On additional measures for improving the state regulation in the sphere of construction

DECREE

of the president of the republic of uzbekistan

ON ADDITIONAL MEASURES FOR IMPROVING THE STATE REGULATION IN THE SPHERE OF CONSTRUCTION

The country is taking measures to implement modern market-based mechanisms to support business entities, provide greater freedom for private businesses, strengthen the guarantees of their rights and legitimate interests, and attract foreign investment and modern technologies.

At the same time, the analysis of affairs in construction revealed the problems impeding accelerated implementation of reforms and fostering healthy competitive environment in this sphere.

Insufficient attention is paid to the implementation of advanced market instruments for technical regulation of urban planning; in the sphere of construction there still remain a sufficiently large number of state administrative, regulatory and supervisory functions.

The existing assigned method of standardization in the design and construction of facilities impedes the application of innovative design solutions and new scientific and technical developments, holds back the attraction of domestic and foreign investments in the construction industry.

There is no system of vocational education, personnel retraining and qualifications enhancement in designing, implementing and maintaining construction codes and regulations that meet the current conditions for the globalization of international trade.

In order to improve state regulation in the sphere of construction, create favorable conditions for attracting investment, improve the efficiency of the vocational education system, personnel retraining and qualifications enhancement in the construction industry it is required:

1. To establish an order according to which:

а) starting from December, 2018:

examination of cost-estimation scopes in construction projects is mandatory for all construction projects, except for such facilities, the construction of which is carried out at the expense of direct investments, including foreign ones;

operational acceptance of completed facilities is carried out with the participation of construction control inspection, the cadastre bodies, representatives of the customer, contractor (general contractor), except for the construction of facilities financed by public procurement entities;

It is allowed to implement projects on a turnkey basis (Engineering Procurement Construction) using the fast-track method (simultaneous design, procurement and construction works) through the establishment of a consortium between contracting and design organizations provided that joint consortium members bear joint and several responsibility for timely quality implementation of the project;

b) starting from January 1, 2019:

certificates and other permits (licenses) for the design and construction activities issued by authorized bodies, organizations, societies and associations of member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development are recognized;

personal responsibility is implied to respective khokims (mayors) for the timely and proper allocation of land for construction, as well as for the construction and installation works without reference to the approved master plans for the districts (cities) or layout plans for land plots (in the absence of master plans);

expenses incurred through late or incorrect allocation of land for construction are subject to reimbursement at the expense of local budgets and subsequent recovery from the perpetrator in recourse order;

development and improvement of national construction codes and regulations, as well as the adaptation of foreign construction regulatory and technical documents, is carried out exclusively on a competitive basis;

national and foreign legal entities, public and international organizations, as well as specialized research and development institutions, regardless of their form of ownership, may participate in the revision of national construction codes and regulations, as well as the adaptation of foreign construction regulatory and technical documents.

the Ministry of Construction of the Republic of Uzbekistan shall act as the customer of works on the development and improvement of national construction codes and regulations, as well as the adaptation of foreign construction regulatory and technical documents and their practical application;

construction codes and regulations are approved by the decision of the Ministry of Construction on the basis of the comprehensive examination results and are subject to mandatory registration at the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

maintenance of the unified index for construction standards, technical guidelines, construction codes and regulations registered in the established order, and provision of free access to it by publishing on the official website and constant updating is assigned to Uzstandart Agency;

c) from March 1, 2019:

certification of specialists in the sphere of design and construction, who shall obligatory have respective qualifications in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan, is carried out by the Association of Consulting Engineers of Uzbekistan;

the implementation of project activities is allowed if a legal entity employs in the staff at least two engineers having appropriate certificate and working on a permanent basis with this legal entity, or legal entities that are members of the Association of Consulting Engineers of Uzbekistan;

design and technical supervision is obligatory at all stages of construction of facilities and is carried out by the project designer and the customer, respectively, or by attracting certified specialists;

design supervision, technical supervision and construction inspection of construction objects are carried out only by specialists certified in the prescribed manner;

d) from January 1, 2020, housing construction facilities must be equipped with energy-efficient and energy-saving equipment at the design and survey stages and during construction and installation works, and must receive an energy audit passport prior to their acceptance into service, except for the objects having the certificate according to international standards BREEAM (Construction Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).

