Days before the Ħamrun collapse tragedy, the Planning Ombudsman urged Parliament to act on a decision it made last year compelling the Building Regulation Office (BRO) to draw up its own register of approved contractors.

Following a spate of building collapses in 2019, the government had allowed the developers’ lobby to compile the register while new building site safety rules were being drawn up, despite the lobby group not having any regulatory powers.

In a letter to Speaker Anġlu Farrugia on February 28 the Planning Ombudsman requested Dr Farrugia to table the 2019 decision so MPs could act.

The Planning Ombudsman had said in the decision that the BRO should compile its own register as established by law, rather than rely on the one set up by the developers’ lobby.

In a statement in response to the outcry over the Ħamrun building collapse, the Malta Developers’ Association (MDA) said it wanted to clarify that it was a voluntary association representing investors in the industry and not the regulator.

As of March 3, the BRO’s website still links out to the MDA website to display a register of excavation and demolition contractors.

In his decision, the Planning Commissioner observed that the BRO reached an agreement with and authorised a “non-government organisation to compile a register”. The Commissioner said the BRO should compile its own register as established by law.

The BRO has insisted it had not delegated any of its powers to the MDA but had merely “invited” the association to draw up a list of contractors.

“The exercise being carried out by the MDA will help the government better understand how to go about these regulations,” the BRO had said.

According to the Building Regulation Act, passed in 2011, such a registry should have been maintained by the BRO. It only started the process of compiling the registry in July following a series of building collapses near construction sites.

Moviment Graffitti had slammed the MDA’s role in drawing up the list of contractors as a publicity stunt that ultimately meant the powerful construction lobby was taking on the role of regulator.