96,000 structures have no building permits

The City Buildings and Architecture Office (CBAO) disclosed there are more than ninety-six thousand structures in the city that do not have the required building permits in violation of the pertinent provisions of Presidential Decree (Pd) 1096, otherwise known as the National Building Code.

Assistant City Building Official Engr. Stephen Capuyan stated that the structures without building permits represent around 80 percent of the more than 120,000 structures that have been constructed in the different parts of the city.

On the other hand, he claimed that there are only 20 percent or more than 24,000 structures that were issued building permits pursuant to the pertinent provisions of the National building code.

Capuyan said that based on the results of their investigation, there are many owners of titled properties who constructed structures within their properties without the issued building permits by the local government that is why efforts are being undertaken by the CBAO to compel the said individuals to process their building permits within a reasonable period of time to legitimize the existence of their structures.

According to him, among the problems of the owners of structures without building permits are the alleged exorbitant professional fees being charged by the technical people who are supposed to prepare the plans and design of their buildings and the encroachments done on other properties and road-right-of-way.

He revealed that the CBAO can only extend to the owners of the structures without building permits limited assistance as bulk of the work that will be done in the processing of building permits is performed by the technical people such as engineers and architects.

The assistant CBAO head explained that the local government is prioritizing owners of titled properties that have structures without building permits where they will be given a certain period of time to process their building permits by allowing them to execute an affidavit on their commitment to process the same within a reasonable period of time subject to the updating of such commitment periodically.

He called on owners of structures without building permits to seek the appropriate advise from CBAO on how they can process the building permits of their structures to prevent the local government from issuing to them the prescribed notice of violation.

Capuyan underscored that the demolition of the structures without building permits will be the last option to be undertaken by the local government once the owners refuse to comply with the prescribed regulations governing the mechanisms on how to secure the building permits for their structures.

He said that the CBAO continues to extend technical assistance to individuals interested to process their building permits to legitimize the put up of their structure to prevent them from encountering problems once the local government will decide to issue the notice of violation and eventually the demolition order for the dismantling of their structures that were constructed without the requisite building permits. – Dexter A. See