Architect's / designers / builder's & contractor's

What laws etc? If you have the money and know the right people you can do as you like.

Have a look at this site...

https://www.mepa.org.mt/home?l=1

But as redmik  intimated " this is Malta" , anything goes and nothing is enforced!!!

Probably the worst building standards and practice in the EU.

Terry

building standards  - what standards.....?

Thank's guys.

So, zero standards and corrupt... Not far off the Irish system then. Il fit in just fine :p.

I would have thought that development would be regulated strictly considering the architectural history of the island.

MEPA, one of the most corrupt agencies going.

its never ever strict in Malta if you know the right people - or if you have the money and brown envelopes to make things go away......

Once you moved/settled here and if interested in working together on renovation projects, get in touch with me.

Hi Gert,

I don't want to demotivate you but .... as a foreigner .... and not part of the Maltese clique ....you will not have many possibilities to work in the industry.

Design ! In building ? It is very limited ....usually by the site ( Maltese townhouse).  Don't expect much -)))

What made you consider Malta ? You should really do your homework if you are seriously considering relocating to Malta. Don't try to compare with Ireland. The Maltese speak Maltese .... and you are out !

Cheers
Ricky

Hi Rick.

I appreciate your honesty. Agreed, it won't be easy and I don't expect it to be.

Worst case scenario... I catch a flight home with a sun-tan

Regards,

Ger.

New Horizons,

Sounds interesting. I will get in touch.

Kind regards,

Ger.

Thank's for your comments Toon.

it was the very same scenario in Ireland (and I assume the uk also) up until the mid-late 90's.

Out of interest, were you in the trade in Malta?

Regards,

Ger.

No....

Ger123 wrote:

Out of interest, were you in the trade in Malta?

Got to laugh as to use the word 'trade' implies professionalism which, out here, certainly does not apply. 

however it has to be said i was in the TRADE when in the UK - having worked in Construction Civil Engineering Utilities and Formwork industries for over 30 years

Toon wrote:

however it has to be said i was in the TRADE when in the UK - having worked in Construction Civil Engineering Utilities and Formwork industries for over 30 years

Which of course had all the procedures and standards in place which were adhered to and was thus; professional.

To me 'the trade' = self employed skilled manual workers = builders, electricians, plasterers, tilers. roofers. plumbers, joiners, car mechanics etc 'the building trade' = a subset of above.

emerged middle classes = working classes of previous generations

If you disagree with this classification, visit any upmarket housing developments in any town/city in the UK and count the number of 'white-van' men/households.

I don't know where/when any professionalism in the trades implied (no offence intended). As far back as I can remember,  it's been about get in, get the job done (doing as little as possible), get out, collect the cash [all above quickly - goes without saying] and not to be heard from when things go wrong but if you call them for another job, they'll be on your doorstep in a flash (over generalisation and a pinch humour intended to soften the realities/truth).
If one expects nothing more, one'll be pleasantly surprised by their good workmanship, polite manners, punctuality, attention to details, tidiness and if one's really lucky they clean after creating the mess!

redmik wrote:

Got to laugh as to use the word 'trade' implies professionalism which, out here, certainly does not apply. 

What could you possibly be suggesting?? 

By "trade" I mean the very broad construction industry... Industry would have been more appropriate.

The 'get in, get out, get paid' has to be respected. It's a business at the end of the day and that's how a builder / contractor / tradesman make their bread.

I don't think any architect has a problem with this approach as long as the job is carried out with due care and diligence and as per the plans and specification. From what I have gathered from all of your replies (thank you) is that their is little or no monitoring of site works (either by design team or building control). If this is the case, why should a builder give a toss About due care and diligence if their are no repercussions?

In Ireland ( I know I shouldnt compare) every job from single storey extension to multi storey office block has an 'assigned certifier' (usually the architect). During the tender process the assigned certifier submits a Preliminary inspection plan to the local authority outlining their proposed site inspections at certain milestones of the build. upon completion, the architect submits their 'certificate of compliance on completion' with their milestone site investigation reports stating that everything was installed as per their specification based on their site inspections. Admitadly, no architect can act as site supervisor so the builder also submits their certificate of compliance stating that the build was constructed as per the architects specification. Ultimately, the onus is on the architect that the building is built as per regs & specification. Basically, that is the compressed version. It's not a flawless system but a system nonetheless. From what I'm hearing there is no system in Malta... That is interesting.

An employment as foreigner in any technical sector ... forget it, unless you are exceptional good in what you are doing.
"Higher" technical jobs are rare since not much necessary here - and mainly in Maltese hand (of course, it's their right, it's their country, these are their jobs).
"Lower" technical jobs you do not want to do here because ... you'll find out soon 

But, as foreigner you have one advantage: You can offer your services on freelance basis to other foreigners who feel that they are fed up of the local quality standards The pay is much better like this and the work is more satisfying !

The downside is: it takes time to find clients ...

Interesting!
It's pretty much the same model in the UK. I don't know about big housing/construction projects but expect they have the same bells and whistles.

In the smaller development project: architect is in the office or town hall dealing with objections and rejected planning applications, pub, golf course, Bahamas etc: anywhere but not on site!
On the site you have the project manager, assistants, foremen, some office and supplier communication/coordination.chasing, then traders - virtually always contractors!

