EIA: The Seal of Approval for the construction of a property
Upon closer inspection, any property buyer might notice the term "EIA" on the ads, which leads to a bunch of questions as to what that is or how important that is. Today, PropertyScout will take you on a walkthrough on what the EIA is and help clear up your questions and concerns.
What is the EIA?
EIA is short for Environmental Impact Assessment Report, a report used to assess and evaluate a project and developer's potential environmental effects (positive and negative).
The making of an EIA report is required by law, under the Pollution Control Department (dated 1992) article 46, stating all condo or housing projects are required to complete an EIA report. The reason is because it serves as an agreement in which the project owner can use to get the construction of that property approved. An EIA report is usually attached after various permit forms, particularly the construction permit form, in pitching for a housing or condo project construction.
Failure to complete an EIA report
In case a property owner fails to complete an EIA report accordingly, affiliated agencies or agencies who grant the owners approval may put the construction on hold until further notice or terminate the approval for construction altogether.
Who needs an EIA report?
Condominiums
The following are two qualifications for condominiums, should they need an EIA report completion to proceed:
- Up to 80 units and above.
- Usable area of 4000 square meters and above.
Housing Estates
Housing estates are also required to complete an EIA report as much as condominiums do, which is where these two qualifications come in:
- Up to 500 plots of land.
- 100 rai of land used.
What does an EIA Report cover?
There are two primary areas the EIA report covers, both with two sub-categories each.
Resources
In the way of resources, the EIA covers various surroundings and how they affect the property in both positive and negative ways.
- Physical: These are factors which can affect the property physically, such as the land, water, air, and sound.
- Biological: Overall surroundings such as the woods, animals, and nature.
Value
In terms of value, the two areas of value covered by the EIA include:
- Usage: Physical & biological usage, the usage of the land and surroundings of that area.
- Life: Economy, career, traditions, beliefs, beauty.
How important is an EIA report?
If the EIA submission was unsuccessful or was not approved, you won't be able to request for a construction permit form. However, if the construction was done before requesting the the construction permit form and the request was unsuccessful, the construction will be called off instantly.
Usually, the project owner must submit the EIA report before commencing construction by at least six months in advance due to the evaluation time needed. The project owner needs to submit the completed EIA report to the Department of Environmental Impact for evaluation. If the application was unsuccessful, however, there needs to be continuous adjustments and corrections made until the application is successful.
How to submit the EIA report
- An EIA report submission is required upon finalization of property construction plans. Evaluation period after the submission is six months.
- Once the EIA report has been submitted, the Department of Environmental Impact will be evaluating the project based on various factors.
- There are two possible outcomes:
- Successful: You will be able to request for a construction permit form and proceed with the construction.
- Unsuccessful: There are two possible solutions for this outcome. Either the construction had not begun, to which the construction will not be allowed until the application is successful. On the other hand, if the construction was done during the evaluation before the application result, the construction will be put on hold until the application result comes out.
**The downside with non-construction permitted pre-sales is that the construction will be called off and the owner will have to refund reservations IF the application was unsuccessful.
How to check a project's EIA
Even as a buyer, you are still able to check for the EIA of the project you are interested in, using their dedicated website. Thanks to the publicity of the EIA website, buyers are able to check to make sure before purchasing.
What if the project doesn't meet the EIA standards?
If you are doubtful of the project meeting EIA standards (or if it actually DOESN'T meet EIA standards), you have the option to discuss and negotiate with the project directly regarding how they will be responsible in terms of refunds (refund period and whether the refund is in full or not). The buyer can check via the property purchasing contract regarding possible solutions in case of contract termination.
However, if negotiations result in an unsatisfactory solution, you have the option to report to the Office of The Consumer Protection Board (OCPB) along with relevant materials as evidence. Alternatively, you can also consult a real estate lawyer to accompany your discussions and negotiations
Benefits of EIA
EIA is not only beneficial to project owners and property developers, but also the buyers as well.
| For Projects | For Buyers & Investors |
| Preparation for and prevention of issues during construction | Trust in purchasing |
| Getting the best out of resources | Helps in decision-making for investors |
| Prevention of negative environmental impacts on the project | Guarantees there will be no construction cancellations |
| Prevents the project from being sued | Safe pre-sale purchases |
| Alleviates the construction costs |
Conclusion
If you made it this far into this blog, you will now see that the completion and successful application of an EIA report plays a significant role in the establishment of your property. For property developers or project owners, make sure to plan out your construction carefully and complete the EIA report ahead of time. If all goes well your application should turn out successful and you can then proceed with the construction once you have successfully requested for a construction permit form. For buyers and investors, the EIA essentially serves as trust-building between the buyers/investors and the property owner or project as a whole.
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