Malta's building industry had a lot of soul-searching to do to raise the bar of quality, ethical standards, health and safety and respect for the environment, Chamber of Commerce president David Xuereb said during a dialogue event on Thursday with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.

Mr Xuereb said the industry must restore its reputation with people, who most definitely demanded and deserved better.

“These latest unfortunate accidents have mobilised a positive change in mindset that has motivated the beginning of an improvement programme that should have many stages yet to come,” Mr Xuereb said of a recent spate of building collapses linked to adjacent construction works.

He vowed the Chamber would support all actions and legislation aimed at improving quality, delivery and respect for the industry players, the neighbours and the public at large.

The Chamber commended the Prime Minister for stepping in to impose a temporary moratorium on demolition and excavation work, as well as new regulations on excavation and demolition.

Mr Xuereb said the Chamber had noted that while the new rules were a step in the right direction, the matter was being tackled in a piecemeal fashion in relation to the wider extended operational and regulatory needs of the industry.

He said the Chamber was happy to champion the regeneration and growth of the building industry in the area of safety, quality, excellence and respect for others.

Mr Xuereb reminded how the Chamber had already championed the promotion of a considerate contractor scheme with the authorities.

He said the scheme was intended to bring about an improvement in standards within the construction industry.