Stricter supervision for road construction

The Government has established a Regulation on the detailed method of formation, composition, procedure for selecting members, mandate and tasks of the State Commission for the Audit, Expert Supervision and Technical Inspection of Highway, Expressway, Main and Regional Road Projects, which prescribes the conditions for selecting members of expert bodies, their competencies and rules for preventing conflicts of interest.

The adoption of the regulation was an obligation stipulated by the Law on Construction of Structures.

The Regulation stipulates that the State Commission shall consist of three expert bodies, for the revision of technical documentation, expert supervision and technical inspection, whose members shall be appointed by the state administration body competent for the construction of facilities upon the proposal of the investor. Persons who hold an auditor's license in the appropriate profession and have experience in the implementation of these or similar projects may be appointed as members.

The document also prescribes strict rules for preventing conflicts of interest. Thus, a member of the expert review body cannot be a person who participated in the preparation of technical documentation or is employed by the designer, while persons employed by the contractor or investor cannot be engaged in expert supervision. Persons employed by the contractor or investor, nor auditors who participated in the expert supervision of that facility, cannot be appointed for the technical inspection.

The regulation stipulates that the number of members of the expert bodies will depend on the complexity of the project. They may include experts in the construction, electrical engineering, architectural, mechanical and traffic professions, as well as other fields when required by the type and complexity of the facility. The expert body for technical inspection will also include a representative of the Ministry, who must have at least a VII1 qualification level and seven years of work experience in the field of construction of facilities, while other members must have professional liability insurance.

The mandate of members of professional bodies lasts until the completion of the work for which they were appointed, and the regulation also prescribes the reasons for their dismissal before the end of their mandate. This is possible, among other things, if they do not perform their tasks in accordance with the law and professional rules, do not meet deadlines, a conflict of interest is established, or their actions disrupt the work of the professional body.