New DBKL rule sets time limit on home renovations

Timing is key: KL residents will now have to ensure their renovations are completed within a year or have a ‘very good’ reason to renew the plan.

KUALA LUMPUR: House owners here who wish to renovate their homes have to complete the work within a year of the date the renovation plan is approved, says Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).

Its Building Control Department director Norizan Sulaiman said beginning early this year, all house renovation plans approved by the council would be valid for a year.

The ruling, she said, was given the go-ahead by the One-Stop Centre (OSC) committee headed by mayor Datuk Seri Mahadi Che Ngah.

“If house owners fail to complete renovations within a year of the date of approval, they will have to apply to renew the plan.

“But they must give a very good reason to convince the OSC,” she said, adding that the plan could only be renewed up to three times.

The fee for processing the approval would be RM100 per application, Norizan said.

Previously, there was no validating period for house renovation plans. The ruling came about because some homeowners took years to complete renovations.

Norizan said the number of complaints on the nuisance brought about by never-ending renovations had been increasing.

“It did not seem fair for people to have to put up with the endless hacking and the dangers of dust pollution,” she added.

The Uniform Building By-Law 1984 does not provide a time frame for renovations to be completed.

In the past, those affected by their neighbour’s renovation that became a safety issue could take action under the Local Government Act.

Those affected could lodge a complaint with DBKL and the local authority could compel the house owner to fix the repairs caused by his or her construction.

Alternatively, affected residents could also take a civil suit or even sue the local authority to compel them to take action.