Alexandru Dan and Oana Piticas, NOERR

From July 30th, 2017, a new regulation regarding the acceptance of constructions works (the “New Regulation”) will be applicable. The New Regulation amends and clarifies the existing regulation, which has been in force since 1994 (the “Existing Regulation”).

The main amendments/clarifications introduced by the New Regulation are as follows:

1. The acceptance of finalised construction works will be necessary for all types of buildings

The Existing Regulation excluded certain types of buildings from its scope (e.g. houses with only a ground floor/ground floor and first floor or temporary constructions with a gross building area up to 150 sqm). The New Regulation, however, is generally applicable to all buildings for which construction/demolition permits are issued.

2. Representatives of the ISC, ISU and other public authorities will be part of the acceptance commission, alongside other members

“According to the New Regulation, an ISC (Inspectoratul de Stat în Construcţii) representative must be involved in the acceptance of new constructions of exceptional, remarkable or normal importance (categories A, B and C) and for new constructions of low importance (category D) of public or social interest, financed entirely or partially with public funds. Also, the ISU (Inspectoratul pentru situatii de urgenţă) must be represented on the acceptance commission for every building mentioned in Law no. 307/2006, as well as the County Department for Culture, which must be represented on the acceptance commission for buildings listed as historical monuments”, stated Alexandru Dan, Noerr Associate.

Additionally, 1-3 specialists who were not involved in the design or execution process, designated by the investor, must be part of the acceptance commission. The secretary of the commission must be an authorised construction site manager (diriginte de şantier) who will not be part of the commission.

3. The opinion of the public authority representative determines acceptance

The New Regulation expressly states that (i) in the event of divergence between the authority that issued the building permit and the investor/its representatives, the opinion of the public authority will prevail, and that (ii) the acceptance cannot take place if any of the public authorities involved (ISC, ISU, General/County Department for Culture, etc.) proposes rejecting the acceptance.

4. Further details are given of the elements to be verified by the commission

According to the explicit provisions of the New Regulation, the acceptance commission must check that there is an energy certificate, the as-built documentation and the partial acceptance protocols, if such protocols have been concluded.

5. Suspension of the acceptance process will replace the postponement of acceptance, as regulated by the Existing Regulation

“The acceptance commission can no longer recommend postponement of acceptance, stipulated in the Existing Regulation, and acceptance can no longer take place if objections are raised. The acceptance commission can decide to suspend the acceptance process for 90 days (a period which can be prolonged in the event of adverse weather conditions or other reasons beyond the parties’ control) if, for example, there is any non-compliance, inconsistencies or reasonable suspicion regarding the quality of the construction works”, added Oana Piticas, Noerr Associate.

6. The investor cannot issue any requests for remediation measures/penalties or similar requests other than those mentioned in the acceptance protocol

Hidden defects discovered by the investor during the warranty period and defects in the supporting structure deriving from non-compliance with the design or execution provisions are exempted. The New Regulation expressly states that construction works cannot be put into use unless there is an acceptance protocol of the building concluded.

The New Regulation expressly states that the acceptance protocol and the final acceptance protocol can be contested and annulled by the competent court if they are not compliant with legal provisions.

by Alexandru Dan and Oana Piticas, NOERR