Taipei City Construction Management Office

To put an end to illegal constructions, protect the rights of consumers, reduce transaction disputes, and maintain sound building management, Taipei City Government has specially drawn up the “Measures by Taipei City Government to Curb New Illegal Constructions”, stipulating that in the future, when owners of new buildings with usage permits issued after September 01, 2015, apply for transfer of building ownership at the Land Office for the purpose of buying or selling, exchange, gift or entrusting behavior, shall enclose a “No Illegal Construction Certificate” issued by a registered architect. If the owner fails to provide the certificate, the Land Office shall notify the building management unit to carry out illegal building checking, but it does not limit the registration of ownership transfer. In addition, to encourage citizens to voluntarily engage an architect for the checking without causing an additional burden to them, the City Government will subsidize every household with an amount up to NTD 3,000 for the cost of getting a “No Illegal Construction Certificate” for the purpose of ownership transfer. The City Government’s new measure will not cause any additional burden and expenditure to citizens. The Department of Urban Development said that the main targets of the new measure are new buildings with usage permits issued after Sep. 01, 2015. When the owners apply for ownership transfer, they may first engage a registered architect to issue a “No Illegal Construction Certificate”. In the future, when handling such cases, the registered architects shall make a comparison of the as-built drawing against the owner’s actual property. If the architect discovers any illegal constructions at the owner’s property, the owner shall demolish them at his/her own expense in order for the registered architect to issue a “No Illegal Construction Certificate”. In addition, the architect shall compare the common areas such as roof tops and the statutory vacant spaces against the as-built drawings. If illegal constructions are discovered, s/he shall notify the Construction Management Office for investigation. If the owner fails to enclose the “No Illegal Construction Certificate” when making ownership registration, the Land Office shall notify the Construction Management Office to manage and audit the illegal construction. Taipei City Mayor, Ko Wen-Je, said that in the past, the difficulties of implementing government policies resulted because the public does not believe the government would strictly enforce the regulations. Therefore, the trust of the public in the government has to be rebuilt. The prerequisite for handling illegal construction is that the government has to establish its dignity. The government should show its determination in order to effectively stop illegal buildings from continuing to be built. Hence, Mayor Ko requests the Construction Management Office of the Department of Urban Development and the Department of Land to provide effective solutions to forbid new illegal constructions from being built. Besides promoting effective management for issuance of new usage permits, the new measure covers illegal extensions on existing buildings, where they shall be reported and demolished, so as to curb new illegal constructions. Existing illegal old buildings built before 1994 that pose threats to public safety, public transportation, etc., are the first to be demolished. Through administrative cooperation with the construction management and land authorities, the new measure aims to effectively prevent the public from building illegal constructions, ensure security of transaction and eliminate transaction disputes. The principle of this new measure is to present a new political culture to the public. Only by following through policies will the public start to believe what the government says. Without new illegal buildings, Taipei will become a better city.