HOUSE buyers would like to move into their new homes as soon as possible.

The new Housing Development (Amendment) Act 2002 and the amendments to the Uniform Building By-Laws 1984 are meant to speed up the issuance of the certificate of fitness (CF).

There was also a move by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government to set up a one-stop agency to cut down bureaucratic red tape in application and issuance of CF.

However, doing away with the issuance of CF and replacing it with declarations by professionals such as engineers and architects is not the answer.

Many house buyers have learnt the hard way that they cannot always trust these professionals. This happens when their new homes, which are full of defects, are given the seal of approval by the professionals.

For example in one case, nearly all of the 1,000-odd units in a low-medium-cost apartment project in Penang suffer from substandard workmanship.

Every notice from the developer requesting for payment has to be supported by a certificate signed by the architect as proof that works referred to have been completed.

Yet it is not unheard of for such a certification to be issued when it is obvious that the works have not been completed at that stage.

In one case, a buyer noticed that work at the construction site had been halted but about eight months later he received a letter from the developer informing him that his apartment had been duly certified as completed by the architect.

The buyer pursued the matter and the architect was fined RM5,000 by the disciplinary committee of the architect's board.

From the above, it can be seen that it is not to the house buyers' benefit to take vacant possession of their homes based on the professionals' declarations alone.

On the other hand, house buyers will benefit if the laws regulating these professional bodies are amended so that stiffer penalties will make them think twice before putting their signatures on the certificates.

S.M. Mohamed Idris,
President, CAP