Its deputy minister Datuk Robert Lau Hoi Chew told the Sun that the government would like to see the responsibility passed on to the professionals for accountability purposes and to ensure a system of check and balance.

Local councils are responsible for the issuing of CFs to developers although the Cabinet had proposed that the responsibility should rest with architects and engineers.

However, the Institute of Surveyors Malaysia (ISM) recently proposed that it should be the professional body responsible for the final decision before the CCC is issued. ISM's president John Loh said yesterday the ISM is not in favor of architects being made responsible for the issuance of the CCC because they are involved in the construction process. Loh added that ISM prefers a check and balance method to be present in the system to ensure safety of the buildings constructed.

House Buyers Association secretary-general Chang Kim Loong felt that all professional bodies should be consulted on the issue of certification to be done by architects and engineers. He said any new mechanism on the CCC should be in place before the Ministry of Housing and Local Government makes a final decision on the matter.

Meanwhile,Institute of Engineers Malaysia's vice-president Tan Yean Chin said he does not see the implementation of the new CCC system as going back to square one, as architects and engineers have been playing active roles under the existing system.

"We do not believe that another level of checks proposed by ISM would benefit or add value in protecting the public interest. Instead, it would add to the cost for house buyers," said Tan. Surveyors are not trained like engineers to build and design buildings, he added.

Real Estate and Housing Developers Association Malaysia's president Datuk Jeffrey Ng is all for the proposal for only architects and engineers to be involved in issuing the CCC.

He said: "Being paid by the client does not make architects and engineers unprofessional or lack independence as they are guided by their own code of ethics. We do not see it as a stumbling issue to use the services of architects and engineers".

Like Tan, Ng felt the professionalism of architects and engineers should not be questioned and replaced by another professional body such as the ISM. He added that there is no guarantee that surveyors are equipped with the full technical competence governing the building industry unlike architects, who look at the entire spectrum of the industry.

At the opening of the 7th Surveyors' Congress, Lau noted that in the UK and Australia, it is a common practice for house buyers to engage building surveyors to and check and give the property a clean by bill of health before purchase. He is said most banks in these countries make it compulsory for those taking loans to engage the services of surveyors.

"Building engineering also comes under the scope of the work of building surveyors," Lau said. He also asked ISM to consider including Fire and Rescue Department personnel under its building surveyors division, as they are already involved in the certification process.