Building Regulation Law No. 1 of 2009 We, Saud Bin Saqr Bin Mohamed Al Qasimi Crown Prince & Deputy Ruler After perusal of Building Regulation Law No. (6) of 1969; And based on what presented to us by President of RAK Municipality; And based on what is required by public interest; Have promulgated the following Law: Article 1 This Law shall be named as “Law of Building Regulation in Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah” of 2009. Article 2 Provisions of this law shall apply to building sector in all regions of emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, taking into account what had been excepted thereof by decree or special resolution. Article 3 Definitions In implementation of the provisions of this law, the below words and phrases shall have the meanings indicated opposite each of them, unless the context of text indicates otherwise:- Emirate: Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah. Department/Municipality: Ras Al Khaimah Municipality. President: President of Municipality. Director General: Director-General of Municipality. Competent Department: Building & Engineering Department. Concerned Department: Department from which the concerned department requests to provide technical opinion on certain issue. Service Departments: Competent service departments in emirate of Ras Al Khaimah which include: - Public Works & Services Department in Ras Al Khaimah. - Federal Electricity & Water Authority. - Emirates Telecommunication Corporation - Etisalat - RAK Civil Defense. - Any other departments having competence on facilities and services. Owner: Natural or private or public legal person that land or building registered under the name thereof. Technical Committee: The committee formed in the competent department by resolution from the President or Director-General to consider license applications for special cases and take appropriate decisions in respect thereof. Engineer: Natural or legal person assigned to tasks of designing or supervising construction works or both of them and is licensed to practice engineering consultancy profession in the emirate according to legislations in force. Contractor: Natural or legal person assigned to implement construction works and is licensed to practice construction contracting activities or any part thereof in the emirate according to legislations in force. Inspector: Engineer or monitor in the competent department. Building License: permit issued by competent department authorizing construction works to be carried out on specific plot according to approved charts, specifications and conditions. Dispute Settlement Committee: A committee formed by resolution of the President or Director-General to solve dispute arising between the owner and contractor and / or consultant. It shall consist of at least three members provided that one of them shall be technical expert and another one is legal expert. Grievance Committee: A committee issued by resolution from the President to consider grievances against decisions issued by the competent department or Dispute Settlement Committee in Municipality. The Committee shall be presided by the President and membership of Director-General and at least another two members including technical expert and legal consultant and it is required that anyone had participated in issuing the grieved decision shall not be member in the committee. Article 4 Construction Works For Which License Is Required It is not permissible for any person to erect buildings or construct any additional works thereon or expand, fully or partially demolish the same or make any modification therein whether in external facades or internal sections except after obtaining license thereof from the competent department in Municipality. Article 5 Works That Do Not Need License Subject to provisions of article (23), periodical maintenance works such as plastering, external and interior paintings of buildings, shall be excepted provided that their execution shall be assigned to a contractor and shall not result in increasing built area or change the external appearance of the building. Building constructed on areas which license is subject to another area by decree or resolution issued by the Ruler or his representative, shall also be excepted. Article 6 Submit License Application License application shall be submitted to Municipality by the Owner or his representative as per the form approved by the competent department attached with the following documents: 1- Plot Documents (Title Deed, Sketch, Chart). 2- Consultant’s chart approved by Municipality and concerned services departments. 3- Consultant Assignment Letter. 4- Planning conditions issued by Planning & Survey Department in Municipality. 5- Certificate of non-existence of services in the site. 6- Copy of contracting contract and sub-contractors’ contracts, if any, and copy of consultant’s contract. The President may exempt license applicant from one or more of these conditions temporary or permanently. Article 7 Matching of Building Terms & Specifications Buildings may not be licensed unless submitted drawings and designs are matching building terms and specifications stipulated in the relevant regulation. It is a condition that drawings and designs shall be approved by an engineer. In the event the unlicensed building is technically acceptable, license shall be granted and fines and penalties stated in article (28) shall apply, unless the President decides otherwise. Article 8 Review & Decide On Charts The competent department shall review and decide on the charts submitted by the engineer within a period not exceeding ten days. Article 9 Decide On License Application 1- The competent department shall decide on license application within five (5) days from the date of submitting the same or date of completing the attachments. If the competent department believed that charts shall be modified or corrected, the applicant shall be notified thereof within such period and Municipality shall decide on the modified charts within five (5) days from the date of re-submitting the same. If any of the two deadlines elapsed without Municipality decides on the application, the later shall be considered approved and in all cases, the decision issued by the competent department of rejection or modification shall be reasoned. 2- Grievance may be made against decision of rejection or modification of the license issued by the competent department within thirty days from date of notifying the applicant of the decision. 