CCC cheer for house buyers
The Star 12/12/2006

At the Dewan Rakyat
Reports by ZULKIFLI ABDUL RAHMAN, ELIZABETH LOOI AND FLORENCE A. SAMY

THE rights of house buyers will be further protected when the Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC) is enforced under the amendments to the existing Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974 amended.

Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting said the CCC is a balanced mechanism to check the viability of a housing project and ensure that those responsible for the project, whether they are developers, architects or engineers, would provide satisfactory end products to the buyers.

He added the CCC would be an extension of the Certificate of Fitness for Occupancy (CFO), which would provide better protection for house buyers.

Under the amendment, the architect or engineer of a project, who is defined as the “principal submitting person,” will issue the CCC to ensure a hassle-free procedure for occupants to move into their buildings.

At present, many government departments were required to check on the technical aspects of a development project before the issuance of CFO.

Ong said the professionals would also be responsible for the issuance of the CCC and the work could not be passed on to unqualified persons.

In addition of a RM250,000 fine for errant housing developers, a 10-year jail term would also be imposed to ensure that developers and relevant parties adhere to the stipulated contract of the housing development project, he added.

“The Bill (Street, Drainage and Building (amendment) Bill 2006) does not pass the responsibility wholly to the professionals such as the engineers or architects, but the local authority can still stop professionals from issuing the CCC if the conditions for the project are not met.

“An errant professional can be barred from practising by the relevant boards of architects or engineers,” he said in winding-up the debate on the Street, Drainage and Building (amendment) Bill 2006.

Ong also said the Ministry is taking in more technical staff for local authorities to ensure the smooth running of development projects.

The Bill was later passed.

Five other related bills are being discussed in the House this week. They are the Architects (Amendment) Bill, Registration of Engineers (Amendment) Bill, Building and Common Property (Maintenance and Management) Bill and Strata Titles (Amendment) Bill.