The Ministry of Housing and Works would include CDA in finalizing Islamabad’s condominium law and apartment building rules.
Sources stated a group was finalizing condominium rules. Last Monday, the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) executive board included the CDA to the committee because apartment buildings are across the city and the municipal agency is the key stakeholder.
The new law/rules will address building upkeep, fund management, owner rights, and resident conflict resolution.
The residents of a condominium jointly own the common amenities, yet each unit is owned by an individual. Apartment structures dominate Islamabad condominium residential.
The condo regulations will address building maintenance, fund administration, and owner rights.
In many apartment buildings, owners have built over communal areas without restrictions.
Owners of certain apartment complexes have built illegal units in basements and rooftops to make money. In addition to other regions, E-11 has several such buildings.
After selling flats, the owners violate the building plans with further development after CDA clearance. In much of Islamabad, especially rural regions, owners built high-rise apartment buildings without permits.
The sources said the executive board was informed that the Prime Minister’s Office had formed a committee under the economic affairs minister to consolidate recommendations on low housing incentives, finance access, and public-private partnership model. The committee advised the housing ministry to draft condo rules with CDA.
The sources said a senior joint secretary in the board meeting welcomed condominium rules and said they needed to be prepared quickly because apartment building was rising in the city. The board then added the CDA director general planning to the committee.
This committee has 15 days to develop the law and rules.
Law and justice division, planning commission, CDA, Islamabad Capital Territory administration, FGEHA, and others make up the committee led by Additional Secretary Housing.
The board meeting was informed that only the Sindh condominium Act 2014 was in effect, while the Punjab government has developed the Punjab Multi-Storey Buildings (Rights of Ownership and Maintenance) Act 2019, which needs approval.
The FGEHA is creating condominium bylaws for its high-rise apartment buildings. The Ministry of Housing and Work also prepared Islamabad apartment building laws.
The ministry of housing has few high-rise projects, while CDA covers the federal capital.
The committee does not investigate apartment complexes’ legal status, but sources said most high-rise structures in Islamabad operate without CDA completion certifications.
These documents, also called occupancy certificates, address building structural stability and other issues.
Completion certifications cover fire and safety equipment, building structure, and building plan implementation. Nearly all high-rise buildings in Blue Area and other parts of the city lacked completion certificates, and residential flats were used without occupancy certificates, CDA sources stated.
They stated the CDA sold 30 plots in metropolitan areas where apartment buildings were built, and their owners occupied them alongside CDA personnel without certifications.
According to reports, 11 F-11, five G-11, four F-10, and one G-8 plots were auctioned.
“Of these apartment buildings, only few have a completion certificate,” a CDA engineer stated, adding that rural areas have more apartment buildings.
