Abstract
Construction is one of the most important factors shaping socio-economic relations: it provides roofs overheads, buildings for schools, theatres, hospitals and large industrial facilities; a significant proportion of national income is allocated to construction; hundreds of thousands of workers, technicians and engineers are involved in construction work.
The state supervises construction through administrative bodies designated for this purpose. The influence of the state construction supervision authorities on the construction process is aimed at ensuring the protection of human life and health, economic and cultural interests, guaranteeing the use of functional solutions most suited to the purpose of the building; they should ensure that technological advances are implemented on construction sites.
The following actors are involved in the construction process: the investor, the designer and the construction contractor, and, once the building has been handed over for use, the owner and manager of the building. The Construction Law imposes obligations on all parties involved in the construction process and sets out the rules and conditions applicable to the design of buildings, to the execution of the project and the execution of construction works, as well as during the use of buildings. The state supervisory authorities exercise control and apply the supervisory measures prescribed by law.
Civil-legal relations are established between the participants in the construction process (investor, designer, contractor) through the conclusion of contracts, while administrative-legal relations are established between the state construction supervision authorities and the participants in the construction process; the primary tool of influence is the administrative act.
The state construction supervision authorities are characterised by the following features: they are state administrative bodies established by law; they are not participants in the construction process; the participants in the construction process (investor, designer, contractor) are subject to the state construction supervision authorities to a certain extent; the state construction supervision authorities issue administrative acts containing, in particular, orders and prohibitions that are directed at the participants in the construction process.
The state construction supervisory authorities operate in socialist and other countries; their structure, objectives, tasks and means of operation vary. There are many similarities in the structure, objectives, tasks and means of operation of state construction supervision in socialist countries.
This is indicated in particular by: “dosarhstroykontrol” in the Soviet Union, the statute stavebui dohled in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, die staatliche Bauaufsicht in the German Democratic Republic; the issue of construction supervision was dealt with in a similar way in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
The state construction supervision was organised differently in bourgeois Poland and in the People’s Republic of Poland. Between 1918 and 1928, it was based on regulations and orders issued by the former occupation authorities or on temporary Polish regulations. The 1928 Construction Law regulated the state construction supervision under new principles, entrusting it mainly with the tasks of the construction police. When the Ministry of Reconstruction was established in 1945, the people’s government also included issues of state construction supervision within its remit. Until the entry into force of the Construction Law established by the 1961 Act, the state construction supervisory authorities were guided in their activities by the provisions of the 1928 Construction Law, as amended by the People’s Legislation.
The 1961 Construction Act distinguishes between general construction and special construction. Accordingly, special state supervisory authorities were established for general and special construction. For general construction matters, the main authority for construction supervision is the Committee for Construction, Urban Planning and Architecture, which was abolished in 1964 and its functions were transferred to the Minister of Building and Construction Industry; the field bodies are the Departments of Construction, Urban Planning and Architecture of the Presidiums of the National Councils. In matters of special construction, the main supervisory bodies are Ministers appointed by the Council of Ministers; field bodies are appointed on the basis of separate resolutions.
Among the statutory supervision measures applied by construction supervision authorities to investors, designers, and construction contractors are: approval of construction projects; issuance of permits for construction and demolition of buildings; issuance of permits for use of buildings; issuance of permits for the use of buildings; issuance of orders and prohibitions to stop the construction, renovation and reconstruction of a building, to remove hazards to persons or property, to take necessary precautions and to order the demolition of a building. The state construction supervisory authorities have the power to issue orders for all or part of a building to be vacated by persons living in or using the building if it is found that there is a danger to the life of persons or property.
Particularly strict measures have been established to prevent and combat arbitrary construction. The Act requires the state construction supervisory authorities to issue an order for the compulsory demolition of a building under construction or already constructed without a permit or not in compliance with the material conditions of the permit, if the building is located in an area which, in accordance with the zoning ordinances, is not intended for development or is intended for other types of development, if the building causes or, if constructed, is likely to cause danger to human life or property, or causes or, if constructed, is likely to cause unacceptable deterioration of the conditions of use and sanitary and hygienic conditions for the environment.
The activities of the state construction supervision cover the entire construction industry, i.e. both general construction (housing, administration, schools, hospitals, theatres, etc.) and special construction (mining, roads, hydraulic engineering). The state construction supervisory authorities supervise all investors, designers, building contractors, owners of or users of buildings, whether they are state, cooperative or public organisations or individuals. Coercive administrative proceedings or coercive administrative enforcement may be applied against all of them, should there be no voluntary fulfilment of the obligations arising from the administrative acts issued by the state construction supervisory authorities.
Supervising the performance of independent technical functions is another of the core tasks of the supervisory authorities. The Construction Act requires that the functions of designer, site and works manager, foreman and investor’s supervision inspector are only carried out by persons who have the statutory technical training, have completed the relevant practice and have passed with good marks the examination provided for in the construction regulations. The Construction Law sets out the duties of persons performing the above-mentioned independent technical functions. Persons who meet the conditions stipulated by law receive a certificate confirming that they have the required qualifications; these persons are entered in the register of persons authorised to draw up construction projects, supervise construction works and act as investor’s supervision inspectors. The state technical supervision authorities are obliged to verify that independent technical functions in the construction industry are performed by persons with the required qualifications for this.
It may seem that in a socialist state, the establishment of special administrative authorities to supervise constructions, especially state constructions, is without any basis, since state organisations involved in the construction process act in accordance with the regulations governing the technical, economic and organisational aspects of construction. Indeed, it would be possible to do without the institution of state construction supervision if it could already be recognised that the investor, designer, contractor, owner and manager of a building are represented by persons who provide a guarantee of complete compliance with the law.
Unfortunately, the past construction practices of socialist countries have shown that there have been cases of unauthorised building and other violations of the law. In view of the number of these cases, their nature and the damaging consequences of the violation of the construction law, the question of the necessity of establishing state construction supervision arises in itself. State construction supervision authorities in socialist countries was given a structure, outlined objectives and tasks and provided with legal means of operation adapted to the conditions and needs of socialist construction.
As a result of the study of the activities of the state construction supervisory authorities, in particular the analysis and evaluation of the effectiveness of the implementation of legal supervisory measures, solutions could be found to gradually reduce the scope of state construction supervision.
