Taipei City Construction Management Office

To ensure living safety and protect the vulnerable groups, Taipei City Government has implemented the “226 Service Project” in which different city departments such as Department of Social Welfare, Department of Civil Affairs, Department of Urban Development, Department of Legal Affairs will form a service team to offer social assistance and legal aid services to tenants in the 226 cases of illegal Top Floor 3-Unit (or more) Home Additions. This will help them avoid illegal top floor home additions that pose hazards to public safety. City Construction Management Office will also send official warning letters to the owners of the 226 illegal home additions that risk public safety, ordering them to restore the additions in compliance with the city regulations before March 20 or the illegal additions will be removed by force in the interests of public safety.According to Wen-ting Gao, Director of Construction Management Office, as of January 27, the city Department of Civil Affairs has conducted comprehensive inspections at 226 locations and the Department of Social Welfare will also continue to visit the tenants, 172 households of 195 people, and offer assistance to the tenants that have expressed difficulties, including services such as finding new rental apartments, moving into interim housing, applying for recycled furniture and providing emergency loans, providing emergency relief subsidies for vulnerable groups living in poverty and offering assistance in employment. In addition, Taipei City Construction Management Office will also target the 226 cases and visit each location to assist the owner in restoring the illegal additions to below two rooms in compliance with the city regulations. Currently, there are 22 cases that have completed the restoration and the cases are now closed.Director Gao urges the 204 cases that have not moved on with the restoration works, the owners must complete the restorations by March 20, or the illegal additions will be removed from the original building by force and costs of the forced demolition will be borne by the owners in the interests of public safety. For enquiries regarding the restoration works, house owners may call the contact information in the warning letters and officials will be sent to offer on-site assistance. Owners can also make full use of the illustrations of standard building restoration procedure offered on the official website and at the city Construction Management Office (South Wing, 1F, No. 1, Shih Fu Rd). Director Gao stresses again that the Construction Management Office has not commissioned any renovation agents or engineering companies to handle illegal building restoration, so owners should be wary of scams. If in doubt, please call Government Ethics Office at 1999 ext. 8484 for staff assistance.More details regarding the “226 Service Project” are available on the city Construction Management Office website and citizens may access the website to download the relevant information. Department of Social Welfare contact number for tenants of the vulnerable group: 1999 ext. 1633. For consumer disputes, please call Consumer Protection Committee at “1950” or consumer service hotline at 02-27256169 for assistance. For enquiries related to illegal building additions, please call 1999 ext. 8414 for detailed explanation.