Construction industry amateurs should be ‘cut off once and for all,’ says Malta Developers’ Association

The Malta Developer’s Association (MDA) has explicitly stated that it will no longer tolerate amateurism in construction industry, and emphasised the importance of ensuring competent individuals operating on site, even if it resulted in fewer developments.

The MDA directed its statement towards the Government and concerned authorities in light of the results of the magisterial inquiry into the death of Jean Paul Sofia which were published on 26th July.

The inquiry found several issues, such as the fact that the construction site was riddled with structural deficiencies, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OHSA) was not even aware of the works being carried out.

All five of the accused were charged with causing the death of the youth, and also had a number of other charges levied against them.

“For years, the MDA has been striving to bring in proper training, professionalism and a serious licensing regimen, not only for developers and contractors, but also for tile layers, installers of apertures and all kinds of operators working in this field,” read the organisation's statement.

"These should also be recognised by the state and all the amateurs who don’t want to update their work practices for today's times, should be cut off once and for all.”

The MDA said that rather than requiring a lot of paperwork to start a development project, emphasis should be put on it being clear who is behind each project, and that contractors had all the competent people it required on site.

"This has to be done even if we are aware that the amount of development that is currently being made may decrease," added the MDA.

It shared that during its membership vetting process, the organisation did not accept “everyone and anyone” and rejected a category of individuals who "claim to 'be a developer' overnight."