2. To agree with the proposals of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Construction and the National Agency for Project Management under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan to reform the regulatory framework for technical regulation of the construction sector, providing for:

the preparatory period (2019-2021) - the revision of existing national construction codes and regulations, as well as the adaptation of foreign construction regulatory and technical documents, taking into account geological, climatic, seismological and other features of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

Transition period (2022–2026) - introduction of adapted foreign regulatory and technical documents into practice, along with national construction codes and regulations, carrying out a set of measures to introduce innovations in the construction industry, mastering new technologies, materials, products and structures;

the final period (2027-2028) - the creation of a single regulatory framework for the technical regulation of the construction industry based on a synthesis of experience in the application of national and adapted foreign construction codes and regulations.

3. To approve the schedule of revision of state construction standards, technical regulations, construction norms and rules of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2019 - 2021 (hereinafter - the schedule) in accordance with the appendix.

The Ministry of Finance annually, when forming the State Budget of the Republic of Uzbekistan, to provide the necessary allocations to finance the work as per the schedule.

The Chamber of Accounts, together with the Ministry of Justice and the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan shall establish strict control over the schedule execution.

To impose personal responsibility on:

First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan - Chairman of the Board of JSC “Uzbekistan Railways” A.J. Ramatov - for the implementation of modern market-based mechanisms and international standards, advanced technologies and know-how in the construction industry, as well as the development of innovative methodological programs for vocational education, personnel retraining and qualifications enhancement in the industry;

Deputy Prime Minister - Chairman of the State Investment Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan S.R. Kholmuradov - for attracting funds from international financial institutions, governmental and non-governmental organizations for the revision of national construction codes and regulations, as well as the adaptation of foreign regulatory and technical standards;

Minister of Construction of the Republic of Uzbekistan A.Kh. Tukhtayev - for further improvement and update in the regulatory framework of the construction industry based on advanced foreign experience, with identification of a key performance indicator of its activities as annual improvement of indicators of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the basis of “obtaining construction permits” by the World Bank’s Doing Business report and ensuring the republic’s entry into the 50 leading countries of the world by the end of 2021.

4. To extend the effect of paragraph 3 of sub-clause “a” of clause 9 of Resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan of August 2, 2018 No. PP-3895 “On Measures to Create Modern Business Centers “Business city” in the territories of the Republic” to:

investors - in the framework of projects for the construction of the “Business city” centre and “Tashkent city” international business center;

contractors, including foreign ones, involved in the implementation of projects for the construction of the “Business city” centers and “Tashkent city” international business center on a “turn-key” basis (Engineering Procurement Construction) using the “fast-track” method (simultaneous design, procurement and construction work).

5. The Ministry of Construction of the Republic of Uzbekistan:

a) up to December 20, 2018 in conjunction with:

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Uzstandart Agency and the National Agency for Project Management under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan to ensure the receipt of official permission of the authorized foreign bodies and organizations for the adoption and adaptation of foreign construction regulatory and technical documents on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

The Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Association of Consulting Engineers of Uzbekistan and the Union of Architects of Uzbekistan to develop a program for advanced training of specialists in the field of design and construction;

The Ministry of Justice to submit for approval to the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan regulations for the competition for the development and improvement of national construction codes and regulations, as well as the adaptation of foreign construction regulatory and technical documents;

UzStandart Agency and Uzstroymaterialy JSC to make proposals to the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the fundamental improvement of Uzstroymaterialy JSC and the current system of standardization and certification in the field of construction materials and products;

b) by March 1, 2019, together with the interested ministries and departments, to submit to the Cabinet of Ministers the following proposals:

to create (with the attraction of companies) testing laboratories accredited in the established order by the Center for Accreditation within the National Agency for Project Management under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and they shall meet modern international requirements and standards and execute certification of construction equipment, machinery, materials and products which are not manufactured in the Republic of Uzbekistan and imported into the country for the first time;

to create structural units of state bodies performing the functions of a customer in construction, reconstruction, capital and current repairs of departmental objects ;

to improve the efficiency of project institutes, as well as improving the mechanisms for financing design and exploration work and setting deadlines for developing project documentation;

to define the financing procedure for the construction projects with estimated costs exceeding the approved design and estimate documentation;

organization of activities of large specialized construction and contracting organizations in each region of the country.