In the UK the building reg people are typically NOT architects: civil engineers, structural engineers, quantity surveyors etc. They have the right to site visits at any time but normally come at key stages and by prior agreements. In fact they come by invitation (well, wait to be informed the key stage will be done when and come by appointment). I have a lot of respect for them them do understand their responsibility: structural integrity and safety of the finished product or the building, but they know about the construction business and practicalities/limitations of schedules and plans. They do apply the rules/regs and don't bend them when safety is at stake, but can see their way to changed schedules or slight variations in details and even can allow things to progress and later plans get modified/fees paid to reflect the actual construction site not what we started with. They aren't as pedantic as they are reputed to be.

We also have a planning dept; they deal with conservation, planning applications, suitability of a proposals, conservation areas managements, listed buildings etc. These are town planning people or architects.

I am sure in Malta also there is a system on paper but to what extend it is implemented; how rigorous is the control; how pliable is the system! These are the questions. I also don't know the answer but judging by what you see built over public pavement for example, one wonders...

====

This made me smile:
"The 'get in, get out, get paid' has to be respected."
Can you see why?

more like get in, get paid, then get out..... and dont go back to do snaggin

Toon wrote:

more like get in, get paid, then get out..... and dont go back to do snaggin

Interesting observation but not the one I had in mind.

I wait a bit to see Ger123 can spot it

matm911 wrote:

An employment as foreigner in any technical sector ... forget it,

Perhaps a tad overgeneralisation:
Look to the IT and IGaming sectors. Arguably majority of workers are non Maltese.
Even in the building trade there are a lot of East Europeans etc. Labourers and helpers are very often not locals
Diving schools: Mostly run by British, Italians, Germans.... even Russians.
Look at refuse collection: virtually always slim north African guys doing it: nobody else can run and lift as much and as fast...

matm911 wrote:

But, as foreigner you have one advantage: You can offer your services on freelance basis to other foreigners who feel that they are fed up of the local quality standards The pay is much better like this and the work is more satisfying !

The downside is: it takes time to find clients ...

But foreigner rent in Malta hence no call for those trades and the services they offer.

enlighten me horizonz.

Come on man! Apply yourself and give it a good try...

not yet enlightened but hoping to be....

New Horizonz wrote:

Perhaps a tad overgeneralisation:
Look to the IT and IGaming sectors. Arguably majority of workers are non Maltese.

Computer Technology is completely different to the "traditional" technical sectors. First of all majority are foreign companies (even when under Maltese management) and the technology must be state of the art.
Secondly, there are way not enough local IT specialists to cover the demand, especially ones with experience other than general IT administration or Web design (e.g. content manager, SEOs, front/back end developer, SQL, ASP.NET, UX, IT security etc.). Therefore the salaries remain quite high to attract foreigners. I would be more than glad if I would be a good IT pro 

Even in the building trade there are a lot of East Europeans etc. Labourers and helpers are very often not locals

These are the "lower technical jobs" I wrote above which you do not want to do - especially under local conditions 
And the pay is low. very low ... you earn much more and benefit from better working environment if you sit in a contemporary office and doing any customer care job   

Diving schools: Mostly run by British, Italians, Germans.... even Russians.

If you are the owner, that's OK. If you work for them it's mainly on part time basis only resp on demand.

Look at refuse collection: virtually always slim north African guys doing it: nobody else can run and lift as much and as fast...

That's the basis of beeing able to offer 7 days a week collection free of charge. No one else would like to do (or has the physical condition to do) that job for this money and this acceptance, right ? 

But foreigner rent in Malta hence no call for those trades and the services they offer.

There are enough foreigners who buy apartments or rent villas and penthouses for long term and want to refurbish, upgrade, modernise or simply repair things for their own comfort and do not want to struggle with the landlord about it.

New Horizonz wrote:

matm911 wrote:

An employment as foreigner in any technical sector ... forget it,

Perhaps a tad overgeneralisation:....

"Any" means any, doesn't it?
I addressed your original statement: any technical sector ...
Now you have changed your words and adding various extensions and caveats.

A professor of mine often reminded us: "...precision is everything."
If my uncle was a little different, I would say my auntie!

The lesson here is do your thoughts and debates with yourself in your head and once you arrived at some firm conclusions, bring it for public scrutiny and debate! The right way is doing it in that order.

So, you're not interested on the content of this conversation, only to teach other people, show that you are superior. Got it. Good for you, but you'll find it hard here in Malta with your attitude ... ;-)

sorry posted in wrong thread

matm911 wrote:

So, you're not interested on the content of this conversation, only to teach other people, show that you are superior. Got it. Good for you, but you'll find it hard here in Malta with your attitude ... ;-)

It's more likely people take notice of the contents if they were well thought of first.

Smokes and mirrors, avoidance, dodging and diversion.... all but not looking at own statement highlighted and repeated only to make the originator take notice of! This kind of company, no thanks. I don't need in Malta or anywhere.

Right.

Thanks for getting involved MatM911

Has anybody heard of the commonwealth association of architects? Have they a significant role in construction in Malta?

Is there a support body for architects / architectural technologists in malta?

Uk = RIBA , Ireland = RIAI , Stateside = AIA, Malta = ???

http://www.comarchitect.org/malta/

Not sure if they are members of this association, but you should contact directly the respective Chamber. They also provide a list of local registered architects.

However, once in Malta you should also register with the Chamber of Engineers, the are providing lots of useful information, help you with recognition of your qualification and necessary certifications and offer seminars and courses at a small fee.

Very helpful post Matm911.

I will get in touch with them and make the enquiry.

Many Thank's.