Department of Urban Development, Taipei City Government

In order to reduce the hazard of tiles falling and hitting pedestrians, Taipei City Government has implemented a plan called “Taipei City case reporting of peeling building facades reward program.” Residents can send in concrete evidence to the Construction Management Office for verification, and the informants could be rewarded up to $150,000NTD.
The Construction Management Office has established an ad hoc group to survey the comprehensive peeling building facades in the city for inventory and inspection purposes. Starting in July, it has even commissioned a professional association to provide advice on household improvement. Posters of “beware of falling objects” will be posted on the buildings that endanger public safety. If the building owners do not take action to improve or rectify the situation within a specific period, then they will be fined from $60,000 to $300,000 for violating construction codes. The professional association will also be fined. Construction Management Office further explained that even though a comprehensive inspection and inventory process is taking place, there could still be some cases that slip through the crack. Thus, a reward program is in place to penalize those buildings not in the Construction Management inventory roster with public safety concerns. Informers can receive half of the maximum fine with the reward prize up to $150,000NTD.
Application period will last from August 5th until October 31st for residents applying for “peeling building façade repair grants.” The estimated application is 1,000, and the category will be divided into “crane fee” and “exterior finished fee.” The limit for every case subsidy will be $40,000. If the building is over 10 years old, facing streets, or facing eave-less sidewalk, it will be repaired completely after one month. For any additional questions, please call the Construction Management Office. 1999 or 02-27208889. For exterior inspection survey, please dial 2701; and for repair grants inquiry, please dial 8404.