Professionals now allowed to issue CCC certification in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: Developers will no longer be required to obtain the local council's "occupation certificate" for their completed buildings as the state government will now allow for professionals to certify it.

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Dr Joachim Gunsalam (pic) said that the issuance of Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC) by professionals or Principal Submitting Person (PSP) will replace the occupation certificate previously issued by local authorities.

He said the PSP is a group of professionals consisting of architects, engineers, and registered plan drafters.

Disclosing this at the Uniform Building By-Laws (UBBL 2022) workshop here, Dr Gunsalam said that the amendments to allow for CCC certification was among the major thrust to meet the building and construction needs of the state.

"The issuance of CCC by the submitting person provides for self-certification and self-regulation," he said.

He also said the local council could use its authority under by-laws 216(4) and (5) of the UBBL 2022 to carry out inspections during construction to ensure that it complied with the approved building plan.

"In case of non-compliance, the local council can withhold the issuance of the CCC," he said, adding that UBBL 2022 was a positive step by the state government to adapt with current practices of architecture and engineering.

"UBBL 2022 also provides for local councils to impose a compound not exceeding RM5,000 and a penalty not exceeding RM100,000 against any person who violates provisions under the UBBL 2022.

"This indirectly allows local councils to deal with the problem of building structures without local council approval or illegal structures which is often a controversial issue in every district," he added.

Dr Gunsalam, who is state Local Government and Housing Minister, said that UBBL 2022 provides some guidelines to local authorities to provide the best service in overcoming shortcomings in their administration, implementation and enforcement of building by-laws.

Before the UBBL was gazetted, he said that there was inconsistency and non-uniformity in the administration, implementation and enforcement of building by-laws by each local authority.

"In addition, the building by-laws that exist in some local governments are laws that have been seen as no longer relevant," he added.