The ‘Construction Management Site Regulations, 2022’ came into force by virtue of L.N. 340 of 2022 on the 16th of December. The Building and Construction Authority (herein ‘BCA’) was assigned the responsibility to oversee construction site management in an effort to limit environmental degradation, nuisance to neighbours and to safeguard property pertaining to the Government and local councils.
The new regulations contain a total of nine schedules and accords power to the BCA to issue and serve enforcement notices in case of infringement of a provision/s found in the first four schedules as well as an administrative penalty from the list found under the ninth schedule.
Who is responsible under these new regulations?
The regulations make reference to ‘client’ (the person in whose name the works are undertaken) and ‘site manager’. In fact, regulation 8 imposes an obligation on the client to appoint a site manager on his behalf who shall ensure that these new regulations are being adhered to. For the purpose of these regulations, if the client fails to nominate a site manager, he shall ipso facto be deemed to be the site manager. In fact, the site manager can be the client himself; the project supervisor; the perit and any other competent person.
Street and Public Property damaged by operations relating to works
Regulation 7 of the new regulations imposes the obligation to restore streets and public property in their original state – within a distance of ten (10) metres from the site – which were damaged as a consequence of operations related to works on site. That being said, the ten (10) metre threshold does not preclude any other obligation which may be imposed on the client/site manager if the damage made is a direct consequence of works carried out on site.
Provisions relating to Dust Control
The regulations necessitate and emphasise the importance of dust control and the reduction of dust emissions when works are carried out on site. Dust control measures include sweeping of dust on a daily basis within ten metres from either side and using appropriate techniques to control dust emissions. Other measures include dust extraction and recovery systems for machinery and the erection of hoardings for the purpose of serving as a barrier against the egress of dust and debris. In case of infringement, penalties can go up to €1000.
Other Provisions
The new regulations also provide the standardisation of internal and external apertures of new residential dwellings as specified in Technical Document titled ‘Standardisation of Apertures for Residential Buildings in Malta’ which aims at reducing waste and achieving economies of scale.
Penalties
The ninth schedule provides a list of administrative penalties which may be incurred if any provisions forming part of the new regulations are infringed. Such infringements may be in relation to: health hygiene; cleanliness of the site and environment; improper dust control measures and excessive or unnecessary noise. These penalties can range between €35 and €10,000 depending on the infringement being made.