KOTA KINABALU: The PAM Sabah Chapter has urged the public to engage the Architect Centre, Malaysia to check their houses to protect their rights.
Its chairman, Ar. Victor Wong, said there are 32 building inspectors in Sabah who are accredited by the Architect Centre, Malaysia, 21 of whom are architects and 11 are either engineers or quantity surveyors.
“Their professional services could prove invaluable to house purchasers who are mostly non-technical and unable to judge if the work has been constructed to specifications, and if the works are of reasonable quality and workmanship,” he said in a statement yesterday.
According to him, the building inspector’s report can protect the right of the house purchasers, especially if there is any dispute and the case ended up with the Housing Tribunal.
The building inspectors carry out inspection and identify defects during vacant possession and before the expiry date of the Defects Liability Period.
The range of services provided by the Architects Centre are: Structural Deficiencies; Defective Roofs/Ceilings; Defective Plumbing, Dampness, Leakages and Electrical Safety; Slope Stability, Retaining Wall and Drainage, and Safety, Security, Regulatory Checks i.e. unsafe and illegal renovations.
“Property is a big investment, and it will be penny wise and pound foolish, if the building defects are not checked before possession. One might be ended up with recurring cost of maintenance and being unhappy in his own dream home,” said Victor.
He said the professional fees charged by architect building inspectors are small, and generally less than RM1 per square foot, depending on the types of buildings and the complexity of the jobs.
Victor lamented that most people are forgetful most of the time. He was referring to the Sabah Housing Conference 2009, organized by the Ministry of Local Government and Housing, the theme of which was “Good Governance Towards Quality Housing and Services”.
“The question of poor quality of workmanship happening to the MM2H (Malaysia My Second Home) properties is a big surprise, since the selling prices is over a million ringgit, even for a semi-detached house. How can the quality be compromised for such expensive and profitable project?” he asked.
“If such trend happens to the MM2H homes, then it is unthinkable what will happen to the thousands of units of the affordable homes, of which the selling price is much lower, that are to be erected in the coming years?”
After the Sabah Housing Conference 2009, he said all the developers, contractors, architects and engineers were requested to submit their resolutions and feedback to the Ministry of Local Government and Housing on the conference.
The three resolutions submitted by PAM Sabah Chapter were: -
• The introduction of the Building Inspection Services as part of the process in deterring poor quality of workmanship, identifying building defects and rectification;
• The training of Clerks of Works to ensure that they understand their roles and responsibilities in the building industries, and
• The accreditation of tradesman by CIDB (Construction Industry Development Board) to semi-skill workers such as the carpenters, bar benders, brick layers, plasterers, plumbers, electricians, and so on.
Since then, Victor said many architects, engineers and quantity surveyors have been trained by the Architect Centre, Malaysia to become qualified and competent building inspectors, and they are providing the much needed inspection services to the housing sector.
“The suggestion to have accreditation of semi-skilled workers by CIDB is still relevant today. The training of the workers in their respective trades will improve their knowledge and skill, and therefore likely to improve quality of the work they are doing. The use of any worker as a Jack of all trades, to carry out all the work from excavation, carpentry, bar bending, brickwork and so on will only result in more poor quality of workmanship.
“The specialization in the skill level of the workers is a must, if we are to hope to achieve the standard as expected in the industries,” he added.