On May 18, the National Expert Construction Alliance of Ukraine held a roundtable discussion on the topic of black expertise in construction at the UNIAN news agency.
The President of the National Expert Construction Alliance of Ukraine, Viktor Leshchynsky, began the event by raising the issue of the work of unscrupulous expert organizations that prepare expert reports within 1-2 days, without even studying the project documentation, but simply giving the customer a hastily prepared “piece of paper”.
At the same time, any specialist in the field of construction expertise knows that a high-quality examination of project documentation, depending on the complexity of the object, takes from a week to a month or more. Only in this case can we talk about the quality of such an expert report.
“An expertise is not just a piece of paper with forged signatures of experts, it is, first of all, the responsibility of experts for the life and safety of Ukrainians who will use future buildings. And if the expert did not see the project documentation in person, because his signature was simply forged, then what responsibility can we talk about?” — notes Viktor Leshchynsky.
The facts of the forgery of the expert’s signature on reports that he did not see in person were confirmed by construction expert Maksym But, who also suffered from the activities of such organizations and was forced to contact law enforcement agencies.
During the roundtable, the editor of the Ukrainian Reporter publication Leonid Frosevich addressed the participants. He conducted a journalistic investigation into the activities of one of the “black” expert organizations.
LLC “First Private Expertise”, located in Lviv, issued such a “fake” expert report. He stated that a video with a detailed story about this is on the publication’s website and noted that he would contact the Ministry of Regional Development with a journalistic inquiry regarding the unscrupulous activities of this organization.
You can view the video about this investigation at the link: https://ukrreporter.com.ua/business/zhunalisty-vyvely-na-chystu-vodu-siryh-ekspertiv-u-budivnytstvi-video.html
Unfortunately, customers are often interested in having an expert report on their project documentation ready as soon as possible and at the lowest price, not always understanding what terrible consequences haste and the desire to save money can lead to.
It is a pity that some unscrupulous players in the market, sensing the demand, offer expert reports like “hot cakes” and at a much lower price than honest expert organizations. And the consumer suffers – the average Ukrainian who bought an apartment in a future building, or visits a shopping center or kindergarten built with violations. After all, the errors that were laid during the design were not detected by the experts during the preparation of the so-called “report”.
The fact that the problem exists is recognized by most players in the construction expertise market. But how to solve this problem and bring order?
Viktor Leshchynsky sees a way out of the situation in the introduction of self-regulation in the market. “The market should be transparent, “white” and understandable to everyone, and for this it should clean itself, and the state should only facilitate this by creating an appropriate legislative and regulatory framework,” says the president of the Alliance.
People’s Deputy of Ukraine Oleksandr Aliksiychuk noted that the reform of the State Agency for Construction Inspection, which is still ongoing, includes bringing order to the construction expertise market. “I am in favor of criminal liability, not just fines, for such illegal activities of “black” expertise, the deputy noted.
In addition to the fact that they endanger the lives of Ukrainians, they also “kill” those expert organizations that work honestly by outright dumping.”
Mykhailo Serebryakov, project manager of the NGO “Together Against Corruption,” spoke about a number of criteria according to which unscrupulous experts can be deprived of their qualification certificates.
Currently, the issue is that the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine should take these qualification requirements into account and reflect them in its regulatory acts. But it is clear that in the work of “black” expertises, in most cases the expert does not even suspect that he was “used” during the preparation of a “fake” report.
Viktor Leshchynsky, the president of the Alliance, in turn, promised to restore order in the market.
“To do this, we will enlist the support of lawyers who will provide an appropriate legal assessment of such illegal activities and help prepare documents for an appeal to law enforcement agencies. We also plan to appeal to people’s deputies who are responsible for the construction issue, so that they, in turn, initiate a parliamentary appeal to the relevant Ministry,” the Alliance president promised.
In addition, the Alliance plans to create a forum for expert organizations, designers and customers of expertise, where it will be possible to write comments and positive feedback on the work of such organizations.
This is necessary in order to protect future customers from cooperation with unscrupulous performers and improve the construction expertise market. The forum will become a quick response tool and update what is happening in the market.
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