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Housing Commissioner Plan

The rights of buyers of common properties like apartments and condominiums prior to issuance of strata titles will be protected under a proposed law that will provide for the appointment of a housing commissioner at state level.

Buyers have long complained that in the interim period between vacant possession and issuance of strata titles, some developers who were supposed to manage the properties failed to provide maintenance.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said a Building and Common Properties Bill would be tabled in Parliament next month to enable local authorities to appoint a building commissioner.

"The commissioner is needed because when a project is completed and vacant possession is given, many problems crop up in relation to building maintenance.

"The commissioner will make sure the building is properly maintained between vacant possession and issuance of strata titles," he told reporters after chairing the National Council on Local Government here yesterday.

Also present were Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting, Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek, Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu and several mentris besar.

Elaborating on the matter later, Ong said that currently if buyers were not happy with the developer or the developer was not carrying out maintenance work, there was no specific law to seek remedy.

"The commissioner comes into the picture," he said. "The person must have something to do with the local council or can fit into the council area of administration, so that he can enforce the common properties law."

The council also endorsed the plan to replace the Certificate of Fitness for Occupancy (CFO) with the Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC) with the tabling of amendments to five Acts as well as a bylaw in Parliament next month.

The Deputy Prime Minister said the council agreed that the issuance of the CCC would be streamlined in all states, in line with the Government's move to encourage self-regulation and self-certification of housing projects by professionals.

"The CCC will take some 18 months to be enforced after being approved and consented to by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong," he added.

He said the CFO would run parallel with the enforcement of the CCC untill all current housing projects were completed.

With the CCC, the architects and engineers of a project would look into the technical aspects of the development of housing projects.

Currently, many government departments check the technical aspects of a development project before deciding whether to certify it fit for occupancy.

Ong said the local council would still have a role to play to ensure checks and balances.

"The local councils can from time to time, when work is in progress, check whether the developer is complying with the specifications, and if they see any deviation from the technical specification they can still intervene and tell the developer and professionals that things are not right," he said.

"The councils can also stop them from issuing the CCC if any condition is not met."

Source : The Star Nation, Wednesday 29 November 2006