OBO: No rainwater catchment, no permit

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Office of the Building Official (OBO) reminded new applicants for building permits, or those seeking renewal, that without rainwater catchments in their buildings, they will not be given permits.

This was the statement of Architect Florante Catalan, the head of the OBO, as the renewal of business permits will end on January 31, 2020.

Establishments will need to be checked before the renewal of their business permits and one of these inspections involves the OBO checking if they complied with the rainwater catchment ordinance of the city.

“Kung walay water catchment sa ilang design, wala silay building permit. If walay water catchment ang building paghuman tukod, wala sad silay occupancy permit. Nya ig renew sa ilang business permit, if walay water catchment, wala puy renewal,” said Catalan.

 (If their design does not have a water catchment, they will not be issued a building permit. After construction, if the building does not have a water catchment, they will not be issued an occupancy permit. If upon renewal and they do not have water catchment, their permits will not be renewed.)

In November 2019, Mayor Edgardo Labella has ordered the implementation of a 13-year-old ordinance on rainwater conservation that would require all establishments to have rainwater catchments.

 Labella has issued an executive order to the Office of the Building Official (OBO) to begin the implementation of the ordinance.

This would mean that all establishments and residential structures without water catchment facilities could be fined up to P250,000 for violating the ordinance.

Catalan said the ordinance has always been implemented in the term of Labella since July 2019. The same cannot be said for the previous administrations, says Catalan, but they are monitoring the city’s buildings to ensure all establishments have followed the ordinance.

For businesses, it can be easy because they renew their business permits every two years, but for residential homes, the OBO can only encourage the households to follow the ordinance.

Catalan said rainwater catchments with at least a capacity of 3 cubic meters can be bought in hardware stores in the city.

“If you can build a house, you can buy a rainwater catchment,” he said.

The OBO said that rainwater catchments would help the city conserve water by collecting rainwater. This will also help store water for the upcoming summer.  /rcg