In the National Assembly |13 October 2022

Discussion on proposed Construction Professionals Registration and Regulation Bill to continue next week

Members of the National Assembly will meet next Tuesday in committee stage for further deliberations to revise the 51 clauses of the proposed Construction Professionals Registration and Regulation Bill, 2022, after the session was adjourned last night.

The bill to create the ‘Seychelles Council of Registered Professionals in Construction’, to maintain a register of persons and businesses that can provide architectural, engineering, quantity surveying and building surveying services, among other related services in the country, was presented to the National Assembly by the Minister for Lands and Housing Billy Rangasamy, yesterday morning.

In his presentation, Minister Rangasamy stated that the idea to establish the Seychelles Council of Registered Professionals in Construction is to group all construction professionals under one umbrella to raise the standard of the construction industry and also for them to be recognised and get the respect they deserve as is being given to other councils such as the nurses and midwives and doctors councils etc.

He noted that the bill will help align the standards of construction in the country with those internationally. The executive committee of the preliminary ‘Seychelles Council of Registered Professionals Construction’ will be made up of six registered professional members from the private sector and a representative from the Seychelles Planning Authority.

Other than maintaining a register of persons and businesses in construction, the bill also seeks to regulate the qualifications and practice of construction professionals, impose disciplinary measures and penalties on construction professionals found guilty of negligence or other malpractices, and ensure that that construction professionals are covered by indemnity insurance to cover any loss or damage to the equipment including cover for any accidental death, dismemberment or permanent disability resulting bodily injury incurred in connection with the provision of the services.

A person can be registered under the following classes of construction professionals as a professional member, graduate member, associate member and corporate member or as in any other class as determined by the minister, in consultation with the council.

Minister Rangasamy said the bill has been the outcome of various consultations and meetings with stakeholders, including construction professionals themselves, where most participants involved were in favour of such a bill.

He noted that the establishment of the bill, also in response to complaints from the general public, will minimise threats to the public from the provision of engineering, architectural, quantity and building surveying services, and other related services, by unqualified or incompetent persons.

He made it clear that the bill is targeting the construction professionals mentioned only and not contractors or construction workers.

Although all of the members who spoke on the bill recognised the importance and merit of the bill, some wanted to know if registration is compulsory, how construction professionals working in government will be regulated, will some construction professionals lose their jobs or business following the enactment of the law and how will young graduates be regulated, the role of the minister and how will the members on the first committee be chosen.

In replying, Minister Rangasamy thanked the members for recognising the importance and merit of the bill and said it is not compulsory for construction professionals to register under the new law.

He stated that no one will lose their jobs or businesses following the enactment of the bill and that the bill is also applicable to construction professionals working in government whose works will be also regulated by the council.

Explaining the role of the minister in the appointment of members of the council, Minister Rangasamy said other than appointing members of the council, he will only be present in the nomination of members of the preliminary council, in consultation with competent authorities, such as Seychelles Planning Authority (SPA), for registration of professionals for election of a democratically elected council.

Minister Rangasamy reminded everyone that taking into account a young graduate’s lack of working experience despite having academic knowledge, he/she will have to practice in a specified construction service under the employment, supervision and control of a registered professional member, the government or public body until the graduate member becomes a registered professional member after two years. This will provide them with the opportunity to gain enough experience.

After deliberations on the bill’s clauses at committee stage in the presence of Attorney General Frank Ally, chief executive of the Seychelles Infrastructure Agency Jitesh Shah and chief executive of the Seychelles Planning Authority, Angela Servina who accompanied the minister, the debate was adjourned for Tuesday next week due to the length of time needed for discussion which could have run very late into the night.

Seventeen (17) members voted to adjourn the session while nine abstained from voting.

Patrick Joubert