292-building conditions survey in historic center

[Photo: Renato Marques]

The Land and Urban Construction Bureau (DSSCU) announced yesterday that it will launch a building condition survey next Wednesday, with the first phase covering 292 buildings across three zones in the old district around the Ruins of St. Paul’s and running for 60 to 90 days.

The pilot area covers Rua de Nossa Senhora do Amparo, Rua da Tercena, Rua do Infante, Rua de Cinco de Outubro, and Rua das Estalagens.

The authorities said the pilot program is intended to support the government’s policy direction and the Third Five-Year Plan by advancing urban renewal and systematically gathering data on shared facilities and components inside buildings, as well as the overall external maintenance condition of buildings in the Rua de Nossa Senhora do Amparo and Rua das Estalagens area.

The authorities have urged building residents and property management bodies to cooperate with the survey, particularly by allowing inspectors wearing DSSCU-approved identification cards and specific work vests to enter common areas to conduct inspections and evaluations.

Outsourced inspectors will visit during the daytime to examine building facades, lobbies, stairwells, corridors, rooftops, and utility meter rooms, gathering and recording data on building components, utilities, and maintenance conditions through on-site inspections and photography.

The authorities said they will review the program before gradually expanding it to other districts, prioritizing older urban areas.

The collected data will serve as a reference for urban renewal work. All information will be used solely for government statistics and analysis and will be handled in strict accordance with the Personal Data Protection Law.

They also reminded the public that neither the bureau nor its contracted inspectors will charge any fees, request identity documents, bank account details, or passwords, or send notifications by text message, email, or other means that ask people to click on links.

A dedicated website for the building condition survey also launched yesterday.

The DSSCU director, Lai Weng Leong, said last month that the government will pragmatically advance a survey of old-district buildings, support the so-called “three-nos” buildings in repairing utilities, and carry out protective renewal around the Ruins of St. Paul’s.

The “three-nos” buildings are low-rise buildings that have no owners’ corporation or condominium committee, no property management company (no hired entity handling daily operations or security), and no active resident organization or coordinated group of tenants or owners to manage maintenance or hygiene.

Starting in the fourth quarter, it will gradually launch a citywide baseline survey of buildings 40 years or older, recording basic information for each, including condition, disrepair, and signs of danger.

“With our current staffing, it is impossible to survey all of Macau’s buildings quickly, so we plan to outsource the work to professional engineers, district by district,” Lai affirmed.