At the beginning of next year, the construction regulations will be replaced by new regulations. The content of only one of the ten regulations has been confirmed. All others are still open. At worst, the transition time can only be one day. How did this happen?
At the end of 2012, in connection with the amendment of the constitution, the Ministry of the Environment was given five years to completely renew the construction regulations, because the regulation and the instruction are no longer allowed to be in the same official document. By working on a road map, the ministry tried to figure out how to proceed in the matter, so that there is no rush and the regulations are completed in good time. RT expressed its concern about the schedule for the first time three years ago, when nothing was really visible yet. According to the officials of the ministry, there should not have been a problem.
Now, with about three months left until the deadline, there are still few visible results. The qualifications of designers and work management, as well as the strength requirements of structures, have been in force for more than two years thanks to the regulation. The accessibility regulation has been published, but the instructions will not be ready until next year. Otherwise, there is plenty to do and the list is long: fire safety of buildings, fire safety of small chimneys, water and sewerage equipment in buildings, moisture technical functionality of buildings, indoor climate and ventilation of buildings, energy efficiency, etc.
Currently, there are still nine different regulations in the works, which are scheduled to enter into force on January 1.1.2018, 2019. In addition to the regulations, there will also be changes to the Land Use and Construction Act, the final form of which is awaited, and which will also come into effect practically at the turn of the year without a transition period. In addition to these, the guidelines applied by the Council of Ministers will exhaust the same number of regulations well into next year, possibly even into XNUMX in some cases.
The schedule has been known and there have been no surprises, so what has gone wrong? The officials preparing the changes to the regulations have in themselves done their best under great pressure. The state administration's efficiency program has reduced the amount of civil service work, but at the same time, the Ministry of the Environment has had to allocate additional funds to other work. The distribution of the Ministry's resources has not been exactly right, as the reform, which has a central effect on the planning and predictability of construction, has been left to its own devices.
Opinion rounds regarding unfinished regulations have taken place during the past year. Some of the regulations are still only known about the versions of the opinion stage. It is only known from the accessibility regulation how it will enter into force. Right now we are on the brink of a big surprise: What kind of buildings can be built next year?
YM has announced that there are no major changes to current practices. So we are dependent on the promises of officials until the final regulations see the light of day. However, big money is involved in construction: from the biggest investment of a one-time builder's life to projects worth hundreds of millions of euros, which are often prepared years before the actual construction begins. Who will pay if it was planned incorrectly and the future Regulation requirements are not met?
Because of this, I have recommended that if the application for a building permit is planned around the turn of the year, it should be left until this year and thus eliminate the risks arising from future regulations. You can supplement the building permit application afterwards. I don't think the building inspectors will be terribly opposed to this either, since they will have the same challenges in interpreting the regulations in the absence of applicable instructions.
Jani Kemppainen
Agent
Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries (CFCI)
Write a comment