By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Architects yesterday urged the government to “free us from the bondage of building control”, warning it was “missing out on” up to 80-90 percent of VAT due on professional fees.

Gustavus Ferguson, the Institute of Bahamian Architects (IBA) president, told Tribune Business that the professional body had been “taken aback” by recent government assertions that many hurricane-damaged properties were not compliant with The Bahamas building code.

He and the institute argued that these remarks, made by Ministry of Works parliamentary secretary, Iram Lewis, effectively amounted to a damning “indictment” of the Ministry’s Building Controls Department given that this unit was responsible for code compliance, inspections and enforcement.

Mr Ferguson accused the Building Control Department of “contravening the law”, and itself helping to foster the code non-compliance that the ministry is complaining about, by accepting building drawings from persons not licensed to practice by the Professional Architects Board (PAB) and other self-regulatory industry bodies.

He added that the Institute had repeatedly made suggestions on how the Building Controls Department’s practices can be “upgraded to the 21st century”, and make the approvals process both more efficient and less costly and time consuming, but had made little progress in nearly two decades.

Reiterating previous calls for licensed Bahamian architects to be able to submit plans and drawings electronically, and for code inspections to be outsourced to them and other construction/engineering professionals, Mr Ferguson said this nation was the last in the English-speaking Caribbean to retain a Building Controls Department.

All other states possess only a Planning Department - a structure that the Institute yesterday called on The Bahamas to adopt, doing away with building controls and moving to a less bureaucratic, more self-regulatory system.

Mr Ferguson also complained that the Minnis administration had yet to appoint a Professional Architects Board since taking office in May 2017. While the Board it inherited was technically still in place, the IBA president said it was largely performing administrative functions as several members had stepped down or left their posts.

Suggesting that Mr Lewis’s concerns on Bahamas Building Code non-compliance were “an indictment on the Building Controls Department”, the Institute said in a statement: “We have repeatedly suggested and requested that government review, and upgrade to the 21st century, the practices and procedures of the Building Controls Department.

“If the Bahamas is really serious about developing sustainably and technologically, it must free Bahamian professional urban designers, planners and architects from our bondage of ‘Building Controls’ to direct, suggest and influence the built environment.”

Expanding on these concerns, Mr Ferguson told Tribune Business: “It’s their [Building Controls] job to oversee and police code compliance. That’s really what the department is for. If you’re responsible for inspections and code review of drawings there should be no reason why any building is in non-compliance.

“Our issue is they contravene the law by accepting documents from unregulated and unlicensed persons. As it relates to inspections, we have given the Government proposals in many instances where they can upgrade their practices and procedures as it relates to code compliance - where we can open the profession as it relates to the inspection of all projects and provide a report to the Government to make sure there is compliance.

“We were taken aback when we saw that statement from him [Mr Lewis]. It seems that they need a workshop for the persons doing the inspections.”

The Professional Architects Act 1994 stipulates that “no person shall hold himself out as a professional architect or engage in public practice unless” they possess a valid licence issued by the Professional Architects Board, but Mr Ferguson and the Institute yesterday argued this is not always being applied in practice.

The IBA president said the Institute’s suggestions for improving and reforming the system had produced little to-date, adding: “Last year, the Ministry of Public Works had a workshop to bring forth their proposals in terms of electronic submissions.

“We’re still waiting to hear the results of that. The other aspects of it, we’ve not heard anything on those points. It’s ongoing. We’ve been back and forth with them for the last 20 years. There are so many issues we’re trying to get them to understand so the industry will not have these problems, such as the imposition of penalties for infractions.

“We’re hoping they at least start to consider our proposals. It does not matter that we get the credit. We just want to implement it because it creates a more efficient industry in terms of turnaround time. Because it takes so long for approvals some projects never start.’

The Institute’s statement yesterday suggested that there was resistance to the electronic submission of documents and other reforms within the Building Controls Department for fear that this would lead to exactly that - a loss of control by the officials.

“The simple implementation of electronic plans submittal, third party inspection and code review (by professional architects, engineers and building contractors), and accelerated approval (if construction documents are prepared by IBA members) have died an immediate death because the implementation was left up to Building Controls,” the Institute said.

“We know it is difficult for Building Controls to give up its perceived power of directing projects and designs of buildings, but all contraventions to the professional architects and construction industry laws and regulations must come to an end.

“The time has long passed for the redundancy of the Building Controls Department. The licensing of Bahamian professional architects, engineers and contractors has given qualified citizens the avenue to advance the safeguard practices of the construction Industry without interference” from the Government,” it continued.

“As a country, we only need and require a Planning Department. All of the other departments, roles and duties that exist are inherent within the Planning Department. Departments within a department is an old colonial practice; it is time for Independence.”

Mr Ferguson concurred, telling Tribune Business: “We are actually, in terms of the English-speaking region, the last one to have a Building Controls Department. Everyone else has a Planning Department, not a Building Controls Department.

“Once you have licensing for architects, engineers and contractors there’s no need for anyone in a government agency to oversee them.” He added that Building Controls was also going beyond its legal and regulatory remit by requesting that engineers “sign off” on certain aspects of licensed architects’ drawings, even though this is not required by law.

Mr Ferguson said further “havoc” was also being created by the failure to appoint the Professional Architects Board since the current took office, although the Board it met in place was continuing to operate.

“By law the Board as appointed is in place until a new one is appointed. Every year a Board is appointed,” he added. “Although they’ve not appointed a Board, there’s still one doing administrative functions but it’s not really functioning as a Board. You have a few persons who have resigned, so there are vacant positions as well.”

Mr Ferguson also explained the Institute’s assertion that “vast amounts of revenue are being lost annually”, pointing out that most of the professional architect and engineering work on major foreign direct investment (FDI) related real estate activity was conducted offshore by foreign counterparts.

Revealing that in some cases just 5 percent of the professional fees associated with these developments were paid to Bahamians, he told Tribune Business that often “no more than 20 percent of what the total fees should be” were retained locally.

“In terms of revenue, the Government is missing out on 80-90 percent of the VAT it should be collecting on professional fees,” Mr Ferguson revealed. “A lot of these projects, if done locally, can put firms above the threshold where VAT comes into effect. I hope they look at it that way.

“Bahamian designers and planners are totally left out of the equation as it stands. We have to have professional urban designers and planners play a much greater role in the development of our country.”