The European Commission has given the go ahead to the Maltese government to bring into force a Legal Notice that will introduce a licensing of contractors regime that will regulate the demolition, excavation and construction sectors, sources told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

The green light was given following a rigorous proportionality test that was presented to the Commission according to the EU Directive that demands this test whenever legislation impacts the performance of any profession.

The sources said that it is expected that the Legal Notice will be published in the next few days and this will be followed by a call to all contractors working in the fields of demolition, excavation and construction to apply for a licence by 31 October 2023. Those who do not apply by this date will not be able to operate as from 1 November 2023, as Minister for Public Works and Planning Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi had announced when the government’s measure was made public earlier this year.

The applications will be evaluated by a Licensing Committee to be established within the Building & Construction Authority according to the Legal Notice and all those who will be waiting for their licence during the evaluation period will be able to continue to operate in the sectors covered by the Legal Notice.

Those who shall apply for a licence after 1 November will have to wait for the evaluation of their application and the eventual issuing of the licence to be able to operate.

The introduction of the Licensing of Contractors was spearheaded by Zrinzo Azzopardi following an intensive consultation process with stakeholders and with the general public in March and April. Open public consultations held in various localities in Malta and Gozo were attended by more than 1,000 participants.