BCA fines Portelli, Polidano and site technical officer in Psaila street case

The Building Construction Authority has fined Excel Ltd €3,150 and Polidano €5,000 over irregularities connected to the demolition of the Go Exchange building in Psaila Street after issuing a stop notice.

The stop notice was issued after stones were seen falling into the street during demolition works.

Polidano is listed as the contractor of the project while Excel, a company owned by construction magnate Joseph Portelli, is the developer.

A €2,000 fine was also imposed on site technical officer David Muscat but none were imposed against project architect Maria Schembri Grima. The latter resigned from her post as BCA chair due to a conflict of interest.

According to current law the project architect is designated as the "warranted professional assuming the responsibility for the execution of the project approved in the development permit". The contractor is the "individual/entity engaged by the developer to execute the works", while the site technical officer (STO) is "the individual nominated by the contractor and is responsible for the implementation of the method statement which is prepared by the Perit".

Moreover, the law stipulates "where breaches by the contractor occur, the STO has to immediately stop any ongoing works and inform the perit in charge together with the BCA". When an STO is served with an enforcement notice, they have to immediately inform the contractor and the perit.

Contacted by MaltaToday, Kamra tal-Periti President Andre Pizzuto made it clear that its investigation on the case is not limited to the role of the former BCA chairperson but also aimed at establishing the role of the other players in this case, including the site technical officer and the contractor.

While pointing out that the chamber never approved of having a practising architect on the BCA due to a potential or perceived conflict of interest, he explained that in earlier comments he was not even aware who the STO of this project is since the information was not even available.

Moreover, the case exposes the limitations of the current regulatory system which the investigation will also look into.

"The system is broken and is aimed at minimising costs for the developers while putting all responsibilities on architects but not on contractors," Pizzuto said.

He also insisted that the system can only work if a register for contractors is introduced in a way that contractors who flagrantly break the rules would be struck off from the register. According to Pizzuto this is the only way to ensure that contractors start respecting the rules because they would fear financial repercussions.

He also reprimanded government for still procrastinating on enacting this register, despite widespread agreement among stakeholders in the sector, including the Malta Developers Association.

Back in November, Minister for Public Works and Planning Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi had announced that the publication of draft regulations on licensing of contractors for public consultation was imminent.

“The indecency in this case is in everyone’s face. The fact that a public road was considered as an extension of the site speaks volumes and is symptomatic of the culture prevailing in this sector especially among some contractors."