The Law determines the competence of each institution in the field of construction, as well as determines the decisions which the relevant institution is entitled to take during the construction process:
 

1) the ministry responsible for the construction sector (Section 6) shall perform general monitoring and coordination of construction, draw up a single State policy in the field of construction and ensure the implementation of such policy;
 

2) an authority subordinate to the ministry responsible for the construction sector (Section 6, 10) shall perform supervision and surveillance of the market of construction products (manufacturing and trade locations, construction sites), checking the conformity of construction products to the performance attributes declared in the standards or technical provisions;
 

6) in cases determined in the Law, the State Construction Control Bureau (Section 6.1) shall ensure the State control of construction works, by performing the control of building construction works and their acceptance into operation (construction and reconstruction of new public buildings designed to be simultaneously occupied by over 100 persons (hereinafter — public building); structures, the intended construction of which is subject to the procedure of environmental impact assessment laid down in the Law On Environmental Impact Assessment; new structures or reconstruction of existing structures, the submitter of intentions of which is a local government, if the contractual price of the public construction work agreement amounts to EUR 1.5 million or more), and ensure the supervision of operation of public buildings, as well as organise expert-examination of building designs and structures in cases determined by the Law; the bureau shall grant the right to an independent practice with a specialisation in the expert-examination of construction, as well as perform monitoring of an independent practice.


The bureau will ensure the State control of construction works as of 1 July 2015, carry out monitoring of operation of public buildings as of 1 January 2015, grant the right to an independent practice with a specialisation in the expert-examination of construction and carry out the monitoring of an independent practice as of 1 January 2016.


4) sectoral ministries or the authorities subordinated thereto, according to the competence laid down in their by-laws in the cases provided for in regulatory enactments, shall take decisions on a construction intention and carry out the functions of a building authority, as well as in applying the time periods for decision-making, settlement of disputes laid down in the law and the procedures for notification of a construction intention (Section 6); for instance, the Ministry of Transport — Latvian State Roads — construction of motor roads; Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development — construction of structures related to radiation safety;


5) the local government (Section 7) shall:

  • ensure the rule of law of the construction process;
  • in cities — employ an architect who shall monitor the conformity to the principle of architectonic quality;
  • ensure access to information in the Construction Information System; and
  • inform the public regarding the construction intentions received;


6) building authorities (Section 12) — shall carry out particular activities related to the assessment of a construction intention. Apart from that, they shall examine alternative technical solutions for ensuring environment accessibility, if necessary, asking for an opinion of experts of non-governmental organisations of the relevant field in cases, when the technical requirements of building regulations cannot be complied with in the building design.