Architects who take over jobs which a fellow architect has reported as being unsafe to authorities could end up facing disciplinary action by their own regulatory body.
In a directive publicised on Monday morning, the Chamber of Architects and Civil Engineers - the Kamra tal-Periti - told its members that they were authorised to refuse to sign change of architect forms in cases where developers had ignored their instructions about ensuring a site’s structural integrity.
Any architect who took over such contracts, the Chamber added, would be considered to be in breach of the profession’s code of professional conduct and could face “appropriate action” in terms of the Periti Act.
The directive was unanimously approved during an extraordinary general meeting held on Friday and communicated to all architects who form part of the Chamber on Monday morning.
As things stand, architects unwilling to turn a blind eye to unsafe construction practices face significant pressure to sign change of architect forms and hand over the job to another warranted profession, losing their commission in the process.
The Chamber wants that to change, with architects who blow the whistle on dangerous works protected and given an assurance that their commission will not be lost.
During the EGM, architects discussed various courses of action if the government refused to tweak proposed changes to construction legislation.
The proposals to amend laws were quickly put to paper after a series of building collapses shocked authorities into action. They were opened to five days of public consultation and Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has said he expects them to become law in the coming days.
Architects, however, are unhappy with some of the proposed changes.
They say enforcement bodies such as the BRO need significantly increased resources if they are to do their job properly and note that changes to the Periti Act first proposed 12 years ago remained in limbo.
Architects have also expressed alarm about a proposal to shift site manager responsibilities onto their shoulders, saying it should be contractors – the people responsible for temporary works and who are always on site – who should assume that role, rather than architects who only visit construction sites sporadically.