3- Grievance shall be presented to Grievance Committee stipulated in article (3) and decision issued by the Committee shall be final and not subject to objection except by Ruler or his representative and the grievant shall be notified thereof. Article 10 License Fees a- In case license application is matching provisions and executive regulation of law and meeting all terms, applicant shall pay building license fees as per the schedule attached to the executive regulation of the law. b- It is not permissible to refund license fees in case license applicant withdraws his application for whatever reason unless the President sees a justification thereof. Article 11 License Term & Renewal Validity of building license shall be for one year from the date of issuing it and shall be cancelled if construction works did not start during this period or suspended for a period more than six months without indicating acceptable reasons. License may be renewed within thirty days from its expiry date, provided that such renewal shall not contradict at that time with planning nor laws in force. If the competent department rejected renewal, it should notify the concerned person of this rejection and he shall have the right to make grievance against rejection decision through the President Building license shall be valid throughout implementation period provided that workflow continues in satisfactory way unless Municipality agrees to suspend the project based on owner’s request for legal justifications. Article 12 Receive Levels From Municipality Contractor shall receive the boundaries of the plot, subject of license, from Municipality that should specify levels and building line. Municipality may coordinate with concerned authorities, if necessary, in this regard. Also, contractor shall be responsible for preserving markings of plot’s boundaries and ensure building within its boundaries. In case of building outside plot’s boundaries, fines and penalties shall be imposed according to what stated in article (28) of this law. The contractor shall commit also to remove violation within maximum period of one month from the date of removal decision, otherwise Municipality shall remove the violation at his own expense. Article 13 Start Working On Site Engineer and contractor, each within his competence, shall ensure that the site had been identified properly and non-existence of all services lines according to what stated in approval documents and notify the Department of implementation commencement according to the terms stated in the executive regulation of this law. Article 14 Amendments Approval Application Any change or modification to approved charts and specifications by virtue thereof building license had been issued that presented by the engineer within the scope of law and executive regulation thereof shall be subject to approval of competent department which rejection decision is subject to grievance. In all cases, the President may cancel decision of the competent department if he sees that it has no sound grounds, and in case of violating this, fines and penalties stated in article (28) of this law shall apply. Article 15 Engineering Supervision The Licensee shall commit to entrust an engineer who is licensed to practice the profession to supervise implementation of licensed works. The engineer shall be fully responsible, together with the contractor, for implementing works as per charts, detailed drawings, technical principles, specifications and building permit. The engineer should notify competent department in writing in case of existence of material violations threatening safety of the building that may occur during implementation without being aware thereof and the contractor refused to correct them. The President or Director-General has, upon recommendation of the competent department the right to suspend construction works till quickly verifying occurrence of these violations in a manner that does not harm the interest of the owner. The engineer should also notify the competent department of any failure in implementing works by the contractor and competent department shall address warning to the contractor after verifying this. If the contractor does not respond to the notice of the competent department, the later shall be entitled to take whatever measures and procedures it deems appropriate, however, its decision shall be subject to grievance. Article 16 1- The engineer shall be responsible for any damages that occur to the building and affect its safety due to mistakes in designing works entrusted thereto, or due to written instructions issued by him during the phase of his supervision on implementing works. 2- And he shall be responsible for ensuring the safety of the building for a period of ten years from the date of final handover in cases referred to in the previous paragraph. Article 17 The contractor shall submit a request to Municipality to fix date to inspect the structural elements before starting concrete structure casting phases after approving works by supervising engineer. In case one day elapsed from the fixed date without presence of the inspector, the contractor is entitled to start concrete structure casting works without being committed to the inspector’s presence, provided that contractor’s engineer and supervising engineer shall be present in the site during concrete structure casting process. In case contractor’s engineer and supervising engineer or one of them are not in the site during concrete structure casting process, the inspector should stop casting process and impose fines and penalties stipulated in article (28) of this law. Article 18 1- The contractor shall guarantee works and proper implementation thereof along with maintaining the same for one year from the date of initial handover of whole works and he shall be responsible for keeping all works integral during this period. 2- If any fault or defect in works appears, the contractor shall repair it at his own expense in the date determined by the engineer until works final acceptance is issued. Article 19 Despite issuing of final acceptance certificate after the end of maintenance period and settle all accounts related to the building, the contractor shall remain responsible, for a period of ten years from the date of initial acceptance, for any fault or defect may appear on the main sections of the building whether foundations, walls, concrete structure or others due to any fraud, negligence or mistake by the contractor and for any damage may result from this fault or defect. Article 20 All contracting companies and engineering consultancy offices should commit to apply security and safety requirements, including elements of public safety provisions, occupational health, guiding and warning boards, protective barriers and personal protection equipment for workers, scaffolds, ladders, work platforms, lifting equipment and devices, tools, equipment and electrical wiring, workshops, excavations, supports, water suction and safe implementation of demolition works by taking necessary procedures and precautions for the safety of neighboring buildings, pedestrians and those involved in implementation. Also, fence should be erected around worksites according to what determined by the executive regulation. Article 21 The contractor should repair potholes and damage that affect public road, implants or any of the public facilities. Also, he should remove remnants resulting from works, subject