PAM was invited to
attend the Annual MITI Dialogue 2004 at the Ministry of International
Trade and Industries, Jalan Duta on 8 April 2004. The dialogue
was chaired by
the Minister, Dato' Seri Rafidah Aziz. Other members of the
private sector invited to the dialogue were REHDA, MBAM, ACEM,
ISM, PSDC, AFAM, MIA and others. Ar Paul Lai Chu, PAM President,
Ar Mohammad Shah Dato' Sanad, Co-Chairman of PAM Government
Liaison Committee and Zarina Ibrahim, PAM Secretariat, attended
the dialogue.
Earlier on 12 March 2004, PAM had submitted a memorandum to
MITI in conjunction with the dialogue. Ar Paul Lai Chu presented
the issues raised by PAM. The summary of PAM's dialogue with
MITI is as follows:
Scale of Fees and Conditions of Engagement
Whilst MITI would press the Government to adhere to the gazetted
Scale of Fees, MITI advised PAM to advise members not to undercut
and subscribe to the demand imposed by the sectors to provide
discounts in the Architects' fees. Architects should insist
on sticking to their Scale of Fees.
Procurement Policy for Professional Architects
MITI agreed with PAM's recommendation to apply the procurement
procedure by the Qualification Based Selection Procedure (QBS)
and Open Design Competitions and that
there should be transparency in the system. However, MITI
advised Architects to be sensitive to cost constraints of
the Government.
Registration of Professional Architects
MITI took note of PAM's concern. Representative from JKR explained
that Treasury had only one registration agency. MITI understood
that many other Federal Ministry Agencies
and states had differing registration criteria and would bring
the matter up at the Cabinet.
PAM reported on the time taken by Local Authorities for processing
Building Approval for projects which are under construction
in Malaysia as of 6 April 2004 as follows:
Less than 4 months: 49.9%
5 to 8 months: 25.8%
9 to 12 months: 12.3%
More than 12 months: 11.9%
PAM was requested to submit the data on the period for Approval
Process through Building Approval up to CF stage to MIDA,
especially on industrial projects.
Below is the Memorandum for Dialogue with the Ministry of
International Trade and Industry Malaysia:
SCALE OF FEES AND CONDITIONS OF ENGAGEMENT
Issue
Although the Scale of Fees and Conditions of Engagement of
Professional Architect for the provision of professional architectural
services in the country are clearly already determined by
law, as prescribed under the Architects Act, members of PAM
have continued to highlight that their appointments to serve
on Government projects either directly or indirectly by the
Government are frequently not in accordance to the statutory
Scale of Fees and Conditions of Engagement, leading to a range
of inequitable conditions of appointment.
For example:
Schedule of Professional Fees lower than the prescribed scale;
Professional fees due to the appointed Consultants being subjected
to involuntary retention;
Delayed payment even after services had been completed;
Structure of fees being subjected to arbitrary discounts;
and
Scope of works being subjected to adjustment without
due consideration to the Conditions of Engagement.
PAM's Recommendation
PAM appeals to the Government and especially the Ministry
of Finance to direct that the appointment of Professional
Architectural Consultants for Government projects, be effected
in accordance with the statutory Conditions of Engagement,
whether directly or indirectly by the relevant government
agencies, including Turnkey or Design & Build projects,
and are duly remunerated in accordance with the gazetted Scale
of Fees.
Equitable conditions of appointment and fair remuneration
of fees are instruments for ensuring that appointed Consultants
have adequate resources to perform their functions to the
standards required, and in the public interest. Inequitable
fees structure and conditions of appointment invariably lead
to reduced quality of services, which in turn compromise quality
of the projects and therefore the quality, amenity and social
and economic values of the built environment.
PROCUREMENT POLICY FOR PROFESSIONAL ARCHITECTS
Issue
In the procurement of Professional Architects as Consultants
to serve on Government Projects either directly or indirectly,
PAM believe that the relevant agencies should be guided by
one primary consideration - the qualification of the firm
for the specific project to
be undertaken. However, PAM are concerned by the present lack
of a consistent and transparent qualification-based selection
procedure in the appointment of consultants by the Government,
which frequently leads to situations where the quality of
the project is compromised. Some examples of such failings:
mismatch of projects with Consultants that may not have the
necessary skill and resources to execute and oversee the project;
and
consultants who are already over-committed on their resources
being awarded further projects.
PAM's Recommendation
As every project is unique with its own technical challenges,
the Government should apply a consistent and transparent procurement
procedure in the selection of the most suitable Consultant
for the projects, and PAM believes that this is best achieved
by one of the
following methods:
Open Design Competition
Projects of public and national interests be selected through
Open Design Competitions, conducted with the principles defined
and approved by the Board of Architects Malaysia and/or PAM,
for the purposes of: Selecting and implementing the best scheme
for the project; Discovering talented professionals, and for
them to showcase their expertise, gain recognition and to
grow despite the lack of established private clients; and
Publicity of the Project and the Government's effort in promoting
quality world-class built-environment development. QBS Procedure
Implement a Qualification Based Selection (QBS) procedure.
REGISTRATION OF PROFESSIONAL ARCHITECTS
Issue
Members of PAM have highlighted that after having registered
with the Treasury, professional firms are required to further
register individually with many other Federal Ministries and
Agencies in order to be appointed to serve on Government Projects.
Almost all registrations require different registration criteria;
some criteria restrict registration by soleproprietor firm,
although a significant number of professional firms in the
country are of sole proprietors; whilst some criteria are
not in keeping with the
advancement of professional practices in the country, for
example multi-disciplinary practices. Registration criteria
by the Ministry of Finance is also overly restrictive and
do not take into account present policies and statutory amendments
allowing and
encouraging the formation of multi-disciplinary practice.
PAM's Recommendation
PAM appeals to the Government and especially the Ministry
of Finance to collaborate with the relevant agency such as
the Ministry of Works and the Board of Architects in establishing
a single authoritative Register of Professional Practices
to be appointed to
serve on Government Projects, based on the QBS procedure described
earlier, and we appeal to the Government to direct all relevant
agencies that the appointment of consultant for all types
of Government projects throughout the country need only to
be
referred to this central Registry. PAM also appeals to the
Government and the Ministry
of Finance to review registration criteria for professional
services consultants; to take into account present realities
where multidisciplinary practice is allowed and encouraged
under the law to face the challenges of globalisation.
Reported by Ar Paul Lai Chu, President PAM
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