Newsletter
The Taipei City Government's Measures for Curbing Newly-Built Illegal Buildings Enforced on 1 September 2015
In order to ensure the soundness of building management, the Taipei City Government (TCG) stipulated the Taipei City Government's Measures for Cubing Newly-Built Illegal Buildings ("Measures"). According to the Measures, with regard to the buildings in Taipei with the occupancy permits which were obtained on or after 1 September 2015, when applying for the first registration of the building ownership or for the transfer of the building ownership with the land office based on sale and purchase, exchange, gift or trust, the developer/owner of the buildings may include a "free-from illegal buildings certificate" ("Certificate") issued by an architect (within the past three months) in the application. If the developer/owner of the building does not include such a certificate in the application, the land office will not prohibit the ownership transfer registration; however, the land office will report to the Department of Urban Development of the Taipei City Government (UDD) for the UDD to investigate into whether there is any illegal building. If the UDD dispatches personnel to conduct an on-site inspection and discovers any illegal building, the UDD will include the building in the list of the buildings to be dismantled.
When issuing a Certificate, the architect should compare the as-built drawings attached to the occupancy permit ("Drawings") with the actual exclusive section and agreed exclusive section. The architect cannot issue a Certificate if he/she discovers any of the following circumstances:
1. The external wall of the balcony was dismantled and re-built not in compliance with the occupancy permit;
2. An additional window(s) or fence type security window(s) was/were built in the balcony; however, fall prevention facilities are allowed;
3. A mezzanine was illegally built;
4. The building was illegally extended vertically or horizontally; or
5. A building was illegally built on a terrace that is agreed for exclusive use.
In addition, the architect will also need to compare the Drawings with the actual rooftop and statutory vacant land. If the architect discovers any illegal buildings, he/she is required to report the same to the UDD.
The Measures were enforced on 1 September 2015. It is widely expected that there will be less illegal building issues with regard to the newly-built buildings owing to the enforcement of the Measures. In addition, pursuant to the Standard Operating Procedures for Reporting and Dismantling Illegal Buildings stipulated by the TCG, any buildings illegally built on or after 1 January 1995, which are not compliant with the Rules Governing the Handling of Illegal Buildings in Taipei City, should be reported to the UDD. Meanwhile, any illegal building existing on or before 31 December 1994 should be photographed, put on the blacklist, and categorized and handled in accordance with the TCG's schedule.