Helping buyers get homes faster
NST 25 Nov 2006

KUALA LUMPUR: If all goes according to plan, amendments to laws pertaining to Certificates of Fitness for Occupancy (CFO) will be enforced by the middle of next year.

Five Acts and a minor set of regulations will be amended so that the CFO will be changed to the CCC (Certificate of Completion and Compliance).

This will speed up the process and allow house-buyers to move into their new houses quicker.

Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting said yesterday the delays, which sometimes occur now in getting CFOs, were because many departments were involved in the process.

With the CCC, the architects and engineers of a project are the "principal submitting persons", meaning that it was these people who would look into the technical aspects of the development, he added.

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

With the CCC, the architects and engineers of the development will check and submit their analysis.

"However, this does not mean that the local authorities will not look into the technical aspects.

"They have the power to order developers to conduct remedial work if anything is found lacking.

"All this is being done to cut down the bureaucracy involved and ensure that house buyers get to move in as quickly as possible without compromising their safety," he told reporters after opening the Third International Health Fair 2006 at the Putra World Trade Centre.

Ong said the Cabinet had already approved the amendments for the minor set of regulations and four of the five Acts. The amendments to the remaining Act are still being studied.

The laws to be amended are the Strata Titles Act, the Engineers Act, the Architects Act, the Roads, Buildings and Drainage Act, the Housing Development Act and the Uniform Buildings By-laws.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said 12 laws would be amended to speed up the process of issuing CFOs for new buildings and that the amendments would go through Parliament next year.

He had also stated that the amendments were necessary as issues related to CFOs and land approval had resulted in complaints from the public and private sectors