The government issued on 27.10. a bill to the parliament, according to which in the future the qualifications of those working in construction planning or work management tasks would be given by an institution authorized by the Ministry of the Environment. The operating models according to the bill still need clarifications.
A new situation for the HVAC installation industry
In HVAC installations, according to the current land use and construction law, qualification is required from kvv and iv foremen. They act as the person responsible for building the property's water and sewer system or ventilation system. The qualification in question is not a new matter in itself, it has already been prescribed in Part A1 of the Construction Collection.
"On the other hand, centralized verification of qualification is practically a new thing in the HVAC installation industry", says the special expert Juha-Ville Mäkinen LVI-Technical Contractors from LVI-TU ry.
"Until now, the qualification has been confirmed by the local building control authority at the same time that the authority has decided on the person's eligibility. This has been seen in diplomas and the person's work history. In this case, separate qualification certificates were not needed, nor were they asked for."
According to the bill, experts no longer have to provide building inspections with reports on their training and experience. The certificate issued by the new institution is sufficient evidence for the building inspection of the person's competence to work in supervisory positions.
Equality would improve
After the withdrawal of RakMK A1, LVI-TU member companies have come up with situations where the same person has not met the requirements in different cities, even if the building site was practically identical. The building inspectorates have read the regulations in different ways and the interpretations have varied.
"It has been possible to improve uniformity among building inspectors with instruction cards drawn up together. But, of course, the mandatory regulation works more rigidly in this case," says Mäkinen.
There are enough open questions
Critical statements have also been submitted about the bill, such as about the overall reform of the MRL entity. The proposal in question is related to the same group, even though it is proceeding as its own separate law.
"In the presentation, no position has been taken on the criteria on the basis of which a decision on competence would be made. Also, nothing has been said about the own eligibility of the persons making the qualification assessment," Mäkinen lists.
"Hopefully, the Ministry of the Environment has thought about how to ensure the credibility of the system in the eyes of industry players. Especially when a qualification certificate must be obtained from a commercial operator."
In the HVAC installation sector's interest organization, it is considered that it is not justified to limit or prevent free competition for the awarding of qualification certificates just because one commercial operator is considered sufficient.
More information
LVI-Technical Contractors LVI-TU ry
Special expert Juha-Ville Mäkinen phone 045 899 9388, juha-ville.makinen@lvi-tu.fi
Communications manager Pipsa Hiltunen phone 0400 287 939, pipsa.hiltunen@lvi-tu.fi