The government adopted a change in the law introducing the function of authorized builder

Prague - The government has adopted a change to the law that will allow authorized builders to operate alongside authorized technicians, engineers, and architects. They will be authorized to lead construction as site managers but will not need permission to prepare project documentation. This follows the results of yesterday's government meeting.

Currently, according to the explanatory report from the Ministry for Regional Development (MMR), fields of study concerning the professional management of construction work are taught at universities, but not actual building design. However, site managers must be authorized engineers and to obtain this authorization, they must have experience in developing project documentation.

The amendment aims to eliminate and clarify certain provisions, thereby strengthening the legal certainty of authorized persons, applicants for authorization, as well as the Czech Chamber of Authorized Engineers and Technicians (ČKAIT) and the Czech Chamber of Architects (ČKA). Both chambers welcome the introduction of a new type of authorized person and have participated in the draft of the law.

According to the chairman of the legislative committee and vice-chairman of ČKAIT, František Konečný, it will be easier for experienced construction employees to gain authorization after the change is adopted. The main reason for introducing this new type of authorized person was the current shortage of authorized site managers. The newly defined profession of "authorized builder" will have significant importance for construction companies lacking site managers, according to Konečný.

Jan Kasl, the chairman of ČKA, also considers the introduction of the authorized builder a step in the right direction. However, according to him, it must lead to a clearer division of responsibility in the preparation and implementation of constructions. At the same time, it must not weaken the role of authorized architects, urban planners, landscape architects, and engineers where their expertise is irreplaceable, Kasl added.

He also pointed out that the change to the law was subsequently further adjusted based on the opinion of the government's legislative council, but this version has not been discussed with the ČKA. Architects, according to Kasl, still lack the authority of professional chambers to establish minimum and safe time requirements for individual project phases.

Part of the change to the law is also the clarification of the powers of individual bodies of professional chambers. According to MMR, these are technical changes and neither ČKAIT nor ČKA have any issues with them.

Recently, the lack of workers in the construction industry has been pointed out by other associations and experts alongside ČKAIT and ČKA. Data from the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ) shows that in 2005, about 60,000 people studied fields in the engineering, production, and construction groups, accounting for approximately 21 percent of all university students; last year, this was about 12 percent, or approximately 39,800 students.