The building of attic-like apartments in the municipality of Chisinau will remain suspended until stricter regulations that will provide benefits both for the dwellers and for the block are adopted. Stricter provisions will be formulated as regards the energy efficiency of buildings, laying out of the adjoining areas and ensuring of anti-fire safety, Mayor of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca said when presenting the progress report for last year, IPN reports.

The mayor noted that the officials from the construction sector must admit that mistakes were made, but the situation can be remedied. “The intention to build attic-like apartments was evidently a good one. Nobody denies this. The first attic-like apartments erected were a success, but then they started to make errors. Correct regulations must be worked out,” he stated, adding that the appropriate use of the areas on roofs can help extend the residential areas by 10-15% and no new land will have to be used.

On May 1, an attic-like apartment story on Independentei St in Chisinau’s Botanica district burned completely. The fire was caused by a short circuit in a wire that supplied electricity to 12 apartments. It went through the ceiling and a failure occurred following an overload. As a result of this incident, the local authorities annulled all the construction authorizations with the expired period of validity and no longer issue new ones.