Beware of quack contractors
View(s):The recent Wellawatte building collapse has opened up a whole can of worms. Amongst these, rampant corruption stands tall.
Also a whole new discussion on issues arising from misinterpretation of design, poor workmanship and use of non-conforming materials has sprung amidst house owners’ failure to produce complete, accurate and well coordinated design and construction documents that provide sufficient information for the contractor to construct the buildings.
Dehiwela construction site with the building that has been built upto 9 - storeys from the initial 6 - storeys.
Not only that. The greatest challenge for aspiring house owners is how to identify the ‘real’ contractors/builders from the frauds.
Wellawatte is a ‘good example’ of badly designed condominiums/apartments, says Chitra Weddikkara, a Chartered Architect, Chartered Quantity Surveyor, Project Manager and owner of Q Serve, a school teaching many disciplines of construction industry. “At Wellawatte, almost all apartment complexes don’t have something called a certificate of conformity,” she says noting that some developers of these complexes are not registered with the Construction Industrial Development Authority (CIDA).
She says that the construction boom in the country has seen a flurry of builders both genuine and quacks in a hurry to build. “(They) not only build, but make profits (too),” Prof. Weddikkara told the Business Times.
She noted that most apartment complexes don’t have checks and balances. “In front of my house at Dehiwala, a building which was supposed to be six storeys has now gone upto nine storeys.
We complained to all authorities starting from the Dehiwala Municipal Council to the Police, etc, but nothing has happened,” she said.
Many residential owners with similar experiences agreed and said that corruption is rampant in many state enforcing authorities – another reason that errant builders just ‘getaway’ with the wrongs that they do.
Wait there’s more.
Prof. Weddikkara added that instead of filling the ground with sand to level it, the builder had done so with debris. “I saw it as it’s in front of my house.
Prof.Chitra Weddikkara, Chartered Architect, Chartered Quantity Surveyor, Project Manager and owner of Q Serve.
” Armed with a Ph.D. in Dispute Resolution from College of Law, Murdoch University and a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) UK, along with being a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (A.I.Q.S), she has the competency to gauge a construction and industry participants were dismayed by the authorities attitude towards such blatant, errant behaviour by this particular builder.
Prof. Weddikkara is also a Fellow of the Institute of Quantity Surveyors, Sri Lanka (IQSSL), Fellow of the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects (S.L.I.A), Member of the Institute of Project Managers (IPMSL), Member of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (R.A.I.A), Associate Member of the Australian Institute of Builders (A.I.O.B), and an Associate Member of the Institute of Arbitrators and Mediators.
Construction flaws are caused by designs that fail to meet professional standards, plans that aren’t in accordance with codes, among others, she said adding that they also happen as designs aren’t designed by qualified design professionals.
Construction defects and failures may also result from clients’ poor and misguided decisions which are directed by fraudulent and unqualified contractors.
Defects arising from design and construction are recognised to have substantial consequences on the level of maintenance during occupancy of buildings by users, Prof. Weddikkara added.
Poor building design is only one part of the problem, however. The best building design in the world amounts to naught if a construction firm doesn’t follow the plans precisely and qualified professionals aren’t roped in.
So should the public be worried?
No. Awareness is the key to circumventing the quacks from the real deal, according to her.
“The public must be made aware of the deceitful builders,” she reiterated noting that now all documents submitted to the Urban Development Authority (UDA) has to be stamped with the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects (SLIA) seal which means that the particular building has to be designed by qualified architects.
So, it’s important to scrutinise the building plans when buying an apartment/house, etc, she noted. The place to find professionals for designing is the Architects Registration Board or the CIDA, she added.
She said that the famous notion that architects are exorbitant isn’t true and encouraged aspiring house owners, builders, etc to consult architects when building.
She added that they can pay the architect in stages or levels of the construction process such as drawing the plans upto the municipality council stage, etc. She noted that advocating a clear policy is the only way one can regulate and punish errant builders.