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[av_heading heading=’Building official warns of ‘domino effect’’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY MAE SINGUAY
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BACOLOD City – The certificate of occupancy the Office of the Building Official (OBO) issued a mall in Barangay Mandalagan may be revoked.
OBO head Isidro Sun Jr. said the mall project-in-charge has yet to comply with several construction deficiencies.
Sun will issue the mall a notice of revocation of the occupancy permit this week, but the building official clarified it will not immediately cancel the permit as he will give the establishment a chance to explain.
But it might get worse for CityMall and its tenants.
In case the occupancy permit gets revoked, Sun will recommend to the City Legal Office (CLO) the closure of the entire establishment. While their business permit may still hold, such may not be renewed without the occupancy permit, Sun said.
It’s a “domino effect,” and the tenants, which were set to renew their business permits next year, may bear the brunt, he said.
A certificate of occupancy/occupancy permit certifies that a structure has complied with building codes and other laws and thus is suitable for occupancy.
On Nov. 9 the OBO issued the occupancy permit after Reynaldo Tenedero of Bon Builders Corp., CityMall project-in-charge, filed an affidavit of undertaking promising to comply with six construction deficiencies within 30 days.
The affidavit lapsed on Dec. 9, and the mall still has the following deficiencies: restroom for persons with disabilities (PWDs) on the ground floor; as-built second floor plan; mechanical as-built plan; and sewage treatment plant, cistern and rainwater collection tank.
Sun said he reminded Tenedero about their promise on Dec. 2, but the project-in-charge wrote him only on Dec. 9.
According to Tenedero, as-built plans were being completed and will be submitted to OBO on Dec. 15, while the restroom for PWDs was being built and expected to be completed by the 23rd.
“I will make every effort to complete all undertakings, and rest assured [they] will be in compliance with the city’s rules and regulations,” Tenedero said.
If the occupancy permit gets revoked, CityMall’s fate will be in the hands of the CLO, which has control over business permits, Sun said.
He said he hopes the revocation does not happen, especially that it’s Christmas season and Bacolod poises itself as a business-friendly city./PN
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