Attorney-at-law Siret Siilbek: new building code – the construction project

The new Building Code, which will take effect on 01.07.2015, has already before its entry into force caused a lot of discussion. To date, the dispute has arisen among the lawyers concerning the fact, in which construction activity cases the construction project is required and in which cases it is not.

How can one question that should be so simple and unambiguous, cause so much confusion?

So far, according to the still valid Building Act, the minor and sanitary repairs have not been considered as a construction work. This is why the question, if the construction project might be in these sort of activities necessary, did not arise.

According to the new Building Code, construction is the execution of a building, construction of a structure, installation, demolition and other activity related to the building, resulting in the creation of a building or in the changes of a buildings physical features (new Building Code § 4 (1), hereinafter EhS). All features, which can be measured and described through the physical indicators, are considered to be physical features. So according to the new Building Code construction is considered to be every kind of construction activity, which will result in the changes of characteristics measured and described by the physical indicators. The legislator has not defined that as a result of a construction work the physical indicators must change significantly. Generally it can be said that as a result of sanitary repairs the physical features of a building (features which are measured and described by physical indicators) might change: for example when installing a new floor or a wall fabric the thermal resistance of a building might change. This kind of change might not be noticeable to the user, but it might be, however, measurable with the physical indicators.

According to the new Building Code section 12 subsection (1), the construction should be conducted in accordance with the construction project and in compliance with current requirements to the building and construction activity. The abovementioned provision defines well that the construction activity must be conducted in accordance to the construction project and from that it is deduced that the sanitary repair that is conducted after 01.07.2015 requires a construction project.

Already there has been suggested that in the case of minor repairs, installations guidelines of the products or similar product documentations could be considered as construction projects.

However, the Technical Regulatory Authority has disclosed that the construction project is not necessary. The Technical Regulatory Authority has indicated that not just any construction work is considered to be a reconstruction, thus the requirements for preparation of the construction project is not necessary.

The regulation of the minister, in which the requirements to the construction project according to the new Building Code is determined, has not yet been enacted. Hopefully, the imposed requirements for the construction project in sanitary repairs will find precise adjustment. It is clear that in practice the constructors, who carry out minor repairs, are not capable to draft projects that are in accordance with the current requirements of a construction project. Therefore, it can be assumed that the new Building Code shall be amended in accordance with abovementioned, the requirements shall be specified with the regulation by the minister or the disputes concerning the necessity and the requirements of the construction project will be resolved in the administrative and judicial practice.

The article can be found here (in Estonian): http://addenda.ee/vandeadvokaat-siret-siilbek-uus-ehitusseadustik-ehitusprojekt

Additional information can be obtained from Siret by e-mail address: siret@alternalaw.ee or by calling +372 680 6850.

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