As one read „The Building Permit in Romania” one might think that all related construction industry is bureaucratic and nonsense. However, the Construction Quality Control System is coherent and functional.
But all parts involved in the construction have to do their jobs. Within the System, there is little room for error.
The Exigencies
The Law 10/1995 on Construction Quality Control includes a set of exigencies. These requirements set minimal standards for design, construction, use, and the post-use of buildings. Please also read: „Architectural Design Requirements in Romania”
They are:
- Structural stability and performance (one of the better enforced, as the seismic hazard in Romania is very high.
- Safety in use
- Fire Safety
- Hygiene, Population Health, and Environmental Protection
- Sound Insulation and Protection
- Thermal and water insulation, Energy Efficiency
As the System includes both design and construction, there are differences between the two phases. The Law states, that all parties involved in the construction have common and shared responsibilities. These parties are The Owner, the Constructors, and the Design Team (Architects and Engineers).
In Romania, Constructors are forbidden to modify plans and specifications provided by the architect and the engineers. Any such modifications are ordered only by the architect or/and the design engineers, as „Dispoziții de șantier” – Site Order, DS.
The DSs are subject to the same quality control as the design itself.
Design Quality Control
Nobody expects that the Owner of the Building should be construction design savvy. Nevertheless, they are directly responsible for the design and building’s quality.
The architects and the engineers’ projects have to be conformed with, zoning, codes, legislations, and Technical Design Normatives[1]. Owners should verify if the design complies with all of these.
So Owners hire Design Verifiers to check the architectural and engineering projects for conformity and errors. Design Verifiers are certified specialists with different Design Exigencies.
The structural exigencies are verified by a Verifier with competence in the A1, or A2 class of structures. (A1 is for concrete, and A2 is for metal and wood structures).
B, C, D, E, and F-certified Verifiers are either architects or engineers. They control the design for their compliance with these exigencies. Fire Safety is usually checked by a Cc/Ci Certified Verifier (Cc – Constructions, Ci – MEP, and Electrical).
The MEP and Electrical design are subject to verification by Is, It, and Ie Certified Verifiers. (for sanitation (water-sewerage), thermal and ventilation, and electrical installations.)
A common practice for architects and engineers is to hire the verifiers directly, although it’s the owner’s responsibility. Architects or engineers who are also certified as Verifiers are not allowed to design and verify the same project.
The common day use of the system:
The attention that the verifications are done differs from an exigency to the others.
The A Exigency, regarding structural stability, was strongly enforced by the State Inspectorate during the last 30 years. Despite the presence of some formal verifications, many verifiers scrupulously check both the design and the structural notes.
The system includes coherent checks not only during the design but also during execution.
Earthquakes
The 4th of March 1977 earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.2, killed over 1500 Romanians. Civil engineering schools it. Both engineers and architects were prosecuted and sentenced.
The other tough enforced discipline is that regarding Fire Safety. Fire Departments approve (aviz de Securitate la incendiu) the design of the buildings that satisfy minimal conditions. This is also followed by a serious check of the building when the works are done.
Almost all commercial and industrial buildings are required to get fire authorization to be allowed to function. (autorizație de Securitate la incendiu). This way, the loop is closed is closed.
Fire Safety
In 2015, a fire started during a rock concert inside the infamous Club Colectiv. It resulted in 64 deaths and more than 100 severely injured young persons.
This fire was favored by the lack of any building permit, fire safety authorization, and the lack of architectural design. Now the Fire Department is extremely cautious in providing approvals and preapprovals for both design and construction.
All other design and construction exigencies (B, D, E, F, even Is, It, Ie) are not strongly enforced. Many times the verification is rather formal. It is only a matter if the plans have or not the proper stamps and signatures.
Construction Quality Control
As already mentioned, the Builder is not allowed to modify the design, the solutions, and the specifications of the design.
Architects and engineers provide all the details, drawings, and specifications. The Constructor is forbidden to do so.
The Site Director is the technical representative of the Owner. His/her role is to supervise the proper conformity of the construction works with the design documents. Even if the Site Director (as an architect or engineer himself) notices a design fault, the lack of necessary details, or design mismatches, he/she also is not allowed to provide solutions, details, or modifications to the design documents.
The Site Director notifies the Design Team Leader of the problems the Builder encountered. Then he/she asks for Site Orders to correct, modify, or detail the Design Documents.
Determining Phases Program
The Quality Control System is based on the Determining Phases Program, provided by each design specialist.
The program includes protocols signed by the Site Director and the Builder for important phases. Other phases include protocols signed by the Architect/Designing Engineer, the Site Director, and the Builder.
The Program is submitted to the Construction State Inspectorate. A State Inspector decides the phases of this Program that will be State Inspections too.
Nevertheless, State Inspectors can control the site at any moment, any phase. They do this following a public complaint or just as ad-hoc inspections.
Local Police manages a Construction Discipline Department with the City Hall. The Local Police, The Environmental Agency, and The Labor Agency can also control the construction site.
The Design Team is also allowed to visit the construction site to verify or supervise different works.
The refuse of access for the Architect, or the Structural Engineer on site, could be reported to the Construction State Inspectorate.
Quality Protocols
The most important protocols signed on-site are regarding works „that become hidden”. The protocol is not only a certification of the quality of the works but also permission to continue the technological works.
