Worn-out, abandoned buildings to be demolished

Hussein Nasser Lootah, Director General of Dubai Municipality (DM) issued an administrative decision amending the Decision No 61 of 2011 on unlicensed, dilapidated and abandoned buildings in the Emirate of Dubai, for the control and supervision of the construction sector, and creation of unified archives of standards, specifications and construction documents in Dubai.

The new decision amends 25 per cent of administrative expenses incurred by the building owner to be 20 per cent of the cost of demolition, removal or maintenance.

As per the decision No 61 of 2011, for unlicensed buildings, the Buildings Department may issue an existing building certificate, if the construction started before the effective date of this decision without any license or supervision or monitoring from the Municipality.

This depends on the satisfaction of Municipality regarding the technical aspects and safety measurements adopted by building construction. To get the existing building certificate, all building drawings and designs should comply with recognized professional and engineering principles. In addition, the owner has to submit a building fitness certificate through an engineering consultancy approved by the Municipality along with an acknowledgment of contractor and consultant engineer.

For buildings under construction, Buildings Department may issue a building permit if it meets legal requirements. The developers will be given one year from the date of this decision to apply for building certificates and permits. The owner has to pay 1 dirham per square foot for site inspection and exploration certificates. The minimum fee is Dh1,000 and maximum is Dh50,000 for one building.

The dilapidated and abandoned buildings will be demolished by the order from Director of Buildings Department based on the technical report prepared by a committee formed for this purpose.

The owners of such buildings, after being notified of committee decision in accordance with the procedures, will be allowed a period of maximum six months to implement the decision of demolition or removal or restoration or completion of construction. The owner also has to pay an insurance to ensure the implementation of the decision within the time limit granted to him. The insurance will be collected as provided in Administrative Decision No. 27 of 2001 on Building Insurance. If the owner failed to implement the decision, the Buildings Department will undertake it in ways that it deems appropriate and seize the insurance amount to pay all costs of demolition and removal or restoration in addition to the administrative expenses.

As per the decision, "Existing Building Certificate " is issued by Building Department to the building owner instead of "Building Completion Certificate".

In addition, the "Building Permit" is issued instead of "Building License" as stipulated in Local Order No. 3 of 1999 on organising construction work in the Emirate of Dubai.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.