Myanmar real estate news

Contractors band together for industry body


Myanmar real estate news The number of licensed contractors in Yangon has increased sharply in recent years, and with authorities eager to make sure the construction industry follows strict regulations the city’s contractors are planning to form an industry association that can liaise with government.

U Lar Sal, a contractor and owner of Tun Construction Company, is acting as spokesperson for the association. He said the association’s main purpose would be to make sure building projects are implemented properly, and help contractors deal with problems as a group.

The number of contractors with a requisite licence from Yangon City Development Committee has shot up since 2011, and now numbers well over 500, industry officials said. The sector is now at a stage where a level of coordination makes sense, and there are already separate associations for constructions entrepreneurs, engineers and architects.

“There isn’t a detailed mission,” said U Lar Sal. “But the idea is that when contractors face issues they can help each other, and moreover we want to make quality buildings in Yangon.”

Yangon City Development Committee is also trying to enforce new rules and regulations, and if there are any potential problems as a result then the association can “stand up for contractors”, U Lar Sal added.

YCDC finished amending building-permit regulations early this month, following a hugely contentious review of high-rise building projects to make sure they were in line with existing rules. The new regulations have already been shared with industry associations and will be made public once they have been approved by the Yangon Region government.

Some developers banded together to against YCDC and Yangon Region government attempts to imposed changes on high-rise buildings that had already received permits from the previous government. U Lar Sal told The Myanmar Times the decision to form a contractors association was not related specifically to the high-rise review.

But the association – to be named the YCDC-Licensed Contractors Association – should be able to help Yangon authorities make sure the new regulations are followed properly, he said. In previous years, YCDC was unable to impose its rules effectively, U Lar Sal said. The result was low-quality buildings. He hopes new association can help prevent the same thing happening with the new rules and regulations.

The association is still in the early stages, with only a temporary committee tasked with collecting members. U Lar Sal said there will be a meeting on August 31 to build up membership, and designate an executive committee.

“It’s just a temporary committee. It doesn’t mean we are registered,” he said. “Once we collect members then we will register with the Yangon Region government.”

The plan is for the association to form a 30-person leading committee and an 18-person executive committee. Once those are in place elections for chair, secretary and treasurer will follow.

“We will form our association in accordance with rules and regulations,” said U Lar Sal. “We will register to be an official association, hold a general meeting and show our policies to all our members.”





Quoted from mmtimes.