In today's article, as part of the series entitled "Tuesday Mornings for Construction Workers," we will discuss another participant in the construction process: the investor's supervision inspector.
The main role of the construction supervision is to monitor the entire construction process, including compliance of the work carried out with the construction design, building permit, and legal regulations. The construction supervision inspector assesses the quality of the work performed and the construction materials used, and therefore participates in activities such as the acceptance of construction works at individual stages and the technical acceptance of installed networks, installations, and equipment.
In order to enable the investor's supervision inspector to exercise his competences, the Construction Law grants him the right to issue instructions to the construction manager and the works manager, as well as to request that they undertake specific activities.
The investor's supervision inspector is a participant in the construction process explicitly indicated in the Building Law, alongside the investor, designer, construction manager and works manager.
The basic duties of the investor's supervision inspector are contained in Article 25 of the Construction Law and include:
1) Representing the investor on the construction site by supervising its compliance with the design or building permit, regulations and principles of technical knowledge.
It's worth noting that the construction inspector is a representative of the investor on the construction site, and therefore their primary responsibility is to act in the investor's best interests. Such an inspector must possess appropriate professional qualifications and possess the appropriate technical knowledge. However, a second aspect of this obligation is the need to act, to some extent, in the public interest, which is reflected in the fact that inspections for compliance with the design, building permit, and technical knowledge principles also protect the owners (perpetual usufructuaries) of adjacent properties.
2) Checking the quality of construction works performed and the use of products in the performance of these works in accordance with Article 10 of the Construction Law.
Another responsibility of the construction inspector is to monitor the quality of the construction work performed and the materials used. These materials should have functional properties that enable the completed structures to meet basic requirements, as well as meet the requirements of applicable legal regulations under which these materials were introduced to the domestic market. Therefore, the construction inspector should ensure that defective solutions or materials are not used, or are inconsistent with applicable regulations. This obligation also reflects the investor's commitment to the public interest, as the use of incorrect solutions or materials can result in a construction disaster, the consequences of which are detrimental to the public interest and to values such as health and life.
3) Inspection and acceptance of construction works that are being covered or disappearing, participation in tests and technical acceptance of installations, technical equipment and chimney flues, as well as preparation and participation in the acceptance of finished construction works and their handover for use.
4) Confirmation of the works actually performed and removal of defects, and at the investor’s request, control of construction settlements.
The above obligations are also a manifestation of the investor's supervision inspector acting in the investor's interest, as he is interested in verifying the correctness of the construction works performed and their acceptance, checking the installed devices and elements of the technical infrastructure, and in particular in determining whether the works performed do not contain any defects or faults.
Optionally, the investor may also commission the inspector to control the construction settlements , so that such expenses are also supervised in terms of profitability from the point of view of the technical and material solutions used.
Due to the fact that performing the function of investor supervision is an independent technical function in construction, defective performance of duties or failure to comply with them may constitute grounds for professional liability.
In order to enable the investor’s supervision inspector to fulfil the duties described above, the provisions of the Construction Law indicate the powers to which he is entitled, and therefore he has the right to:
1) issue instructions to the construction manager or works manager, confirmed by an entry in the construction log, regarding: the removal of irregularities or hazards, carrying out tests or examinations, including those requiring the uncovering of works or hidden elements, the presentation of expert opinions on the construction works being carried out and information and documents confirming the use of products in the performance of construction works, in accordance with Art. 10, as well as information and documents confirming the approval for the use of technical devices;
2) demand that the construction manager or works manager make corrections or repeat the defectively performed works, as well as suspend further construction works if their continuation could pose a threat or result in unacceptable non-compliance with the design or building permit.
Finally, it should be noted that, in principle, the appointment of an investor's supervision inspector is optional, as stipulated in Article 18, Section 2 of the Building Law. However, in justified cases, such as the high complexity of the construction works or ground conditions, the investor may be required to appoint an investor's supervision inspector. The architectural and construction administration authority will determine this obligation in its decision granting the building permit. The authority is required to provide sufficient justification for its position in the decision and specify detailed requirements for such supervision.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Legal status as of August 26, 2024
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