Buildings in Azerbaijan will have guarantees

The construction companies will give guarantees on their buildings in Azerbaijan for the first time.

The warranty period for the buildings being constructed will be set in the Town Planning Code, deputy head of administrative and military legislation department of the Azerbaijani Parliament Sayyad Karimov told Trend today.

Karimov said that the use of the warranty period is widespread in the world. He stressed that the contractor will be responsible for the elimination of defects and shortcomings in a building which is under construction during the warranty period.

"If there are cracks, shrinkage or something is broken in the commissioned building, then the company that has built the building is responsible for the quality of the construction," he said. "The deficiencies revealed during the warranty period will be removed by the contractor. This rule will apply to any construction, without exception."

The duration of the warranty period is different in the world practice, deputy head of the department said.

He added that depending on the country, this period is 3 years, 5 years or termless.

The draft code has not established the duration of the warranty period, Karimov said.
He stressed that it will be determined after studying the world experience.
"According to the information, the parties define the term of one year in the projects funded by the World Bank," Karimov said.

The new project will include the requirements for building materials used in construction, he added. They must meet the requirements.
"Construction companies will not be able to use their bricks, cement and other building materials," he added. "Used construction materials must meet safety requirements, the standards stipulated by regulations. If they do not meet these requirements, do not have numbers, label, standards, they must not be used."

He added that the use of building materials which do not meet the requirements will mean the use of illegal construction materials and will result in a liability.

"That is, if such a case is revealed, construction may be suspended or banned," Karimov said.

The draft code regulates land planning, working up the documents on urban planning, transparency of the process, ensuring of construction activity in accordance with town planning documents, the opportunities in urban planning and construction activity for people with disabilities and handicapped people to get the access to the facilities of common use, security building facilities, the assessment of the construction activity impact on the environment and its consideration during the construction activity, the procedure of permits for construction and other issues. The draft stipulates that the permits for construction must be given on a "single window" principle.

The project has been adopted by the Azerbaijani Parliament during the first reading (at the Parliament).