of license, within two weeks from completing works and before applying for building completion certificate. The competent department shall be entitled, after warning him by whatever way, to make these repairs and remove works’ remnants at his expense and collect the expenses thereof, with no need to any legal or judicial procedure. Article 22 Completion Certificate and Services Connection After completing all building works, the contractor and / or supervising engineer shall apply for Building Completion Certificate in order to connect services thereto, attached with written approval of the engineer on completing the works, provided that competent department shall inspect the site to ensure matching of terms and specifications of building according to charts and / or building license issued thereby. The competent department shall issue, after coordination with concerned departments, Building Completion Certificate within period not exceeding five (5) days, otherwise the Owner or applicant shall be entitled to grieve before the President or Director-General. Article 23 Buildings Facades Painting 1- Building owners shall commit to maintain cleanliness of their buildings’ facades and repaint these facades when necessary in order to preserve the aesthetic character of the Emirate. The competent department may, after notifying these buildings’ owners of repainting the facades of their buildings and their failure to do that in dates specified in the notice, resort to all means including imposing fines to compel them to do that. 2- Owner or his representative shall commit to choose appropriate colors to paint the external facades of building in line with nature of regions and environment and in harmony with the colors of the neighboring buildings if they are appropriate and it is prohibited to use colors that are different from the general order. Article 24 Scope of Inspector’s Work & Powers The employees of the competent department shall have the capacity of law officers in implementing the provisions of this law and regulations and resolutions issued in implementation thereof. They shall have the right to enter construction sites to verify the proper implementation of provisions of this law and ensure proper execution of charts and terms of license issued thereby and to prove violations. Article 25 Interference of Municipality In The Event Of Non-Commitment To Correct Or Remove Violation The President or Director-General may, based on recommendation of competent department, cancel and / or suspend or amend the license and stop construction works in the following cases: 1- If it is proven that provisions of this law, license’s terms or approved charts had been violated and such violation had not been removed or the license had not been amended after notifying the owner thereof. 2- If the Licensee uses the license in a way that contradicts with the purposes for which it had been issued. 3- In case resolution is issued in regions that had been planned to amend buildings’ regulation and purpose of using them, provided that owner shall be granted the appropriate compensation if he had started construction works. Article 26 1- It is prohibited to construct or build estates, random temporary houses (caravans) without obtaining license from the competent department. 2- The President or General-Director is entitled to instruct competent authorities to remove all unlicensed estates, temporary houses (caravans) and stockades after notifying their owners of removal and elapse of notice period without conducting implementation. Article 27 1- The President may, based upon a report made by a committee formed for this purpose, order demolishing and removing any rickety or dilapidated buildings or constructions or which pose danger on operators of such buildings or pedestrians or constitute den or environmental or health hazard. 2- The owner or his representative shall be notified by written notice of the necessity to remove these buildings or constructions referred to. 3- If the owner or his representative refuses to remove such buildings or constructions or in case of failure to find him within one month from the notice’s date, the Municipality may demolish and remove the same at the owner’s expense and collect such expenses from him as if they were final judgment issued by the court. 4- Those who had been notified as mentioned in the above second clause may grieve against the decision of the President within two weeks from the notice’s date to His Highness The Ruler or his representative and the decision of His Highness in this regard shall be final. 5- The owner or occupant shall not be entitled to claim Municipality or whoever carried out demolition and removal for any damage or compensation whenever building or constructions had been demolished or removed as indicated in this article. Article 28 Fines Each one violates the provisions of this law or the executive regulation thereof or resolutions issued in implementation thereof shall be punished by fines and penalties, according to type of violation set out in the schedule attached to executive regulation. The violator is not entitled to continue carrying out construction works except after removing the violation within a period not exceeding one month from the date of the notice whether by amending the license, if it is technically acceptable, or by removal otherwise the Municipality shall do this at the expense of the violator unless the President decides otherwise. Article 29 Disputes If a dispute arises between the owner and / or contractor and / or consultant and contractor in respect of the building project, subject of license, the dispute shall be referred to Dispute Settlement Committee referred to in article (3) unless it is settled amicably within one week form the date it was raised by any of them. The Committee should decide on the dispute on an urgent basis and the resolution thereof shall be issued my majority of the Committee’s members. Article 30 Grievance Committee The owner and / or engineer and / or contractor are entitled to grieve to Grievance Committee, through the President or Director –General, as the case may be, against decisions issued by Disputes Committee or those issued by the competent department to reject issuing or renewing license or suspend or cancel the same within (30) days from the date of notifying him thereof by the competent department. The grievance shall be presented to President’s Office that refers the same to Grievance Committee. Article 31 The President shall issue the executive regulation and resolutions of this law. Article 32 Building Organization Law no. 6 of 1969 and whatever violates the provisions of this law shall be Article 33 This law shall come into force after one month from the date of its issuance and shall be published in the Official Gazette. Saud Bin Saqr Bin Mohamed Al Qasimi Crown Prince & Deputy Ruler Issued by us on this day sixth of Rajab 1430H. Corresponding to twenty ninth of June 2009G.