OBO: Professionals should be on site

CEBU, Philippines — The Office of the Building Official (OBO) has warned contractors and developers to make sure that professionals should be present in their construction sites to supervise the projects.

OBO Chief, Architect Florante Catalan, said that the presence of the architect and the engineer at the site is important to check if the plans and specifications approved by the office were followed.

Catalan said that if during their inspection they would find out that there are no professionals in charge or safety measures were not followed, they may recall or put the projects on hold.

“Dapat naa gyud nagbantay na mga professionals sa ilahang construction site; engineers, architects, structural engineer nga mo-supervise.  Dili biyaan, dili lang foreman ra naa,” said Catalan.

Last year, the back portion of a building that sits on the corner of Gorordo Avenue and Escario Street in Cebu City collapsed because of the ongoing construction of the 26-story condominium project beside it.

Catalan said that the OBO has recommended for the buildings to be checked by a structural engineer consultant and to comply with the requirements needed.

“Kadto mga na-collapsed o nagka-problema na-okay naman as of now kay dili man sab na sila ganahan madugay.  Nangita sila og paagi na ma-comply and naa man ta mga structural engineer consultants,” said Catalan.

He added that structural engineers would check the recommendation of the engineer in charge of the project and will also give their recommendations or pointers to reconsider.

OBO gives a checklist of requirements prior to the construction, and these developers would provide the necessary requirements, however, Catalan said just like the collapse in the buildings, it is usually because of the way things were implemented in the construction sites.

Catalan is also asking for the help of the barangays officials to monitor the construction of illegal structures in their area.

“Some barangays nakatabang, some pud wala lang.  Mao manghangyo lang gyud mi na for the city, magtinabangay kay usa ra ka office unya 80 barangays.  Each barangays lang ta na magtan-aw sa ilang jurisdiction unsa naa dira, para less lang problema nata sa office,” said Catalan. (FREEMAN)