Parliamentary Secretary for Construction Chris Agius on Tuesday pledged that the setting up of the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) would lead to the licensing of contractors. 

Times of Malta reported on Sunday how the 2019 deadline for this had quietly slipped away, with an online directory of contractors that was meant to provide more transparency in the sector also vanishing. 

Speaking in parliament, Agius highlighted how a person needed a license to drive a car, but not to use a crane to demolish a building. 

He said the licensing would ensure that those working in the industry would have the necessary expertise, capacity and resources to improve the quality of their work and reduce the risk of incidents. 

Agius acknowledged the spate of construction accidents involving both workers and damage to third-party property. 

He said despite steps to improve regulation in the industry, including the delineation of responsibilities and the introduction of site technical officers, there had been yet more incidents. 

“Laws will not ensure that we will not have more such incidents, but following the rules will help reduce their prevalence,” Agius said. 

He paid tribute to Miriam Pace, who was killed in her Ħamrun home last March in an accident linked to adjacent construction works. 

Agius said the industry was regulated by a variety of laws falling under the responsibility of different entities. 

He said the aim of the reform was to streamline all these laws under one regulator. 

The result of this streamlining exercise would lead to a national building code, he said.

Agius also said the reforms would bring Malta in line with other European countries, where both a planning permit as well as a building permit was needed for construction works. 

He said each building will have its own file, which will incorporate the history of the building and will be updated periodically with post-construction inspections. 

The Building Construction Agency, which will make way for the new authority once the proposed law has been passed, had last year been given a budget of €3 million, he said.

The number of building inspectors had been boosted from two to 10, and the customer service systems improved.  

Agius said the aim of the law was to ensure that building and construction were adequately regulated, and all those working in the industry know what they are doing.