Civil Court orders the enactment of Building Codes

Civil Court has ordered the State to enact and implement building codes within a certain period.

The Maldives Building Act came into effect during 2017, under which 14 regulations are mandated to be formulated. However, the formulation of the regulations are still pending.

A group of local attorneys submitted a case at the Civil Court during December last year due to inactivity in the formulation of the building codes, which endangers the lives of the public and construction workers. They requested the Civil Court to issue an order to Planning and Infrastructure Ministry, and Housing and Urban Development Ministry to halt the issuing building permits before the enactment of the building codes.

The Civil Court ruled that the authorities are to enact and gazette the required building codes within a set period. The enactment of 13 regulations have been ordered, with the regulations on site safety are due by the end of the month. The remaining 12 regulations are due to be enacted by end of March.

The tragic incident where a falling cement bag from a local construction site crushed a little girl has prompted immediate action regarding the safety of construction sites. The case submitted to Civil Court came following the incident.

The government will be enacting completed building regulations by February 15th, the Minister of National Planning and Infrastructure has said earlier on Tuesday.