On April 27 this year, amendments to the Construction Law were approved in the final reading at a Saeima meeting setting the definition and scope of responsibility of a consulting engineer, the procedures for the exchange of information among the authorities controlling construction, the extension of the functionality of the Construction Information System, as well as the regulation to combine the construction work management and construction supervision certificates into one.
Along with the amendments, the law includes the position of a consulting engineer and defines their scope of responsibility. Various standard contracts developed by the International Federation of Consulting Engineers have been used in the construction sector for a long time. Currently, the Construction Law does not contain a regulation on a consulting engineer and creates uncertainties for the application of the regulation in practice, the role, rights and obligations, and also responsibilities of consulting engineers in the construction process are not clear. As a result of these amendments, the Construction Law includes the definition of a consulting engineer, strengthens their role as an authorised person of the employer who acts in the interests of the initiator of construction and represents them in the process, as well as determines the responsibility of a consulting engineer.
In order to make the assessment of the competence of construction specialists and supervision of independent practice more efficient, as well as to reduce fragmentation of activity areas and administrative and financial burden for construction specialists, together with amendments to the Law, a regulation has been included to combine construction work management and construction supervision certificates into one. The management of construction works and supervision of construction works are essentially similar fields of activity, with the same qualification requirements for a person to provide professional services in these professions. Consequently, there is no justification for the division of these professions by requiring a person to undergo a qualification assessment process in two professions. In addition, the independent practice in the management of construction works and supervision of construction works is counted together.
The amendments to the Law also include a regulation on the possibility to communicate information to the person regarding owners of immovable properties adjacent to the place of implementation of the construction concept through the Construction Information System (CIS). Such additional information will facilitate the harmonisation of construction concepts in CIS. In addition, in order to reduce the administrative burden, the law provides for the right of construction specialists to view CIS operational files for the performance of their duties.
The Law also lays down the procedures for the exchange of information between authorities controlling construction, for example, between construction boards, State Fire and Rescue Service, etc. In order to improve supervision of the operation of buildings and to turn more effectively against responsible persons regarding violations committed during operation, the draft law includes a regulation that the construction board or the institution, which performs the functions of a construction board, must send the decision regarding the danger of the structure to other institutions controlling the operation or activities of the structure, for example, the State Fire and Rescue Service.
Amendments to the Construction Law can be viewed in detail on the website of the Saeima.