The Taipei City Government this month released a report that said the partial collapse of residential buildings next to a construction site in the Dazhi (大直) area in Taipei’s Zhongshan District (中山) was because Kee Tai Properties Co (基泰建設) failed to take action after warnings from a supervisory system.
Three organizations contributed to the report — the Taipei Architects’ Association, the Taipei Professional Civil Engineers’ Association and the Taipei Structural Engineers’ Association.
The incident has caused concern and prompted the city government to draft amendments to handle disputes over construction projects that damage neighboring buildings. It is essential to involve a third-party organization to assess the damage caused by a construction project and give it a broad scope for supervision.
The city’s regulations stipulate that contractors should investigate whether construction work risks public safety and compile a preliminary report within 14 days of being notified of an incident by the city government. They also require contractors to determine whether damage to adjacent facilities was caused by the construction project and compile a preliminary liability report within 30 days.
The reports must be signed by supervisors and engineers of the construction work before being submitted to the Taipei Department of Urban Development.
The involvement of a third party is necessary to facilitate improved construction safety and to hold construction companies liable if they affect residents of buildings that are affected by their work, and to avoid protracted disputes and lawsuits.
However, current inspection procedures take 14 to 30 days after notification is submitted, which is too long. The rules should be that reports should be released as soon as possible to prevent situations from deteriorating further.
A third-party assessment should by no means be interpreted as a criticism of the professionalism of architects and engineers. It is first and foremost about safety. Double checking is required to guarantee construction safety. After all, the lives and properties of residents are at stake.
Including a third party in disputes over damage to buildings adjacent to construction sites is just a start. A system should also be introduced to help architectural design review and construction site inspections.
Moreover, when the project is completed, they should assess construction quality with the architects, engineers, site managers and technicians.
Li Jen-hao is a lawyer and an architect.
Translated by Hsieh Yi-ching
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