2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-THREE - Public Planning and Development (§§ 1 — 11273) › PART I - Public Planning (§§ 1 — 229ccc) › Chapter 1C - Certification of Plans (§§ 73 — 75a) › § 73g - Procedures in cases of violations of the permit or endorsement issued

(a) Procedure prior to initiating construction of the works.—
(1) When the professional who drafted the plans, or the person charged with the inspection or supervision of a work, or an official authorized by the agency, discovers any irregularity in the approved plan or documents, he shall immediately file a complaint before the granting agency, or the Permit Management Office, identifying the work and describing, in a precise and detailed manner, the acts which constitute the fault or violation, also identifying, when possible, the person or persons responsible for the fault or violation.
(2) The agency, or the Permit Management Office, whichever the case may be, shall proceed to consider the case on its merits by holding a hearing for such purposes. Once it is concluded, the examining officer shall prepare a report with his findings of facts, conclusions of law, and recommendations.
(3) In those cases in which the agency decides to revoke, or if in some way its determination limits, alters or conditions the endorsement of the permit granted, the injured party shall have thirty (30) days after notice thereof to request a reconsideration of the determination before the agency itself. After using this remedy he may use any other remedy he understands is legally his.
(b) Procedure once the approved works have been commenced.—
(1) Administrative procedure.—
(A) Once the works have started, the professional who drafted the plans, the inspector, and/or the foreman of the works or an authorized official, shall be obliged to notify the agency concerned, or the Permit Management Office, if he discovers some fault, violation, irregularity or fraud in the approved works. He shall identify the works, or part thereof, and the acts which constitute the violation, identifying, if possible, the person or persons responsible.
(B) The agency, or the Permit Management Office, shall examine the complaint, and, if it warrants investigation, shall notify the party or parties deemed responsible, briefly explaining the matter before its consideration, and the date on which the hearing on the complaint will be held.
(C) Prior to the hearing the agency may direct the total or partial paralyzation of the works, motu proprio, in those cases in which the agency’s own act empowers it, or through the Permit Management Office by means of an injunction, when it deems it necessary to the public interest and safety. In these cases in which the agency or the Permit Management Office directs the paralyzation of the work prior to the hearing, the action shall be immediately notified to the party or parties deemed responsible, and to the owner and/or the developer and/or the contractor, and shall conduct the hearing within three working days. If the paralyzation continues after the hearing process has concluded, the agency or the Permit Management Office shall adopt a decision within ten (10) days, both terms to be counted from the date the injunction was issued.
(D) Upon its conclusion, the examiner shall prepare a report with its determinations of fact, conclusions of law and recommendations. When the agency directs the partial, or total paralyzation of the works, motu proprio, or through the Permit Management Office, said order shall be effective immediately.
(E) The party affected by determinations pursuant to the procedure provided in paragraphs (C) and (D) of this clause, above, shall have thirty (30) days from the date of notice to request a reconsideration of the determination issued before the agency or the Permit Management Office, whichever the case may be, or, he may use any legal remedy which judicially or administratively corresponds to him.
(2) Judicial procedure.—
(A) In those cases where the agency or the Permit Management Office, whichever the case may be, decides to seek the aid of the court to paralyze the works, after receiving and examining the complaint, it must file a petition before the corresponding District Court. The works and/or part thereof subject to the order must be precisely identified therein, alleging that it is in violation of the endorsement or approval granted, and indicating the acts which constitute the violation. The person or persons who are committing or are responsible for the violation shall be identified therein, and if they are not the same, the relationship or responsibility of the natural or juridical persons to whom the order is addressed. The court shall issue a provisional order addressed to said person or persons, requiring them to immediately paralyze the work, or the part thereof to which the petition refers, under advice of contempt, until his rights are heard in the corresponding hearings.
(B) The date of the hearing, which must be held within ten (10) days following the filing of the petition, shall be fixed in the provisional order, and the defendant shall be advised that he may appear at the hearing motu proprio or through counsel, to hear the charges against him; and if he fails to appear, a permanent order shall be issued.
(C) Said order must be served in the same manner as a summons for a first appearance in eviction cases. The services of any marshal of the courts of justice of Puerto Rico, or any member of the Police Corps of Puerto Rico, or any person of legal age who can read and write and is not the party, or his lawyer, nor has any interest in the complaint may be used to serve said order. A copy of the order and of the sworn petition shall be given to the defendant. Both documents shall bear the seal of the court.
(D) The defendant shall not be obliged to file any written allegation whatsoever in answer to the petition, but he may file any legal defense. Whenever there is a controversy as to the facts, the court will make a visual inspection, if it deems it convenient, or if any of the parties requests it during the hearing.
(E) The resolution may direct the permanent paralyzation of the works, or acts proven to be the violation as verified, or, definitely render the provisional order ineffective. Every resolution shall be in writing and will include a statement of the principal allegations of the petition and the evidence produced by both parties, a reference to the permit which allegedly was violated, a transcript of the applicable regulatory provision and a statement of what the visual inspection showed, if one was made.
(F) The resolutions and orders shall be appealable before the corresponding higher court. In such appeals, and in whatever is not provided herein, the terms and procedures which rule ordinary appeal actions shall govern, but the record shall be constituted by the original file which must be referred to the corresponding court. In the event that the appeal is based on an interpretation of evidence, and it is so stated in the writ of appeal, the transcript of the evidence shall be taken to the higher court. To the effects of the appeal, the adjudications of fact contained in the resolution shall be considered as final in all the remaining cases.
(G) Any person who violates the terms of a provisional or permanent order issued under the present special procedure shall be guilty of contempt of court.
History —July 19, 1985, No. 7, p. 625, § 8.