Abu Dhabi: Two global firms will now be responsible for inspection and auditing at sites of master developments in the capital, the Department of Urban Planning and Municipalities announced in a statement sent on Sunday.
The change in audit and inspection procedures is part of a strategy to hand over these responsibilities for engineering projects to third party entities, in keeping with international best practices.
“The initiative will facilitate the timely and accurate delivery of construction projects. In its initial phase, the ruling will apply to government and semi-government projects, as well as master developments and investment projects,” said Saif Al Qubaisi, general manager of Abu Dhabi City Municipality.
Under the new system, contractors and consultants will no longer need to report to the Municipality to complete inspection and audit procedures. Instead, third party inspectors will undertake these, and only fully completed operational plans have to be submitted to the Municipality for final apprivals.
At this stage, France-headquartered engineering inspection and consultancy firm, SocTech, and Perovirtas, a specialist consultant for quality, health, safety and environment, have been authorised as third party auditors.
Other companies can also apply to be registered as third party auditors, the Municipality statement said. Each company must be owned by at least one Emirati partner, who must hold 51 per cent of the company’s capital. Non-Emirati partners must also hold Bachelor’s degrees in engineering. Other technical qualifications must also be held by directors and technical staff in the company.
Last year, the Abu Dhabi City Municipality issued permits for 329 projects, including the canal development project at Al Maqta, Qasr al-Hosn restoration works, the construction of the Martyr’s Memorial, and the Yas Acres project.
