Licensing of construction and installation and design works

In accordance with the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Private Entrepreneurship”, private entrepreneurship is understood as the initiative activity of private entrepreneurship entities aimed at generating income, based on the property of private entrepreneurship entities themselves and carried out on behalf of private entrepreneurship entities, for their risk and under their property liability. In the case of carrying out entrepreneurial activities subject to licensing, in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Licensing”, a business entity must obtain an appropriate license. In this case, the subjects of architectural and urban planning activities must obtain a license depending on the type of activity carried out: a license for survey activities, a license for design activities, a license for construction and installation works. The activities of private entrepreneurship entities engaged in the field of architectural and urban planning activities are regulated by the Civil Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Architectural and Urban Planning Activities in the Republic of Kazakhstan”, the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Licensing” and other by-laws.

In accordance with the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Licensing”, licensed types of activities include specific sub-types of activities that are specified in the Law. It should be noted that the regulatory legal acts: the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 461 dated July 15, 2011 “On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the Issues of Improving the Permit System”, the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated July 10, 2012 No. 31-V “ On the introduction of amendments and additions to certain legislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on technical regulation and metrology, such a licensed type of activity as design and survey activities was divided into two types of design and survey, in addition, a number of licensed sub-types of activity were excluded, one of which are the following:

Project activity:

• development of special sections of projects on: labor protection; anti-corrosion protection device; lightning protection device; automation, fire and security alarm system, fire extinguishing and fire protection systems at the design stage for new construction, overhaul, reconstruction or re-equipment of buildings and structures; preparation of budget documentation; drawing up projects for the organization of construction and projects for the production of works;
• architectural design for buildings and structures, including: buildings, structures and communications for industrial (industrial and economic) purposes; housing and civil buildings and structures; structures of monumental or decorative and applied purpose, small architectural forms and objects of landscape architecture; – development of special sections of projects on: labor protection; anti-corrosion protection device; lightning protection device; automation, fire and security alarm system, fire extinguishing and fire protection systems at the design stage for new construction, overhaul, reconstruction or re-equipment of buildings and structures; preparation of budget documentation; drawing up projects for the organization of construction and projects for the production of works.

Construction and installation works:

• general earthworks changed to special earthworks;
• such a subspecies as the production of special construction and installation works (including the conduct of special work in soils) is excluded, including: masonry from refractory materials; installation of explosive and fire hazardous equipment; installation of technological pipelines made of non-ferrous metals, polymeric materials and glass; storage facilities for oil, oil products and liquefied gases; earthworks in land reclamation and water management construction; hydromechanized works in the ground;
• special works on the installation of internal centralized heating systems with the corresponding sub-activities are excluded;
• such a sub-type of activity as finishing work during construction, reconstruction, overhaul of buildings and structures of I or II levels of responsibility has been excluded (with the exception of plastering and painting works);
• such sub-types of activity as installation of technological equipment (including commissioning) associated with: elevator facilities and other lifting and transport devices are excluded; metallurgy, enrichment; metalworking; woodworking; geological exploration, oil and gas production; mining, subway and tunnels and other sub-types of activity.

One of the fundamental innovations in the legislation in the field of architecture and urban planning was the division of individuals and legal entities engaged in design activities and construction and installation work in the field of architecture, urban planning and construction into categories:

Category I – carry out activities at facilities of all levels of responsibility within the framework of the existing license;

Category II – carry out activities at facilities of the second and third levels of responsibility, as well as work at facilities of the first level of responsibility within the framework of the existing license under subcontracts;

Category III – carry out activities at facilities of the second technically simple and third levels of responsibility, as well as work at facilities of the first and second levels of responsibility within the framework of the existing license under subcontracting agreements.

The division into categories made it possible to divide construction entities depending on the length of service of the organization in the construction industry, the number of facilities put into operation, material and technical equipment, thus information about the category makes it possible to learn about the qualifications of the enterprise and involve a certain level of responsibility in work at facilities.

Qualification requirements for certain types (subtypes) of licensed activities in the field of architecture, urban planning and construction are reflected in the Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated January 25, 2012 No. 162 “On approval of qualification requirements for certain types (subtypes) of licensed activities in the field of architecture , urban planning and construction, and the invalidation of some decisions of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan “for example, in order to obtain a license for a certain type of activity, it is required to have a production base, the presence of a minimum material and technical equipment on the right of ownership (economic management or operational management) and / or lease, including a minimum set of equipment, instrumentation, tools, machines and mechanisms, which are installed in accordance with the technical requirements for the performance of construction and installation works, depending on the technical requirements for the declared works of the subspecies of the licensed type of activity; availability of instructions approved by the applicant (licensee) on the quality control system regulating the proper performance of work and quality assurance (standard control, quality control of work performance); the availability of rules and instructions approved by the applicant (licensee) on the system of labor protection and safety with the attachment of documents confirming the training of a responsible engineering and technical worker. In addition to the above requirements, in order to assign the first category to a licensee, the licensee must have at least ten years of experience and have a production base on the right of ownership; to assign a second category to a licensee, five years of work experience is required.

If the division of construction activity entities is regulated by the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On architectural and urban planning activities in the Republic of Kazakhstan”, then the attribution of objects under construction according to the level of responsibility is regulated by the “Rules for classifying buildings and structures as technically complex objects”, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and also RDS RK 1.02-04- 2013 “Attributing objects of construction and urban planning of territories to the levels of responsibility” approved by the Committee for Construction and Housing and Communal Services of the Ministry of Regional Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan. So, under an increased level of responsibility should be taken for buildings and structures, the failure of which can lead to severe economic, social and environmental consequences. The normal level of responsibility should be taken for buildings and structures of mass construction. A reduced level of responsibility should be accepted for seasonal or auxiliary facilities.

Urban planning projects are classified according to two levels of responsibility: I and II.

At the same time, the first level of responsibility includes the development of urban planning documentation approved by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan; II level of responsibility includes the development of urban planning documentation, which is approved by local government bodies in the manner prescribed by current legislation.

A more detailed classification of assigning objects to a particular level of responsibility is contained in the governing documents in construction.