INTERVIEW: "Vitebskgrazhdanskproekt" is developing a pilot project for the modernization of panel houses according to European standards

EUROPEAN CONSTRUCTION: QUALITY WITHOUT COMPROMISING QUANTITY The Year of Quality for Belarus's construction industry has been marked by the implementation of European standards. Experts are confident that this will enable the domestic construction industry to make a leap towards advanced technologies and solve the quality problem. Anatoly Diulin, Deputy Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, told a BELTA correspondent how new standards are being implemented in practice and what European standardization will cost. - As of January 1, 2010, 58 identical Eurocodes for technical regulations governing the calculation and design of structures made of various materials have come into effect in the country, and 668 European standards harmonized with Directive 89/106/EEC have been introduced as national standards. Anatoly Vladimirovich, what will the implementation of these standards bring to the region's construction industry? - I am confident that the transition to norms and standards consistent with the European system of technical regulation and standardization will enable construction industry enterprises and organizations of the region's construction complex to improve the quality of construction materials, products, and services to the European level and increase export volumes to the European market. In 2009, the region produced 382.5 million standard bricks of wall materials, including 184.7 million ceramic bricks and 165.6 million aerated concrete blocks. Despite the constantly growing domestic demand for wall materials in the region and the republic, enterprises have a real opportunity to increase their export supplies by more than three times. Another advantage of harmonization is the removal of existing technical barriers for foreign investors, which will create a favorable investment climate in our region. - The transition to new design and construction norms requires both technical re-equipment of enterprises and retraining of specialists. What projects of the Program of Measures for the Implementation of EU Design Norms and Standards at Enterprises and Organizations will be implemented in the region? - The implementation of the set of measures provided for by the approved program involves a phased transition to European norms. The program includes four main stages: harmonization of national technical regulatory legal acts with the design norms and standards of the European Union; implementation of Eurocodes and European standards in design and construction practice; organization of training, retraining, and professional development of specialists; implementation of EU standards at enterprises of the construction materials industry and the construction industry. In the Vitebsk region, the unitary enterprise "Institute "Vitebskgrazhdanproekt" was the first to implement new European norms in design. The project "Modernization of the existing series 111-108," included in the coordination plan for standard design in Belarus for 2010, was chosen as a pilot project. The choice of this series of large-panel houses is not accidental; it is the only unique series of large-panel houses in the post-Soviet space with three longitudinal load-bearing walls and solid prestressed floor slabs. The uniqueness of this series lies in the practically unlimited possibilities for apartment layouts, from placing only one-room apartments on a floor to placing one apartment within the entire floor. In addition to free layout, it is possible to build houses of any configuration. This means people will live in comfortable homes by European standards, and our microdistricts will not be clones of each other. Most construction enterprises and designers still have to master European norms. However, there are those in the region who have long been working according to these standards in their pursuit of the European consumer. For example, OJSC "Keramzit Gravel Plant of Novolukoml" was the first in the Vitebsk region to switch to CE marking. The Novolukoml enterprise is an exporter of expanded clay aggregate. To increase the competitiveness of its products in the EU market, the enterprise integrated into the management system based on international standards ISO 9001, ISO 14000, and OHSAS 18000 three years ago. - Anatoly Vladimirovich, the implementation of standards sometimes requires considerable financial investment. - Indeed, the cost of the issue is quite high. But I believe that the investments in new technologies, which will inevitably follow the implementation of European standards, will pay off quite quickly. The material costs for the program implementation, for example, at "Vitebskgrazhdanproekt," are estimated at over Br5.4 billion according to preliminary calculations. The costs include replacing existing software products with new licensed ones adapted to European standards; retraining mid-level specialists to work with new software products; purchasing sets of TKP EN, STB EN, and other regulatory and technical documents harmonized with European norms. - The implementation of European norms in construction coincided with Belarus hosting the Year of Quality in 2010. What specific steps will be taken in the region to improve the quality of construction work? - The main areas of work for organizations and enterprises of the region's construction complex to improve the quality of design and construction of facilities include further updating of construction equipment, machinery, tools, mechanization and control means within the framework of the State Comprehensive Program for the Development of the Material and Technical Base of the Construction Industry for 2006-2010. From 2006 to 2009, communal construction enterprises acquired over 600 units of equipment and machinery worth a total of Br88.8 billion. Construction organizations replenished their fleet with 17 tower cranes, four dozen mobile cranes, fifty excavators, and other equipment. Br36 billion was spent on the technical re-equipment of communal construction organizations (mainly PMK) last year, with which more than 220 units of equipment were purchased: tower and mobile cranes, excavators, bulldozers, etc. Another important area of work will be the implementation of quality management systems in all construction and design organizations, subject to certification in accordance with the requirements of the international standard ISO 9001. Currently, 58 construction complex enterprises in the region, including 16 of republican and 42 of communal ownership, have certified their quality management system according to ISO 9001. The control over the quality of design, construction, and production of construction materials by state expertise and standardization bodies, as well as construction, technical, and author's supervision, will undoubtedly be strengthened. - The construction industry is often compared to a locomotive that pulls other sectors of the economy. What tasks face the region's construction complex this year? - In 2010, the region's construction complex must ensure the commissioning of 720 thousand square meters of total residential area, build 681 residential buildings for agricultural organizations, equip 62 agro-towns, and complete the construction of 18 dairy farms. The State Investment Program provides for the construction of 24 facilities, 8 of which are to be commissioned this year. - The implementation of such large-scale projects is impossible without qualified personnel. Does the region intend to attract labor resources from abroad, or do we have sufficient potential to achieve the set goal on our own? - In general, the construction complex enterprises of the region ensure the fulfillment of the set tasks for the construction and commissioning of planned facilities on their own. Last year, we pursued the path of consolidating or organizing new structural units within existing enterprises. For example, Vitebsk DSK created a completely new department for itself, which is engaged in brick construction. By the way, its first brick house with 40 apartments was commissioned in December in the village of Novka, a suburb of Vitebsk. We have also increased our personnel potential. The number of employees in the region's construction organizations has increased by more than 1.2 thousand people. Vocational training institutions in the region, in accordance with the regional program "Personnel," train workers for the construction industry. At the same time, two foreign companies have been involved in the construction of housing this year. The Turkish firm "Eriş-subenko" is constructing three apartment buildings with a total area of 16.9 thousand square meters in Orsha, and the Latvian enterprise "Moturibo" is building two residential buildings with a total area of 7.5 thousand square meters in Polotsk. I believe that the implementation of European norms in construction and design will contribute to the broader attraction of foreign companies to our construction market. Diana KURILO, BELTA.-0-