One year ago today, we started our blog on the adventures of building and living in Belize. While we haven't started living in Belize as of yet, the building of our home does continue...well sort of. The Gov't of Belize has put a "stop work" order on our house and several others in the Consejo area. It seems that they have decided to start enforcing a law requiring that all plans be approved by a Belizian architect and now need a stamp on the plans to prove it. Only problem is trying to find a certified Belizian architect. It seems that there are none in northern Belize and the problem with their new plan is there is only a hand full of building inspectors for the whole country, once you do get the plans certified. In the mean time, at least half the construction workers in the Corozal area have been laid off due to the work stoppage, so until they figure this out, a lot of people are unemployed. For us it is just another inconvenience, for them, they will have to find other work to feed their families at a time when work is just not available.
So we wait and let our contractor work things out. Our house is essentially finished but for the windows and the fixtures. We return to Belize in December to pick out the tiling and cabinets, so hopefully we will have a better idea of what's going on by then.
So I have decided to suspend work on the blog, until at least late December, because it seems I am blogging more about our lives in Southern California than I am about Belize. It doesn't seem fair to the people who read my blog, expecting news in and about Belize, to write about things that they would have no interest in. I have no new pictures, work has stopped, so there is nothing new to write except what we do here in the States. But we will return.....someday.
Thanks to all of you following our blog and I have enjoyed corresponding with many of you. I will still check my comments from time to time, and for those of you who still want to contact us, you can leave a comment on the blog and it will be forwarded to my e-mail. Good luck to all of those wanting to live in their own "slice of paradise" and I hope your dreams come true.
Perry and Mischelle
7 years ago
8 comments:
Sorry to hear of the hold-up on construction. Hopefully the gov't will awaken and things will return to normal.
Hal Williams - your neighbor
What I want to know is, are they also going to enforce these building codes on poor Belizeans who are just trying to put up a small house? You know what I'm talkin' about.
Right now it looks like it will just be enforced on the gringos. I asked the same question regarding thatched roof construction which is common in Belize. We are still looking for that elusive Belizian architect.
You probably already know this, but here's a site that might help
http://www.architectsofbelize.com/green.html
Happy Blog Anniversary.
I didn't know if y'all had read this article, so I am sending you the link here; thought you might find it pertinent.
http://consejo.bz/building_in_belize/editorial.html
Or if not pertinent--maybe helpful? You know what I mean!LOL!
Hi Sandy,
Thanks for all of your information. I have seen both of the sites you mentioned. The editorial was written by a local friend in Consejo Shores. As for the Architect site, several contractors and "certified Belizean structural engineers" have made a visit to the head of the dept and could not get a straight answer to their requirements. Seems that the requirements from one group do not satisfy the requirements from another group. The law states that the plans can be approved by a Belizian architect or Belizian structural engineer but that doesn't seem to be the case. Too many chiefs and not enough indians. Our contractor went to the powers that be and said just tell us what you want and we will do it, but they couldn't provide us in writing, what they wanted us to do and our contractor doesn't want to proceed without a written document in case the rules change again.
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