There was no evidence of excavation work having been conducted, the Chamber of Architects said following its inspection of the building collapse site in Paceville.

On Monday morning, the Council of the Malta Chamber of Architects (the Kamra tal-Periti, or KTP for short) continued its investigation into the building collapse in Paceville that occurred on Wednesday night.

The building that had collapsed was located adjacent to a demolition site.

Escorted by Deputy Director of the Civil Protection Department, Perit Graham Attard, Council members of the KTP were shown the emergency stabilisation works carried out under his direction in the affected area. "The Council then conducted a thorough inspection of the site, including the remains of Tania Flats, to help form a collective professional opinion on the cause of the collapse and determine whether professional negligence by a warrant holder was a contributing factor," the KTP said.

"While the investigation into the circumstances leading to the collapse is ongoing, the Council noted that there was no evidence of excavation work having been conducted on-site at any point during the project. This was corroborated by the fact that the perit in charge of the project had not sought clearance for excavation works, nor had the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) granted any authorisation for such works. As a result, geological investigations were neither technically required under Eurocodes nor legally mandated. The Chamber of Architects urges all stakeholders to exercise restraint and caution when making public statements about such incidents without first-hand knowledge of the facts," the KTP said.

Earlier in the day, the Council of the Malta Chamber of Geologists expressed its grave concern about the tragic collapse of an apartment block in Paceville on 11 June, saying that it is linked to the "failure to implement the Jean Paul Sofia report". The council  of the Chamber of Geologists noted that the BCA continued to refuse to recognise the Malta Chamber of Geologists as a stakeholder of the building and construction industry and has repeatedly denied the Chamber membership on its Building and Construction Consultative Council. The Council of the Chamber of Geologists said that it commends the public authorities, particularly, the OHSA and the CPD for their timely action and intervention following this tragic event. "Nevertheless, the chamber said it believes authorities should be proactive. The Chamber of Geologists notes that there is no evidence that a ground investigation let alone a geological report were carried out at the site in Triq Paceville despite that works on site had reached the demolition/excavation phase."