(a) Provision of building plan approval services in accordance with basic organization plan.
(i) Action should have been taken to create awareness among the people in the council area, about the fact that the Urban Development Authority Act, in areas declared under that Act, and Housing and Town Improvement Ordinance in other areas, are operative, and as such the prior approval of the Local Authority should be obtained for every construction.
(ii) Arrangement should have been made to prepare and make available to applicants an instructions paper containing the manner in which application should be made to obtain approval for any construction, under whatever law mentioned above, documents that should be submitted with the application, if a house is to be constructed the minimum extent of land required, the extent of the space required to be in between the construction and the road, the extent of space required to be in between other constructions on both sides, space required to be reserved for ventilation, amount of fees that should be paid and guidelines for completing the application.
It is not necessary to examine the progress of this section, if Housing and Town Improvement Ordinance, Urban Development Authority Act and Regulations made under that Act and the file containing circulars issued by the Urban Development Authority from time to time, cannot be furnished.
(iv) Arrangement should have been made and implemented accordingly for providing correct information to persons who come to the Local Authority, to obtain applications and to make inquiries.
(a.1) Provision of building plan approval services in accordance with basic organization plan – Confirmation of the fact that this requirement has been fulfilled.
(i) If all the above requirements are correctly in place, it should be considered that section 8.6 (a) is completed.
(ii) The fact that the above activities have been performed in that manner can be ascertained by examining the files.
(iii ) If the progress shown is lower than the above positions, it should be considered that this requirement is not completed.
(b) Approving building plans within one month
(i) A check list should have been prepared for the purpose of checking building applications, at the time of accepting the plan submitted for approval, to ascertain whether the application is completed correctly and submitted with required annextures.
(ii) Instructions should have been given to officers, to check every building application before acceptance and to see whether it is correctly filled in accordance with the above mentioned check list and to accept the application, only if it is without mistakes and shortcomings, and to return the application to the bearer, if it has mistakes and shortcomings, while pointing out then and there, what the mistakes and shortcomings are and how they should be rectified. Officers should have acted accordingly.
(iii) Action should have been taken to grant approval and issue the building permit to the applicant before the expiry of 30 days from the date of accepting an application, without shortcomings.
(b.1) Approving building plans within one month – Confirmation of the fact that this requirement has been fulfilled.
(i) If all the above requirements are correctly in place, it should be considered that section 8.6 (b) is completed.
(ii) The fact that the above activities have been performed in that manner can be ascertained by examining the files.
(iii ) If the progress shown is lower than the above positions, it should be considered that this requirement is not completed.
(c) Register of authorized and unauthorized buildings
(i) After having collected the data relating to all the buildings constructed within the council area by conducting a survey two registers should have been prepared separately one for buildings constructed on the approval and the other for unauthorized buildings and these registers should have been updated once in every three (3) months.
(ii) A separate file should have been maintained in respect of every building constructed on the approval.
(c.1) Register of authorized and unauthorized buildings – Confirmation of the fact that this requirement has been fulfilled.
(i) If all the above requirements are correctly in place, it should be considered that section 8.6 (c) is completed.
(ii) The fact that the above activities have been performed in that manner can be ascertained by examining the files.
(iii ) If the progress shown is lower than the above positions, it should be considered that this requirement is not completed.
(d) Legal action has been instituted against persons who violate building plan regulations.
(i) Action should have been taken to regularize every construction that can be regularized, out of unauthorized constructions identified according to the register of buildings constructed without the approval, after obtaining a new building application and recovering the relevant fees.
(ii) In respect of every construction that cannot be regularized, out of unauthorized constructions identified according to the register of buildings constructed without approval, the owner or the occupant of such building should have been informed by registered post that action should be taken to remove the building.
(iii) Action should have been taken to remove such unauthorized constructions by taking judicial action against every person who refuses to take action according to the notice sent as per (ii) above.
(iv) When any building included in the register of buildings constructed with the approval has been constructed by deviating from the manner mentioned in the approval or when any alterations have been done, action should have been taken to regularize them, if they are in a sufficient standard, after obtaining new applications and if that cannot be done necessary measures should have been taken to remove them. (Panel of judges (evaluators) have to ascertain these positions by carrying out an observation about the council area)
(d.1) Instituting legal action against persons who violate building plan regulations – Confirmation of the fact that this requirement has been fulfilled.
