APP 01 Module

Laws Affecting the 2

Practice of Architecture

Defining and differentiating terms related to Architectural Laws such as:

* Republic Act (R.A.) * Presidential Decree (P.D.)
* Executive Orders (E.O.) * Batas Pambansa (BP)

Overview of Hammurabi Code

UNIT 2
Topic 2 – Defining and differentiating terms related to Architecture Laws

I. Introduction

It is better to have a grasp of the laws that regulate the practice of the
architecture profession than to suffer from the high cost of creating numerous
revisions in plans, drawings, and actions caused by inadvertent misperceptions during
the process of attempting to create the so-called Architectural Design.” Ignorance of
the laws excuses no one (Article 3, New Civil Code of the Philippines.”

II. Understanding the Nature of Laws

There are basically two types of laws that the society follows.

Statutory Law - the laws and ordinances that are legislated by people in a
community that are authorized to do so.

Examples related to our profession, are the provisions under the National
Building code, The Fire Code, the Accessibility Law, and other construction and
architecture laws.

Common Law - the laws that are not legislated but are generally accepted by
virtue of its historical, cultural, or religious origin and value.

Examples, the Law on Eminent Domain and the Law on Variance.

COMMON LAWS (non-statutory law):

“Eminent Domain (compulsory purchase or compulsory acquisition): in common law,

legal systems is the power of the state to appropriate private property for its own use without the
owner's consent.

The term eminent domain is used primarily where the term was derived in the mid-19th
Century from a legal treatise written by the Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius in 1625.

The term compulsory purchase, also originating in the mid-19th Century, is used primarily in
England and Wales, and other jurisdictions that follow the principles of English law. Originally, the
power of eminent domain was assumed to arise from natural law as an inherent power of the
sovereign.” – Wikipedia 2005

Laws may also be easier understood if it is categorized into classifications.

Jurisdiction - Laws that are set by the National government through the Congress or the
Chief Executive of the land.
Examples:

a. Republic Act (R.A.) a piece of legislation used to create policy in order to carry out
the principles of the Constitution. It is crafted and passed by the Congress of the
Philippines and approved by the President of Philippines. It can only be repealed by
a similar act of Congress.

b. Presidential Decree (P.D.) an innovation made by President Ferdinand E. Marcos

with the proclamation of Martial Law. They served to arrogate unto the Chief
Executive the lawmaking powers of Congress. Only President Marcos issued
Presidential Decrees. In the Freedom Constitution of 1986, President Corazon C.
Aquino recognized the validity of existing Presidential Decrees unless otherwise
repealed.

c. Executive Order (E.O.) Acts of the President providing for rules of a general or
permanent character in implementation or execution of constitutional or statutory
powers shall be promulgated in executive orders.”Administrative Code of 1987, Book
III, Chapter 2, Section 2.

d. Batas Pambansa (B.P.) Legislative Acts of the legislature established by virtue of the
1973 Constitution: first the Interim Batasang Pambansa, then the Regular Batasang
Pambansa. The Batasang Pambansa was abolished with the assumption of
revolutionary powers by President Corazon C. Aquino and the promulgation of the
1986 Freedom Constitution. However, Article IV of the 1986 Freedom Constitution
recognized the validity of Batas Pambansa unless otherwise repealed or amended.
LAWS AFFECTING THE PRACTICE OF ARCHITECTURE IN THE PHILIPPINES

I. Architecture Laws

RA9266 - An Act Providing for a More Responsive and Comprehensive Regulation for the
Registration, Licensing and Practice of Architecture, Repealing for the Purpose
Republic Act No. 545, as Amended, Otherwise Known as “An Act to Regulate the
Practice of Architecture in the Philippines,” and for Other Purposes (March 15, 2004)

RA1581 – Architecture Law of 1956

RA545 – Architecture Law of 1950

II. Regulatory and Enforcement Laws

RA8981 - Professional Regulation Commission Modernization Act (December 5, 2000)

PD223 - Creating the Professional Regulation Commission (June 22, 1973)

RA386 - Civil Code of the Philippines (June 18, 1949)

EO546 - Creating a Ministry of Public Works and a Ministry of Transportation and

Communications (July 23, 1979)

RA7160 - Local Government Code of the Philippines (1991)

RA876 - The Philippine Arbitration Law (June 19, 1953)

III. Design and Construction Reference Laws

a. On Safety and Protection

PD1096 - National Building Code of the Philippines (Feb 19, 1977 / IRR latest revision = April 30,
2005)

RA6541 - National Building Code of 1972 (August 26, 1972)

PD1185 - Fire Code of the Philippines (1977)

RA9263 - Bureau of Fire Protection and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology
Professionalization Act (March 10, 2004)

BP344 - Enhancing the Mobility of Disabled Persons (Feb 25, 1983 / IRR latest rev. = April 30,
2005)
b. On Housing and Funding

PD957 - Condominium and Subdivision Buyers’ Protective Decree (July 12, 1976)

RA6552 - Real Estate Buyers’ Protective Act (August 26, 1972)

RA4726 - The Condominium Act (June 18, 1966)

