Bill 212.

Summary.

The bill proposes to protect the right to adequate housing through a liability framework covering developers, builders, contractors, architects, engineers, public officials, and others involved in homes and works within urban residential developments. It would apply to individuals and legal entities, private companies, and state or municipal institutions participating in construction. It defines economic agent and economic group, developer, builder, contractor, construction process, urban residential development, construction work, and dwelling, among other terms.

The municipality, the Ministry of Housing and Land Management (Ministerio de Vivienda y Ordenamiento Territorial), the National Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers (Instituto de Acueductos y Alcantarillados Nacionales), and other competent authorities could not grant construction permits without conditions for installing and providing water and electricity 24 hours a day, access roads and transport, sewers, education, and health services. If a permit had already been granted, the authorities would suspend it following an inspection until those conditions were met. Municipalities and other competent bodies would check every three months whether the development complied with the plans submitted by the builder. Noncompliance would suspend the development and bar an occupancy permit until the relevant alterations, changes, and addenda were approved.

Developers and builders would have to deliver public easements, parks, water storage tanks, sewerage systems, and wastewater treatment plants in full. They would coordinate their transfer to the authorities and remain responsible for managing, administering, and maintaining them until the transfer became effective. Municipalities and other public institutions would oversee compliance and processing of transfers, which could not take more than two (2) years from completion of the development. Companies used by developers, builders, and other legal entities in the same economic group would have to remain in existence for ten years from the sale and/or delivery of the last dwelling or work; they could then be dissolved.

The amendment to Article 1343 of the Civil Code (Código Civil) would make the contractor and developer liable for damage caused by a building's ruin occurring within ten years of completion; the architect and/or engineer would also be liable where the cause was a defect in the land or in their direction of the work. If the ruin resulted from the contractor's failure to meet contractual terms, the compensation claim would remain available for fifteen years. The addition of Article 79-A to Law 45 of 2007 (Ley 45 de 2007) would set a ten-year guarantee and require the developer or builder to obtain an insurance policy covering it before a construction permit could be issued. The additions of Articles 419-A and 419-B to the Criminal Code (Código Penal) would punish authorities or public officials with 5 to 7 years' imprisonment and disqualification from office for the same period for the specified conduct when granting permits or authorizations in risk areas without checking required measures, or for works showing ruin and defects within 10 years of delivery. The bill would take effect the day after publication in the Official Gazette.

The provisions concern the Ministry of Housing and Land Management, the National Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers, municipalities, and other permit and inspection authorities. They may also affect developers, builders, construction professionals, insurers, and homebuyers.