(i) If all the above requirements are correctly in place, it should be considered that section 8.6 (d) is completed.
(ii) The fact that the above activities have been performed in that manner can be ascertained by examining the files and the council area.
(iii ) If the progress shown is lower than the above position, it should be considered that this requirement is not completed.
(e) Maintaining a separate file for each building plan application.
(i) A register should have been maintained for the purpose of recording the courses of action taken on each building plan application received at the Council office during the period between the date on which the application is received and the date on which the Certificate Of Conformity – COC – is issued and the file is transferred to the Assessment Brach.
(ii) A separate file should have been maintained in respect of each and every building application.
(iii) When an application is made for doing alterations to a building which has been constructed on an approval, action regarding the application for alteration should have been taken, by relating it to the original file itself.
(iv) When an application is made for joining two buildings which have already received approval, into one, future activities relating to them should have been carried out after combining the two files.
(v) If approval has been given for partitioning of a land on which there is a building constructed with the approval obtained from the Council, a separate file should have been opened in respect of each plot of land, so partitioned, and the approval given for the original building and cross reference in that file should have been included in every new file.
(vi) Having been vigilant about the fact that after the construction of the building relating to the building application submitted for a construction, whether Certificate Of Conformity – COC – has been obtained within the specified time, action should have been taken accordingly.
(vii) After the Certificate Of Conformity has been issued, in respect of a building, an entry should have been made in the relevant register to that effect and the file relating to the building application should have been handed over to the Assessment Branch for the purpose of levying assessment tax. Cross reference notes relating to such handing over should have been entered in the relevant register.
(e.1) Maintaining a separate file for each building application – Confirmation of the fact that this requirement has been fulfilled.
(i) If all the above requirements are correctly in place, it should be considered that section 8.6 (e) is completed.
(ii) The fact that the above activities have been performed in that manner can be ascertained by examining the files and council area.
(iii ) If the progress shown is lower than the above positions, it should be considered that this requirement is not completed.
(f) Simultaneous cross checking needed for the purpose of conforming to the other services of the Local Authority.
(i) Regular inspections should have been conducted to ascertain whether waste water from buildings constructed in the council area is released to drains in the proper manner. If any irregularity is seen steps should have been taken to inform the owner or occupant of the building and to get it rectified.
(ii) On occasions when the approach road to a building is starting directly from the main road or a by-road belonging to the Council and when the access to the building is through the land on which
it is constructed and if there is no bridge or culvert constructed over the rain water drain which goes in between the road and the building or the land, the owner or the occupant of the building should have been directed to do so.
(iii) Regular inspections should have been carried out to ascertain whether a fire protection system is in operation in every building.
(iv) Regular checks should have been made to ascertain whether any unauthorized portions are constructed, as additional to the plan of the building for which approval has been given.
(f.1) Simultaneous cross checking needed for the purpose of conforming to other services of the Local Authority – Confirmation of the fact that this requirement has been fulfilled.
(i) If all the above requirements are correctly in place, it should be considered that section 8.6 (f) is completed.
(ii) The fact that the above activities have been performed in that manner can be ascertained by examining the files and council area.
(iii ) If the progress shown is lower than the above positions, it should be considered that this requirement is not completed.
8.6.1 Regulations relating to constructions/buildings –
Confirmation before awarding of marks
(i) If all the above requirements are completed, section 8.6 can be considered in the position of “very good” (E.M. = 4)
(ii) If the requirements in 8.6 (a) to 8.6 (e) above are completed, this section can be evaluated as “good” (E.M. = 3).
(iii ) If the requirements in 8.6 (a) and 8.6 (d) above are completed, this section can be evaluated as “average” (E.M. = 2)
(iv ) If the requirement in 8.6 (a) to 8.6 (c) above are completed, this section can be evaluated as “weak” (E.M. = 1)
(v) If the above requirements are not completed in that manner, no marks will be awarded (E.M. = 0)