MPs pass new building law spelling tough penalties

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Uganda's Parliament has passed a new proposed building control law that spells out tough penalties for non-compliance.

The Building Control (Amendment) Bill, 2025, got a collective nod from legislators in a session chaired by Speaker Anita Among on Wednesday (September 3).

Under the Bill, which is now awaiting President Yoweri Museveni’s assent to become law, offenders risk jail terms of up to 12 years or fines of up to 10 million shillings, or both.

It was presented in Parliament in April this year for approval by works and transport state minister Fred Byamukama.

He told the House that the Bill is designed to address the gaps in the Building Control Act, Cap. 136 relating to the composition and powers of the National Building Review Board (NBRB), composition of building committees and the procedure for approval of building and occupational permits.

“In particular, the Bill seeks to align the composition of the board (NBRB) and building committees, and increase the penalty for persons who carry out building operations without a valid building permit issued by a building committee,” said Byamukama.

He also said in particular, the piece of legislation seeks to streamline the procedure for approval of building permits and occupation permits where a building committee fails to make a decision on an application for a building permit or occupation permit.

Any person whose negligence causes or leads to the occurrence of an accident on a building or a building construction site, which results in the injury or death of another person or the destruction of property risks a fine of up 500 currency points (sh10m) or imprisonment of up to 12 years, or both.

The proposed fine for building without a valid permit is one currency point (sh20,000) per square metre of the area or imprisonment of up to two years, or both.

Section 34 of the current law says anyone convicted pays a fine of up to 50 currency points (1 million shillings) or imprisonment of up to two years, or both, irrespective of how big the building is.

The proposed law also provides express penalties for certain offences and empowers a building committee to demolish or order the evacuation of buildings constructed in contravention of the Act.

“In the current law, you have to go through the legal process to penalise non-compliant developers, but this one says once they find you contravening the Act, you will be penalised there and then and your site sealed off until you abide by the law,” Eng. Joseph Acai, the NBRB manager of investigations, told New Vision.

He explained that an average three-roomed house is about 30 square metres, which means a fine is 600,000 shillings if found building without a permit.

“Generally, we look at the minimum room sizes of about 3x3 metres or 3.2 to 3.2 metres. If, for example, you are walking and every step you make is equivalent to a metre, it means you walk three steps in one direction and you turn 90 degrees and walk the next three steps, which is a 3x3-metre room. So, if you have a larger building, you pay more,” said Acai.

Eng. Anthony Rucukye, the former NBRB manager of investigations, said the new law gives the board powers to enforce it instead of relying entirely on other authorities, such as Kampala Capital City Authority.

He said the proposed penalty fees, if approved, would serve as a major deterrent to other would-be offenders and prevent building-related accidents.

“Express penalties are welcome in a built environment where you have a structure that will potentially kill people. If they come and find a building without a building permit, they fine you and you pay,” said Rucukye.