The infrastructure ministry proposed measures Monday to prevent the falsification of building data, including certifying architects with expertise in key areas and requiring builders to use those certified architects when constructing large buildings.
The package, drafted in a final report to a panel of the ministry's Council for Social Infrastructure, also recommends requiring property developers to buy insurance policies to cover the cost of rebuilding condominium complexes or other buildings whose structure has been found to be defective.
The ministry worked out the report to improve building rules in the wake of fabrications of earthquake-resistance data by architect Hidetsugu Aneha, which led to the construction of nearly 100 substandard hotels and condos across 18 prefectures.
The report will be finalized at the end of August after public comments on the latest draft are taken.
Under the proposals, the central government would newly certify first-class architects with expertise in special fields as "special architects for building structure."
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