For the reinforcement bars control, for example, the protocol states if the concrete can be poured or not. If minor works are still required, the protocol can conclude with further works to be finished but with the right to poor concrete.
It is not uncommon for the structural engineer to forbid the Builder to pour concrete until further verification is done, and the concrete mixer truck to be sent back to the producer.
The architect and/or the structural engineer are allowed to order partial demolitions and the stop of works. The Site Director can also order the stop of works, but not demolitions. If demolitions are required for compromised parts of the buildings, the Site Director should require the Architect and the Structural Engineer to order the partial demolitions.
Although architects or structural engineers order partial demolitions, it happens. The rebuild is done at the Builder’s expense.
Builder’s Responsibilities
Except for the Quality Protocols, the Builder should provide Technical Agreements for all the building materials used, as the design specifications require. For specific building materials, except for the Technical Agreements, the documents should also contain Laboratory test reports on concrete testing cubes (10x10x01 cm) and laboratory test reports on each steel charge.
All the documents mentioned:
- The Building Permit, including the accessory plans,
- The Design Documents[2], including drawings and specifications,
- All the Site Orders (DSs), signed and stamped by the architect, engineers, verifiers, and the City Hall Chief-Architect,
- All the Quality Control Protocols,
- All the Building Materials Technical Agreements,
- All the Laboratory Tests Reports and Building Materials Conformity Certificates,
- The Concrete Book (Condica de betoane), which specify all the works done to poor concrete, including the date, weather conditions, transportation documents, etc)
- As Build Documents
Construction’s Book
All of the above will be joined into what is called The Construction Book (Cartea Construcției).
The Construction Book is required for the Final Reception.
The Final Reception is signed by the Builder, Site Director and Owner, The City Hall representative, the State Inspector with the ISC, and, when necessary, by the Fire Department Inspector, Environmental Agency Inspector, and so on. The Architect and the Engineers are not part of the Final Reception Board, but guests. Nevertheless, they provide for each specialty Report that states if the Building is constructed accordingly the Design Documents, and the Building Permit.
The Buildings that have not been successfully finished, with a proper Final Reception procedure, are not allowed to be tabulated (registered in the National Registry of Real Estate Properties).
Historical Buildings
The Historical Buildings (Monuments), as inscribed in the National Historical List, are subject to more rigorous procedures, both during Building Permit procedures, Design, and Construction.
As mentioned above, all the work must be done under the supervision of specialists registered with the Ministry of Culture.
Architects, Engineers, Project Verifiers, Technical Experts, Site Directors, and Builders should be or work under the supervision of Monuments Specialists, Monuments Verifiers, and Monuments Experts.
A Technical Expertise Report done by a Technical Expert should also be signed and stamped by a Monument Expert. Wherever a Project Verifier signs and stamps, a Monument Verifier should also sign and stamp.
Conclusions on the Construction Quality Control System in Romania
Despite being bureaucratic and sometimes formal, the System managed to ensure quite a high degree of discipline.
One must understand that before 1990, almost all constructions in Romania were done by the state, for the state. We had large „design institutes”, having hundreds of architects and engineers specialized in different types of constructions. They designed civil buildings mostly, For special projects, as the industrial, each sector had its own „institute”: for roads, bridges, and railroads, for heavy or light industry, for the food industry, and so on.
Once the Communist regime was abolished, the people started to build their own houses, warehouses, office buildings, industrial buildings, and so on. Suddenly, instead of one Big Client, we had tens of thousands, each year, enjoying not only personal freedom but also the freedom to build whatever they want. Add to this situation the poor economy! The Construction Industry was a mess, and the need for proper control was extremely important.
The Construction Quality Control System in Romania is effective
In a country that faces a huge seismic hazard, generalized indiscipline was a ticking bomb. The government had to quickly enforce a construction discipline, at least where the danger was severe, the structural works.
During the last three decades, the discipline was enforced better and better. Nowadays, most of the buildings are properly authorized and quality controlled. There is still a problem with persons who skip the whole process and still build without a Building Permit, sometimes without a proper design, and no quality control at all, but they are less and less each year.
Citations
[1] Normative de proiectare, in Romanian. As Romania is an EU member, most parts of the technical design normative are Eurocodes, but not all of them. Some of the normative are adaptations of Eurocodes but might include important differences.
As an example, the Structural Design Normative, as it is based on Eurocode, includes some differences within the resistance of reinforcing bars.
The Fire Safety Normative (P-118) is not based on the Fire Safety Eurocode, even almost every regulation that the Eurocode has is present in the Romanian code either. The main difference is that if the design includes sprinklers (example), this does not improve the classification and specification for fire resistance, and fire tightness of surrounding elements. The authors of the normative supposed no system and pieces of equipment will work in case of fire. The presupposition was wisely made, because, at least during the ’90s, the building maintenance was generally poor.
[2] The Design Documents include 3 phases: The Building Permit Design Documents (Proiect pentru obținerea Autorizație de Construire – PAC, or Documentație Tehnică pentru obținerea Autorizației de Construire – DTAC), The Construction Design Documents (Proiect Tehnic – PT), and Specifications (Detalii de Execuție – DE). In practice, the PT and DE are mixed in a igle phase, PT-DE). It is also common to provide a single phase (for smaler projects, as houses), DTAC-PT(-DE).
The phases are described by National Law 10/1995 and National Law 50/1991 (regulating the construction authorization – Building Permit).