Contractors warned vs dealing with dubious parties for licensing

The Department of Trade and Industry-Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines (DTI-CIAP) is prohibiting all contractors from transacting with dubious third parties for the processing of their license applications.

According to Trade and Industry Secretary Peter B. Favila, "a growing number of construction firms are entrusting the documentation, filing and follow-ups of their applications to third parties offering liaison services for a certain fee."

However, Favila warned, "we have learned that some unscrupulous liaison entities are allegedly risking the integrity of the contractors’ license applications, resulting in fake licenses."

Favila said several contractors were previously charged by the CIAP’s Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) for misrepresentation of their technical and financial qualifications.

The charged contractors claim that the spurious documents in question were produced and submitted to PCAB by unscrupulous third parties without their knowledge.

They added that these third parties also charge exorbitant fees for the immediate delivery of their license.

To prevent contractors from transacting with possible unscrupulous liaison entities, the PCAB passed a board resolution "adopting a policy to ensure the integrity of license applications and safeguard the quality of license evaluation processes."

With such policy, PCAB no longer accepts or entertains any transaction related to license and/or registration applications by persons other than the contractor’s authorized managing officers (AMO) or duly authorized representative who is a legitimate employee of the applicant’s firm.

Undersecretary for Consumer Welfare and Trade Regulation Zenaida Cuison Maglaya elaborated that the new policy also helps PCAB guarantee that the financial and technical qualifications being presented by a contractor in his license application are accurate and reliable.

Maglaya stressed that "qualifications are important to determine the capability of a contractor to undertake construction projects. Thus, by enforcing this new policy, we ensure that only competent contractors are given a PCAB license and allowed to build public structures."

Notices have been posted all over the premises of CIAP and PCAB warning contractors to be wary of entities offering liaison, consultancy, facilitation or documentation services relative to PCAB transactions.