
|
Search