6. The State Investment Committee, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Agency for Project Management under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan assist the Ministry of Construction of the Republic of Uzbekistan in attracting funds from international financial institutions, foreign governmental and non-governmental organizations and donors to finance the revision of existing national construction codes , as well as the adaptation of foreign construction regulatory and technical documents and their implementation in practice.

7. The Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan within a month period shall:

a) approve the procedure providing for a phased transition to the use of BIM technology for all participants in the construction process (customer, designer, contractor) starting from July 1, 2019;

b) in conjunction with the National Agency for Project Management under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Association of Consulting Engineers of Uzbekistan to review licensed activities in the field of design, construction, operation and repair of construction objects for their regulation by certification, accreditation and licensing, approving the procedure for accreditation, certification and licensing activities in the field of design and construction, providing for:

the transfer from March 1, 2019 of authority for certification of activities in the field of design and construction to the Association of Consulting Engineers of Uzbekistan, for accreditation in the field of construction to the Center for Accreditation at the National Agency for Project Management under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan;

establishing requirements on the qualifications and experience of employees of the Association of Consulting Engineers of Uzbekistan, responsible for certification in the sphere of design and construction;

abolition of the license agreement signing with specific, comprehensive license requirements and conditions, as well as an effective mechanism for verifying the compliance of the license applicant with the license requirements and conditions.

8. The General Prosecutor’s Office, jointly with the Ministry of Construction and the National Project Management Agency under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, within two months to make proposals on improving the effectiveness of inspection activities in the field of construction, including strengthening the material and technical base and increasing social protection and material incentives for their employees.

9. The Ministry of Construction, the National Agency for Project Management under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan:

a) before January 1, 2019:

revise the Classifier for the complexity categories of objects in terms of design and survey and construction and installation work in order to classify objects by categories of risk of structures and functions of construction objects;

develop and submit to the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan proposals for establishing requirements for qualification and certification of persons carrying out expert examination of project documentation, technical and architectural supervision of the construction process, construction inspection of construction objects;

b) by March 1, 2019, submit to the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan the procedure providing for the establishment of mandatory requirements to equip housing construction projects with energy-efficient and energy-saving equipment from January 1, 2020 at the stage of design and survey and construction and installation works;

c) by April 1, 2019, make proposals for the revision of curriculum of higher educational institutions in accordance with the requirements of this Decree for continuous training as well as distance vocational training and advanced training of personnel in the field of design and construction with mandatory internship in foreign countries including faculty members;

d) by May 1, 2019, submit to the Administration of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan a draft of City Planning Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the new edition, providing for the direct mechanisms for its implementation in the Code, including:

the basic principles, functions and bodies of state regulation of construction, the procedure for introducing regulatory and technical documents and maintaining their catalogs, accreditation in the field of construction;

the procedure for the development of master plans, detailed planning projects, design estimates, approval of applications for development, development and conclusion of a state contract for the contract;

the procedure for the examination of project documentation, the implementation of construction inspection of construction projects and commissioning, including on the terms of a public-private partnership;

professional regulation of the construction industry with the establishment of requirements for the qualifications of architects and engineers working in the field of design and construction, with the definition of the degree of their responsibility, including material;

transitional provisions and other issues that ensure, among other things, the quality of construction control, constructive safety, liability regulation and insurance, and state support for the development of the competitive environment of construction activity entities

e) within one month to submit to the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan proposals on amendments and additions to the legislation arising from this Decree.

10. Control over the implementation of this Decree to be entrusted to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan A.N. Aripov, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan A.J. Ramatov, head of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Uzbekistan Z.Sh. Nizomiddinov and First Deputy Advisor to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan B.M. Mavlonov. 

The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sh. MIRZIYOYEV 

Tashkent,

November 14, 2018,

№ UP-5577

APPENDIX 

to the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dd. November 14, 2018 № UP-5577

SCHEDULE

for the revision of State construction standards, technical regulations, construction codes and regulations of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2019 - 2021

(National Legislation Database, 15.11.2018, № 06/18/5577/2187)