Issues of exceeding the norm in residential building construction are under close scrutiny by prosecutors

The issues of timely construction of residential buildings affect not only the interests of citizens who have invested considerable funds in the creation of real estate, but also state interests. Therefore, the prosecutor's offices of the Vitebsk region pay special attention to the observance of legality in the construction of apartment buildings.

An analysis conducted at the end of 2018 in this area of activity revealed significant violations of the requirements of the legislation, including a considerable exceeding of the normative construction periods, affecting the interests of citizens and the state. In this regard, the Prosecutor's Office of the Vitebsk region took measures of prosecutorial response: on December 14, 2018, a representation was made to the Chairman of the Vitebsk City Executive Committee to eliminate violations of the legislation on control activities in the construction sector, as well as the causes and conditions contributing to them. A number of officials from local authorities were brought to disciplinary responsibility, and an administrative process was initiated against two developers. The results of the measures taken, as well as the demonstrated consistency of actions by interested parties in fulfilling the requirements of the legislation, have led to a positive change in the situation with "long-term construction projects," with one of the buildings promptly commissioned.

However, as of March 2019, 3 "problematic" apartment buildings are still under construction in the city of Vitebsk.

Due to the relevance of the issue under consideration, on March 21, 2019, the regional prosecutor's office, together with the State Control Committee of the Vitebsk region, held a meeting on the issues of control over the construction and commissioning of residential buildings being built with exceeding normative deadlines. The meeting was also attended by heads of authorities and supervisory bodies (Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee and City Executive Committee, Inspection of the Department of Construction Control and Supervision for the Vitebsk Region), as well as heads of developer organizations (directors of ODO NPP "Mera", VRSP "StroyTorgServis" LLC, General Director of State Enterprise "UKS of the city of Vitebsk").

Based on the results of the meeting, a set of measures was developed,

directed at maximum coordination of actions of authorities, developers and contractors, prompt resolution of the existing situation with "long-term construction projects" and accelerated construction with the aim of fulfilling the task of completing all problematic houses in the first half of 2019.

By the decision of the meeting, the Vitebsk City Executive Committee will carry out almost daily control over the construction work according to the developed schedules. In turn, the Vitebsk Regional Committee of State Control and the Vitebsk Regional Prosecutor's Office will exercise control and supervision over the observance of legality in the implementation by the interested parties of all measures decided at the meeting.

At the same time, the main reason for developers' failure to meet the regulatory indicators for commissioning housing remains disruptions in financing, both in the construction of housing using own funds and with the participation of co-investors.

In this regard, in order to improve the legal regulation of issues related to the construction of apartment buildings and enhance the legal protection of citizens involved in financing construction, the Vitebsk Regional Prosecutor's Office has sent proposals to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Belarus to amend legislation concerning the approval of construction by local authorities, the mechanism for controlling construction deadlines, including a proposed mechanism for expropriating land plots with all ensuing consequences from a developer who fails to commission a residential building within the regulatory timeframes.

Prosecutor of the Department for Supervision
over the Enforcement of Legislation
and Legality of Legal Acts
of the Vitebsk Regional Prosecutor's Office
Pavel Sukhov