The Building and Construction Agency does not conduct a thorough review of the project architect’s method statements and cannot even overrule them, the industry regulator’s CEO Ivor Robinich has confirmed in an interview with TVM’s Dissett.

The agency is less than a year old, replacing the much-maligned Building Regulations Office as part of the reform following the collapse of three apartment blocks in the space of a few months.

However, architects who spoke to Lovin Malta have described the change as a failure, with the agency just as poorly resourced as the office that preceded it. Several even said that the agency had just become a rubber stamp for planning applications.

Enforcement was also meant to be improved. However, Malta Developers’ Association Sandro Chetcuti also conceded that it remains a critical issue in the industry. Complaints of unanswered phone calls remain.

The agency doesn’t even have its own website, still operating off the domain www.bro.org.mt. However, Robinich promised that the new site would be up and running shortly.

The construction industry has been facing severe questions ever since the death of Miriam Pace, with particular focus turning to the method statement of the excavation site neighbouring her home.

The architect, Roderick Camilleri, who is also a shareholder in the development and the author of the risk-assessing method statement, had declared that a collapse of nearby buildings was “minimal”.

The method statement also has spelling mistakes, at one point even saying that they “recon” that the rock level beneath the building is well before the soil level, despite them admitting that it was “unknown”.

They had even promised to build a new party wall from basement level up to penthouse level “to avoid damages to the neighbouring property”. However, it seems that this never actually took place.

According to police, Miriam Pace was killed when her house in Ħamrun collapsed as a result of works at the ongoing construction site.

Six people were arrested in connection with the case, including Camilleri, the site technical officer Anthony Mangion, excavation and demolition contractor Ludwig Dimech. However, four have been released on police bail, while two remain in custody.

The Ħamrun construction site is owned by a development consortium, MCZMC Developers Limited. The company is made up of Malcolm Mallia, Matthias Mallia, Elton Joseph Caruana, Amanda Muscat, Christopher Zarb, Simon Zarb, and the construction site’s architect Roderick Camilleri.

Mallia is also a council member of the MDA. He has since been suspended from his role.