REGISTRATION OF BUILDING TRADESMEN AND CONTRACTORS

Points from speech delivered by the Minister for the Environment Francis Zammit Dimech at the launch of the registration of tradesmen and contractors in the construction sector:

The Minister for the Environment Francis Zammit Dimech said that the need for a system whereby building tradesmen and contractors are recognized as being capable of performing a building trade or of working as a building contractor and registered in an official register has long been felt.

He said that in the past years the Ministry for the Environment, in co-ordination with the Works Division, the BICC and the Parliamentary Secretariat for Small Business and the Self Employed within the Ministry for Economic Services, have been looking into ways of bringing such a system into operation.

Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said that a Bill entitled "Registration of Contractors and Building Control Act" has been drafted. The Minister for the Environment said that at this stage, the Ministry for the Environment together with the Ministry of Finance and the Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and the Self-Employed within the Ministry for Economic Services thought it fit to introduce the registration of Contractors on a voluntary basis, before the Act actually comes into force. In this way, both the contractors and the Department will be able to start experiencing the system at first hand. This will in turn enable the Department to anticipate "would-be" problems in its administration and effect such improvements before the law comes into effect.

Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said it was also Government's intention that once this Bill is enacted through Parliament and becomes operative, only those tradesmen and contractors who are "registered" will be allowed to tender for Government and Parastatal tenders. He said that it was also Government's intention that "registration" will later on lead to the "classification" of tradesmen and contractors.

The Minister for the Environment said that every tradesman or contractor can be "registered' in any of the categories or sub-categories which are shown on "Part C – Type of registration being sought". Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said that there were in all 113 categories and sub-categories.

Minister Francis Zammit Dimech augured that this system of registration will help the Government to have better and more detailed information about the number of tradesmen and contractors in the construction sector and about the capabilities of each of the registered contractors and tradesmen. This will lead to better planning and to the construction sector having all the necessary tradesmen and contractors for the projects under construction and those in the pipeline.

Meanwhile, registration forms can be obtained from the Building Construction Industry Department, at Floriana and the Building Industry Consultative Council. These forms can also be downloaded from the BICC's website http: //www.biccmalta.comor from the Works Division website at http://magnet.mt/home/moe/about_pw.htm. The Building Construction Industry Department will also have a customer care desk at its offices in Floriana to deal with any queries or difficulties that may arise.