People urged to hire only licensed builders |06 January 2009

To facilitate this process, a list of licensed building contractors is displayed at the offices of the Seychelles Licensing Authority (SLA) and the National Consumers Forum (Natcof) also has a copy.

Natcof and the SLA say this in a joint communiqué that warns there has been a significant increase in the number of complaints concerning building and maintenance contractors.

“Natcof, the SLA, the Ministry of National Development and members of its planning authority met in October to discuss the issue. After that a series of talks were held leading to a special meeting with one group of contractors,” the communiqué said.

It went on to say the building and maintenance contractors’ regulations clearly define the scope of work for both building and maintenance contractors.

“Complaints logged with Natcof relate to bad workmanship, taking money from consumers and not completing or starting works at all, delaying tactics, and lack of written contracts.”

The press release also said Natcof is pushing hard so that consumers are better protected against those unscrupulous contractors.

“We are asking consumers to verify with Natcof or the SLA before hiring building and maintenance contractors. A list of licensed building and maintenance contractors will be displayed at the SLA counter for public information. Before giving a contract to a contractor, consumers should ensure the contractors are on the list and are licensed to carry out given work in conformity with the scope and their license.

The measure is being introduced to help protect consumers, and the authorities concerned will continue to evaluate the situation and Natcof will alert consumers in cases where unlicensed contractors are wrongly taking money from consumers.
“On the other hand, consumers should ensure they are hiring licensed contractors.

“In some cases there are more than one complaint against the same contractor,” the communiqué said, urging consumers to ensure that a written contract is prepared before work starts.

Consumers can also register the signed contract with the office of registrar general at  Kingsgate House for a fee of R200.
They can also call the license processing section of SLA on 283424 or Natcof on 225941 for more information.

The communiqué said Building Class I licence holders are authorised to carry out major, advanced, intermediate and minor construction works as well as repairs and maintenance.

Building Contractor Class II can do advanced, intermediate and minor construction works as well as repairs and maintenance
Building Contractor Class III are authorised to do intermediate and minor construction works and also building repairs and maintenance.