A new list of mandatory standards in construction came into force

August 1 August 2020 came into force government decree № 985, approving a new list of mandatory Code of Practice, GOSTs and National Standards in the construction industry.

According to Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, this document should have made the life of builders easier, because it reduces the number of construction standards by 30%.

Is this in fact?

The former list had 76 items, the new one has 78.

From among the changes —some updated SP 2016-2019 were approved. This found a positive response in the national roofing union, because in the area of roofing design, until 2011 SP 2011 was mandatory for application, while SP of 2017 —more modern, was voluntary, resulting in a situation where designers were required to use the outdated SP of 2011 

But most of the Code of Practice remained 2011-2012 with minor cuts inside. So questions arise to the updated SP 14.13330.2018 (construction in seismic areas). The seismic standards for 15 regions have been increased (previously it was done only in precedents).

According to Vice President of the Russian Union of Builders Anvar Shamuzafarov, by that the Ministry of Construction of Russia forced to suspend all construction in those regions and to carry out additional work on redesigning, which will increase the cost of construction by 15-20% on average.

In ANSB interview Anvar Shamuzafarov speaks about the necessity of changing the procedure for adopting normative documents:

  «We need to reform the system of technical regulation in construction — and it should be done by professionals, but not „adventurers around the construction“. We have long been saying that we need to build a new system where all normative documents —Code of Practice and national standards — will be approved in coordination with other ministries and agencies by the Russian Ministry of;Building;and be& responsible for them, up to criminal. Then they will be obliged to involve the professional community and experts in order to ensure that the documents are of high quality and do not lead to disastrous consequences both for facility safety, and for public expenses.»