Technical inspection is a procedure for a facility with an issued decision on a building permit or work approval whereby the client intends to submit a request to the competent authority to issue the use permit.
This inspection is carried out after the completion of construction or simultaneously with the execution of works.
By the legal regulations [1] [2], the client who builds the facility is obliged to contract its technical inspection, for all facilities with an issued building permit, except for those that per [3] belong to category “A” (nondemanding buildings).
Technical inspection is also mandatory if the client wants to obtain the use permit and the works pertain to the work approval. The bylaw [4] lists the types of buildings and works subject to work approval, and most frequently, it is about reconstruction, adaptation, and rehabilitation.
The client provides technical inspection of the facility and bears the necessary costs. A technical inspection committee (thereupon referred to as the Committee), formed by the client or his consultant engaged for that purpose, performs this service.
Members of the Committee can only be engineers with appropriate licenses (for the responsible designer or responsible contractor for that type of work). These licenses must correspond to the areas of those parts of the technical documentation under inspection.
When technical inspection refers to a building with special fire protection measures, the member of the Committee is an engineer with an appropriate license in the field of fire protection.
For facilities with an environmental impact assessment study (Study), an engineer with appropriate academic education in the Study subject field must participate in the technical inspection.
The law specifies that members of the Committee cannot be engineers who, on any basis, were engaged in the earlier stages of project development (the designer, contractor, construction supervisor, etc.).
We carry out a technical inspection:
- For the entire facility
- By phases of the facility construction, when the building permit provides for phased construction; or
- For parts of the building that are not provided as separate phases by the building permit but per the Committee’s opinion and in conformity with the technical documentation, they represent technical-technological units and can be used independently
Through a technical inspection, we determine the facility’s suitability for use while checking:
- Completeness of technical and other documentation for the construction of the facility (i.e. whether the client and the contractor, before and during construction, provided and properly maintained all the necessary documentation listed in the bylaw [2])
- Compliance of the performed works with the building permit or work approval, technical regulations and standards related to certain types of works, materials, building services and equipment (position and fundamental dimensions of the facility, principal elements of construction, elements of technical protection, finishing, type of building services, specific devices and equipment and arrangement of the construction plot)
The necessary documentation for the technical inspection is listed in the bylaw [2]. In addition to other documentation, the client must provide a survey of the constructed facility and particular parts of the facility and a survey of underground utilities prepared by a certified land surveyor.
Oktopaz ensures that only engineers with appropriate licenses and experience are part of the Committee.
The Committee keeps minutes of its work. The content of that record is given in the bylaw [2]. The president and all the members of the Committee sign off the minutes.
Upon determining that all conditions exist, the Committee recommends in writing that the competent authority issues a use permit to the client. The bylaw [2] defines the form of that submission. The president and all the members of the Committee sign off the recommendation.
The minutes of the Committee work and the recommendation for issuing the use permit make up the report on the technical inspection. The Committee hands this report over to the client. It is an integral part of the documentation that the client submits to the competent authority with the request for the issuance of the use permit.
For buildings with the highest fire risk, per [5], the Ministry of Interior (MoI) is responsible for technical inspection of the implemented fire protection measures. In that case, the client directly invites MoI, arranges the arrival of an authorised engineer (inspector) and covers the necessary costs. MoI’s engineer does not sign the report on the Committee work and the recommendation for issuing the use permit. Instead, the suitability for use regarding the implementation of fire protection measures MoI regulates by a particular decision, which is attached to the technical inspection report and forms its integral part.
Trial operation
If there must be preliminary tests of building services, equipment, stability and safety of the facility, or if the technical documentation provides for it, the Committee may approve the commissioning of the facility, phase, or part of the facility for trial operation, provided that the conditions exist.
In that case, the Committee issues a certificate of approval for trial operation to the client. The bylaw [2] contains the form of this certificate. Also, the Committee advises the competent authority about it without delay.
The trial operation can last for a maximum of one year.
The client submits the Committee’s report and certificate to the competent authority. The client is obliged to monitor the results of the trial operation.
The Committee verifies the fulfilment of the conditions for issuing the use permit during the trial operation of the facility and submits a report on this to the client. The trial operation lasts until the issuance of the use permit.
If there are defects and irregularities in the facility, or if the conditions for issuing a use permit do not exist during the trial operation, the Committee expresses an opinion that the facility’s use can be approved only after the removal of those defects and irregularities, or, considering the type and nature of the defects and irregularities even before their elimination, with taking the necessary safety measures during the execution of works on the elimination of said defects.
The Committee is the last link in the chain of participants in the project’s development. Its responsibility for the facility’s suitability for use is evident, bearing in mind that there are no more corrections, whereas the facilities should last for dozens of years.
Consulting services related to technical inspection and acceptance
When rendering construction supervision, per the law [1], Oktopaz will not be eligible to form the Committee on the same project. However, we are ready to propose consulting services related to technical inspection and acceptance. Oktopaz selects the Committee through a tender process, supervises its work, regularly reports to the client and remains responsible for controlling the process until obtaining the use permit.
- Planning and Building Act (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, Nos. 72/2009, 81/2009 – Correction, 64/2010 – Decision of the CC, 24/2011, 121/2012, 42/2013 – Decision of the CC, 50/2013 – Decision of the CC, 98/2013 – Decision of the CC, 132/2014, 145/2014, 83/2018, 31/2019, 37/2019 – Other Act, 9/2020, 52/2021, and 62/2023)
- Rulebook on the Content and Manner of Technical Inspection of the Facility, the Composition of the Committee, the Content of the Committee’s Proposal on Determining the Suitability of the Facility for Use, Monitoring of Soil and Facility During Construction and Use, and Minimum Warranty Periods for Certain Types of Facilities (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, Nos. 27/2015, 29/2016, 78/2019, and 6/2024)
- Rulebook on the Classification of Buildings (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 22/2015)
- Rulebook on Particular Types of Facilities and Works for Which It Is Not Necessary to Obtain an Act of the Competent Authority, as well as Types of Facilities Under Construction, i.e. Types of Work Performed, Based on the Work Approval, as well as Scope, Content, and Control of the Documentation Attached to the Request, and the Procedure Carried Out by the Competent Authority (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, Nos. 102/2020, 16/2021, and 87/2021)
- Fire Protection Act (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, Nos. 111/2009, 20/2015, 87/2018, and 87/2018 – Other Act)