The upcoming abolition of licensing in the construction sector after July 1 and the introduction of self-regulation in the industry — a system that is not yet understood by most builders — is stirring up minds no less than the once-notorious Law 214-FZ «On Shared Construction». At the end of March, builders from 20 regions of Russia came to St. Petersburg to discuss how to live according to the new rules.
A full house again
The bronze hall of the St. Petersburg House of Architects could not withstand the influx of participants, and about 50 people out of 250 who arrived were pushed into the next room, where the conference was being televised. However, there were no dissatisfied people: the relevance of the topic and the impressive lineup of speakers made people forget about the inconveniences. And this is not surprising, because the abolition of licensing applies to all builders, without exception, and the authorities are unlikely to want to delay it again (as the State Duma did on December 29, extending licensing until July 1). Grigory Tomchin, a representative of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, who spoke at the conference, confirmed this, emphasizing that the presidential administration is very determined: the relevant amendments to the Urban Development Code will be adopted and will come into effect this year. Pavel Dubonos, an expert of the State Duma Committee on Property, also spoke in favor of the speedy adoption of the amendments, but hinted that there are serious forces at the top who advocate for maintaining licensing, arguing that self-regulation will ultimately increase the price per square meter. Therefore, it is so important that the law finds support among broad layers of builders and those self-regulatory organizations (SROs) that already exist.
Pavel Dubonos and Kirill Kholopik, a specialist at the Institute of Urban Economics, explained in detail how the government envisions the work of construction SROs. These should be associations formed by region or by activity profile, with at least 100 and no more than 500 companies. The main functions of an SRO are admission to the market and forced removal from the market. Admission is carried out by issuing a document (a certificate — an analogue of a license) certifying membership in the SRO.
Membership requirements, as well as professional quality and safety standards, are developed by the SRO itself. At the same time, both representatives of the federal government and the Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg, Alexander Vakhmistrov, expressed the wish that one or, at the very least, several unified bases of standards based on the requirements of the law on SROs be formed at the all-Russian level.
And already on their basis, specialized and regional associations will develop their specific standards and conduct current work.
Deleted for life
This part of the reports was met with silent approval by the participants. But the government's opinion on how the removal from the market will take place and what the SRO will pay for it caused an anxious buzz in the hall. Meanwhile, it is with the help of this mechanism that the state hopes to avoid the shortcomings of the state licensing system. The inefficiency of the latter has been discussed for a long time. Last year, more licenses were issued than construction organizations were registered, which, according to officials, indicates a high level of corruption in the construction sector and the lack of an effective mechanism for selecting companies. The activities of the Federal Licensing Center (FLC) also raise many complaints. According to Pavel Rezantsev, General Director of the Association «Construction and Industrial Complex of the North-West», the revenue from FLC services is eight times higher than their cost. And the profit is 500 percent. The stability of this income is ensured by regular inspections conducted by the FLC, and, as a rule, all violations detected are routine in nature. The question is simple: if you don't want your business to be suspended — buy a license from the FLC. Therefore, construction companies are forced to incur any expenses. And how to ensure safety at the construction site — no one cares anymore.
It turns out that the state, allowing this or that person to enter the market, does not bear responsibility for it. But the SRO should bear it. After all, every consumer of the services of a company — a member of the SRO has the opportunity to apply to the organization for compensation for damages.
The essence of the mechanism for removal from the market proposed by the state is as follows: if a company has violated professional standards, suffered losses and must pay for it, it can seek help from a specially created compensation fund formed from membership fees. The same can be done by a consumer of the company's services. As a result, it turns out that all market participants will pay for the mistake of one crane operator, and they will pay a lot. The question is, will they want to see the company that has committed the offence in their ranks after this?
And the provinces are against it
The issue of the compensation fund and the responsibility of the SRO caused a heated discussion. Representatives of the Volga region and Kuzbass were especially heated.
— Why do I need to join an SRO? — asked Konstantinov, Director of the Union of Builders of the Saratov Region. — For builders, self-regulation only means that instead of paying for a license, they will have to pay to the SRO. What will it give me? The rights of the SRO are not spelled out in the law.
Alexander Nikulin, Director of the Union of Builders of the Voronezh Region, also expressed bewilderment.
— The question is, who will organize all this? It is not clear who. What builders should do while the SRO has not yet been registered is also unclear, — he said.
— Everything that was said here about buying licenses, about corruption — this is all, gentlemen, in the capitals, — assured the director of the Union of Builders of Kuzbass Irina Kuzevanova. — But we do not have bribes. And licenses are not bought. So you, Muscovites and St. Petersburgers, create SROs first. And we are still in a different economic state, we are only just getting out of the impasse.
She called for both systems — licensing and certification in SROs — to exist in parallel during the two-year transition period.
In general, taking responsibility upon yourself is no joke. Indeed, many people need to grow up to this.
By the way, a few days later, the Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Vakhmistrov announced at a meeting devoted to the implementation of the national project «Affordable Housing» that the city administration would do everything to ensure that only large construction companies remain on the market. «We will prepare you for self-regulation,» he noted.
Rossiyskaya Gazeta, April 10 |
