Updated at 5.10pm

Architects attending a meeting to discuss proposed changes to building regulations raised the possibility of a 'strike' on Friday evening, although the Chamber of Architects that represents them stopped short of suggesting that as a course of action. 

Hundreds of members of the Chamber of Architects and Civil Engineers packed a Floriana hall on Friday afternoon to discuss the proposed changes, which are being fast-tracked following a series of building collapses. 

The EGM ended with the Chamber agreeing on a series of demands - ranging from calls to introduce amendments to the Periti Act and a demand to beef up the Building Regulations Office with the necessary resources. 

Members also want any legal amendments to empower architects to suspend works and file a report to the BRO when a developer refused to comply with instructions related to a building's structural integrity, without them relinquishing their commission. 

'Strike' suggestion

In the course of the meeting, some members also raised the possibility of a ‘strike’, Chamber president Simone Vella Lenicker told Times of Malta on Saturday morning.

Such a measure - which could involve architects refusing to take on responsibilities emerging from the new law or other duties related to construction - was among several courses of action raised by members during the meeting.

“Members endorsed the council’s position that the legal notice does not guarantee public safety. Following the meeting, we sent our comments to the parliamentary secretary for planning, Chris Agius, and asked for an urgent meeting, but so far we have not heard back,” Ms Vella Lennicker said.

“The outcome of any discussions is not yet known, but we discussed various possible scenarios and our courses of action in each.”

The Chamber subsequently issued a statement clarifying that no motions regarding strikes were proposed, discussed or approved during the EGM. The government had yet to reply to its request for an urgent meeting, the Chamber added. 

In a draft position published earlier this week, the Chamber lambasted the government’s draft legal notice, intended to safeguard properties from damage caused by adjacent excavation and construction works, as “piecemeal and ill-thought”.

The proposals issued by the Infrastructure Ministry include stricter procedures and regulations for architects and contractors, and increased fines of up to €50,000.

Architects attend a packed Extraordinary General Meeting held on Friday. Photo: Jonathan Borg

They come after three buildings - two in Guardamangia and another in Mellieħa - were destroyed or severely damaged by nearby works.

'Give us what we need to ensure public safety'

The Chamber said in a statement on Saturday that architects had reaffirmed their commitment during the meeting to take full responsibility for the tasks that were within their remit.

“They however demanded that Government stops dragging its feet, and immediately takes the necessary steps to ensure that the framework which allows Periti to ensure public safety is in place and effective,” it said.

The Chamber stressed that the role of site manager, as defined in the new law, should be within the contractor's set-up, rather than the architect's, since the contractor was "obliged at law to understand and follow the instructions issued by the architect, and be sufficiently knowledgeable to understand the significance of such instructions".

It called on government to bring forward changes to the Periti Act which it said it had been insisting on for 12 years.

It demanded immediate discussions on a Building and Construction Regulation Framework and the setting-up of the Building and Construction Authority, adding that the Building Regulation Office should first be equipped with all the necessary resources.

The Chamber also called for a clear separation “between planning application and permitting processes, and the processes by which building and construction is notified, regulated and monitored”.

“Nearly five years have been wasted as a result of the misguided advice given to Government that the two processes should be brought together under the remit of the Planning Authority.”