BP220 - Standards for Economic and Socialized Housing projects (March 25, 1982)

RA8763 - Home Guarantee Corporation Act (March 7, 2000)

EO538 - Prescribing the Administration of the Home Development Mutual Funds (June 4,
1979)

EO90 - Creating the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (December 17,
1986)

RA3469 - Allowing the Construction of Multi-Storey Tenement Housing Projects for the Poor
and Homeless (June 16, 1962)

c. On Water and Plumbing

RA1378 - National Plumbing Code of the Philippines (January 28, 1959 / latest revision – Dec 21,
1999)

RA6234 - Creating the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (June 19, 1971)

RA9286 - Latest Amendment to PD198 or Provincial Water Utilities Act of 1973 (April 2,
2004)

PD1067 - Water Code of the Philippines (1977)

d. On Environment Protection

RA9003 - Ecological Waste Management Program Law (January 26, 2001)

RA3931 - National Water and Air Pollution Control Commission (June 18, 1964)

PD1586 - Establishing Environmental Impact Statement System (1978)

PD1152 - Philippine Environmental Code (June 6, 1977)

PD984 - Pollution Control Decree (1976)

PD772 - Penalizing Squatting And Other Similar Acts (1975)

IV. Government Service and Ethics Laws

RA8293 - Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (June 22, 1997 / January 1, 1998)

RA3019 - Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (1961)

RA8974 - Law on Acquisition of Right-of-Way, Site or Location for National Government

Infrastructure Projects (November 7, 2000)

RA8439 - Magna Carta for Scientists, Engineers, & Researchers in the Government (December
22, 1997)

RA6713 - Code of Ethical Conduct of a Public Official and Employees (1972)

EO525 - Responsibility of the Public Estate Authority on Reclamation Projects (February 14,
1979)
 Code of Hammurabi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Code of Hammurabi is a well-preserved Babylonian code of law of

ancient Mesopotamia, dated to about 1754 BC (Middle Chronology). It is one of the oldest
deciphered writings of significant length in the world. The sixth Babylonian
king, Hammurabi, enacted the code. A partial copy exists on a 2.25-metre-tall (7.4 ft)
stone stele. It consists of 282 laws, with scaled punishments, adjusting "an eye for an eye,
a tooth for a tooth" (lex talionis) as graded based on social stratification depending on
social status and gender, of slave versus free, man versus woman.
Nearly half of the code deals with matters of contract, establishing the wages to be paid
to an ox driver or a surgeon for example. Other provisions set the terms of a transaction,
the liability of a builder for a house that collapses, or property that is damaged while left in
the care of another. A third of the code addresses issues concerning household and family
relationships such as inheritance, divorce, paternity, and reproductive behavior. Only one
provision appears to impose obligations on a government official; this provision
establishes that a judge who alters his decision after it is written down is to be fined and
removed from the bench permanently. A few provisions address issues related to military
service.
The laws covered such subjects as:
SLANDER
Ex. Law #127: "If any one 'point the finger' at a sister of a god or the wife of any one, and
can not prove it, this man shall be taken before the judges and his brow shall be marked
(by cutting the skin, or perhaps hair).

FRAUD
Ex. Law #265: "If a herdsman, to whose care cattle or sheep have been entrusted, be
guilty of fraud and make false returns of the natural increase, or sell them for money,
then shall he be convicted and pay the owner ten times the loss.

SLAVERY AND STATUS OF SLAVES AS PROPERTY

Ex. Law #15: "If anyone take a male or female slave of the court, or a male or female
slave of a freed man, outside the city gates, he shall be put to death.

THE DUTIES OF WORKERS

Ex. Law #42: "If any one take over a field to till it, and obtain no harvest therefrom, it must
be proved that he did no work on the field, and he must deliver grain, just as his neighbor
raised, to the owner of the field.

THEFT
Ex. Law #22: "If anyone is committing a robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to
death."

TRADE
Ex. Law #104: "If a merchant gives an agent grain, wool, oil, or any other goods to
transport, the agent shall give a receipt for the amount, and compensate the
merchant therefore, he shall obtain a receipt from the merchant for the money that
he gives the merchant.
LIABILITY
Ex. Law #53: "If any one be too apathetic to keep his dam in primly condition, and does
not so keep it; if then the dam break and all the fields be flooded, then shall he in whose
dam the break occurred be sold for money, and the money shall replace the crops which
he has caused to be ruined.

DIVORCE
Ex. Law #142: "If a woman quarrel with her husband, and say: "You are not congenial to
me," the reasons for her prejudice must be presented. If she is guiltless, and there is no
fault on her part, but he leaves and neglects her, then no guilt attaches to this woman, she
shall take her dowry and go back to her father's house.

ADULTERY
Ex. Law #129: "If the wife of a man has been caught lying with another man, they shall
bind them and throw them into the waters. If the owner of the wife would save his wife then
in turn the king could save his servant.

PERJURY
Ex. Law #3: "If a man has borne false witness in a trial, or has not established the
statement that he has made, if that case be a capital trial, that man shall be put to death.