Does your Koh Phangan hotel or condo need an annual safety inspection? Building Control Act Section 32 bis

Does a completed hotel, resort or condominium building on Koh Phangan need any further safety compliance once construction is finished? For larger buildings, yes — a Ministerial Regulation issued under Section 32 bis of the Building Control Act B.E. 2522 (1979) requires certain building categories to undergo a periodic, licensed safety inspection for as long as the building stands, not just a one-time approval at completion.

Which buildings are covered

• High-rise buildings — 23 metres or taller.
• Extra-large buildings — 10,000 sqm or more of total floor area.
• Places of public assembly — 1,000 sqm or more, or a capacity of 500 people or more.
• Hotels — 80 guest rooms or more.
• Entertainment venues and other service establishments — 200 sqm or more.
• Residential and condominium buildings — 2,000 sqm or more of total floor area.
• Industrial buildings — multi-storey, with 5,000 sqm or more of usable area.
• Large advertising signs and structures — 15 metres or taller, or 50 sqm or more (25 sqm if mounted on another building).

A single private villa or a small guesthouse under these thresholds isn't covered by this regime. Note this is a different trigger from the environmental impact assessment thresholds for new hotel and resort projects — that's a project-approval question at the planning stage; Section 32 bis is a recurring, post-completion safety obligation that applies for the life of an existing building.

What the inspection covers, and how often

A qualifying building must be inspected by a licensed engineer or architect registered as a building inspector with the Building Control Committee. The inspection covers the structure itself plus its electrical, fire-prevention, ventilation, drainage and mechanical systems. Buildings covered by the rule need this done on two schedules: an annual inspection every year, and a more thorough structural and systems inspection every five years. Once the local building official is satisfied, they issue a certificate — commonly referred to as Ror.1 (ร.1) — which the owner is expected to keep current and be able to produce.

The penalty for non-compliance (Section 65 bis)

• Up to 3 months' imprisonment and/or a fine of up to ฿60,000 for failing to arrange the required inspection.
• A continuing daily fine of up to ฿10,000 that keeps accruing until the building is brought into compliance — this is the detail that matters most for a buyer, because it means an owner who has ignored the requirement for years can be sitting on a large, growing liability that doesn't disappear on its own.

Why this matters when buying

This regime is aimed at hotels, resorts and larger condominium or apartment buildings — not the single villas that make up most of this site's coverage — but it matters directly to anyone buying into, or taking over management of, a larger property on Phangan. Before closing on a hotel, resort, or a unit in a sizeable condominium building, ask for the current Ror.1 certificate and the inspection history. A lapsed or never-obtained certificate is a red flag distinct from the construction-quality questions covered in your villa-build contract and the due-diligence points in vetting a property-management company — it's an ongoing regulatory compliance gap that can also complicate renewing a hotel operating licence, and the accruing daily fine transfers with the building, not with whoever owned it when the fine started running.