Overview
The Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus of 14 January 2014 N. 26 "On measures to improve construction activities" (the "Decree") which came into force on 1 April 2014 established that certain types of architecture, urban planning and construction activities, as well as the inspection of buildings and structures can be carried out in Belarus by legal entities and individual entrepreneurs (both domestic and foreign) only if they have completed the procedure of attestation of compliance and have got the appropriate certificate of compliance.
Simultaneously, there has been established a requirement for the qualification attestation of managers, specialists and individual entrepreneurs which carry out architecture, urban planning, construction activities and the inspection of buildings and structures. The list of professionals being the subject of the attestation and the criteria for admission to the attestation are established by the Ministry of Architecture and Construction of the Republic of Belarus (the "Ministry").
WHAT IS ATTESTATION OF COMPLIANCE AND WHY IT IS NEEDED?
Attestation of compliance is a procedure for evaluating the compliance of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs with the established qualification requirements.
The issued certificate of compliance is a document confirming authorization of the legal entity or individual entrepreneur to perform the activity in question in Belarus. Without the certificate, performance of the activity in question is prohibited.
WHAT IS ATTESTATION OF CONSTRUCTION PROFESSIONALS FOR?
Employment of sufficient number of professionals, who have qualification certificates in certain specializations, is one of the qualification requirements which legal entities and private entrepreneurs operating in the construction industry have to meet in order to receive their certificates of compliance.
Belarusian law also states that prior to development of project documentation for construction, renovation or restoration of facilities of the first to fourth class of complexity, except for the building of facilities by standard projects or projects recommended for re-use, a project owner or developer should appoint a project manager from the appropriately qualified employees or should involve an engineering organization or an engineer in the project. Beginning on 1 January 2015, an employee may be appointed as the project manager only if he or she has the corresponding qualification certificate.
CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES BEING SUBJECT OF ATTESTATION OF COMPLIANCE
The attestation is required for the following activities in an extended sense:
- front-end engineering for construction of facilities of the first to fourth classes of complexity; development of pre-project (pre-investment) documentation; acting as a general designer; development of sections of project documentation for construction of facilities of the first to fourth classes of complexity; implementation of functions of a project owner or a developer and providing engineering services for construction of facilities of the first to fourth classes of complexity; urban development; acting as a general contractor; separate construction work on facilities of the first to fourth classes of complexity.
Having the certificate of compliance is necessary for carrying-out the activities mentioned above depending on the class of complexity of the facilities being constructed:
- for the first class of complexity - from April 1, 2014; for the second class of complexity - from July 1, 2014; for the third class of complexity - from October 1, 2014; for the fourth class of complexity - from January 1, 2015.
Determination of which construction facility comes within which class of complexity is provided by the State standard of the Republic of Belarus STB 2331-2014 "Buildings and constructions. Classification. Basic provisions" which came into force on 1 April 2014.
Also, it is separately determined by the Decree that for the development of pre-project (pre-investment) documentation and project documentation, having a certificate of compliance for a project owner, developer and project organization or individual entrepreneur will be obligatory from 1 January 2015.
ACTIVITIES/CONSTRUCTIONS FOR WHICH CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE IS NOT NEEDED
In Belarus facilities being constructed are classified in five classes of complexity according to the state standard, having the certificate of compliance is not required for carrying-out the activities mentioned above for facilities of the fifth class of complexity, as well as for other, not mentioned, types of architecture, urban planning, and construction activities or their components. Thus, for example a certificate of compliance will not be required for construction of temporary and mobile facilities, single-family houses, etc.
Also, the norms of the Decree including those regarding the attestation of compliance (for the parties engaged in the construction projects satisfying the criteria mentioned below) are not applied, inter alia, to:
- construction of facilities for which project documentation had been developed or development of which had been started before the Decree came into force; construction including project design of facilities of engineering, transport and social infrastructure started before the Decree came into force;
CORRELATION BETWEEN ATTESTATION OF COMPLIANCE AND CERTIFICATION OF CONSTRUCTION WORK
Besides the attestation of compliance there is also the certification of some construction work for its compliance with the essential requirements of safety which still remains in force. In according with the Law of the Republic of Belarus of 5 January 2004 N. 269-Z without the certification and having the appropriate document proving the conformity of certain construction work (the certificate of conformity) its performance in Belarus is prohibited. A list of such work and the essential requirements of safety for them are established in the Belarusian technical bylaws "Buildings and constructions, construction materials and products. Safety" (TP 2009/013/BY).
The difference between the attestation of compliance and the certification of conformity is that the certification is carried out to prove that works of a certain contractor fit with the requirements of the appropriate state standards while the aim of the attestation is to prove the compliance of a legal entity or an individual entrepreneur with the established qualification criteria.
Furthermore, under the adopted practice, only the party actually performing construction work is obliged to have the certificate of conformity (i.e., a contractor using subcontracting (a general contractor) does not need the certificate of conformity for the construction work being performed by his subcontractor while the latter one does). A certificate of compliance on the other hand is required for all entities engaged in the construction process including a general contractor and all its subcontractors.
THE PROCEDURE OF ATTESTATION OF COMPLIANCE
For issuing of the certificate of compliance, an applicant has to submit an application form and the accompanying documents to the Engineering Republican Unitary Enterprise "BELSTROYTCENTR" (the "Authorized organization"). They will consider the documents within 15 working days from the date of their acceptance and prepare a draft decision to grant or refuse to issue the certificate of compliance. The decision to grant or refuse to issue the certificate of compliance is handed down by the Ministry.
Depending on the construction activity for which the certificate is requested, the qualification criteria which an applicant must meet may vary. These criteria concern, inter alia, the:
- number of employees and/or quality of the attested professionals employed by an applicant, their education and work experience; availability of machines and equipment in the applicant's property or on other legal grounds required for carrying out the appropriate construction activities; previous experience of an applicant in the appropriate construction activity.
The certificate of compliance is issued for a period of five years, which is calculated from the date of handing down the decision of its issuing by the Ministry.
The issued certificate is registered in the Register of certificates of compliance, which is maintained in paper and electronic forms. Information contained in the Register is published on the official website of the Authorized organization.
THE PROCEDURE OF QUALIFICATION ATTESTATION OF CONSTRUCTION PROFESSIONALS
The aim of the procedure is to evaluate the professional competence of candidates. It is carried out in the form of a qualifying examination.
For admittance to the qualification attestation, a candidate must meet the established requirements for his or her level and field of education and work experience in the specialization of the attestation.
The Authorized organization within 10 working days of receiving application and other necessary documents shall verify their correctness and completeness and analyse the documents and decide on admission of the applicant to the qualifying examination.
The qualifying examination may consist of computer-based testing, interview and practical part. If a candidate passes the qualifying examination, the Ministry hands down the decision to issue the qualification certificate which is valid for five years.
The Authorized organization keeps the records about issued qualification certificates and puts the information about them onto a list of certified professionals, which is located on the official website of the Authorized organization.
CONCLUSION
Generally, as of 1 April 2014, those investors who plan to perform construction activities on the territory of Belarus have to take into account new conditions for carrying-out these activities in Belarus.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
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