The Kamra tal-Periti (Chamber of Architects) has welcomed the setting up by legal notice of the Building and Construction Agency.

The agency is the precursor of the Building and Construction Authority that will be set up in the coming months.

The new agency is tasked with the design, implementation and dissemination of policies together with the consolidation and review of laws and regulations, in the form of a national building code, as well as with carrying out all the necessary preparations to set up the Building and Construction Authority.

"This is an important milestone in ensuring better regulation of the industry, and the Kamra tal-Periti looks forward to presenting its proposals outlined in a modern building and construction framework for Malta to the agency, with a view towards implementing them in the near future, the Chamber said.

The setting up of the agency was one of the measures taken by the government as it brought in a raft of regulations in the wake of several cases where buildings collapsed into adjoining excavation sites. 

The agency will be headed by a seven-member board of whom the chairman will be nominated by the Infrastructure Minister.

One member each will represent the Building Regulation Office; the Building Regulations Board, the Building Industry Consultative Council and the Masons Board and a further two will be appointed by the minister, of whom one has to have a standing in the auditing profession and the other has to be a lawyer with experience in the field.