25.07.2022
On July 19,2022, representatives of the Latvian Asoociation of Consulting Engineers (LIKA) and the Lithuanian Association of Designer Companies (Lietuvos projektavimo svetnių asociació, LPIA) held a meeting dedicated to challenges in the field of construction supervision in Latvia and Lithuania. Initiative to organize the meeting was proposed by Lithuanian colleagues, who informed about the existing regulatory base in the field of construction and construction supervision, and also shared the biggest challenges they face in their work. LIKA representatives also informed their Lithuanian colleagues about the regulatory framework and challenges in this field in Latvia. In the discussion both parties found that the biggest challenge for companies working in the field of construction supervision, as well as for other engineering consulting companies, is using of the lowest price evaluation criteria, especially in the procurement of state and local government construction supervision services. Colleagues pointed out that in their country there are discussions about clarifying the functions of author supervisor and construction supervisor so that these functions do not overlap and work is not duplicated. Lithuanian colleagues, talking about the regulatory framework in their country, noted that process of liberalization of the regulatory framework is underway in Lithuania, which requires a much higher competence of the clients and the capacity of professional organizations that are able to ensure self-regulation in the sector. Work on increasing the competence of clients does not keep up with the liberalization process. Both parties agreed that the capacity and opportunities of professional organizations in our countries are insufficient compared to other European countries. Coordinated action of the professional organizations of the Baltic States and joint approach to the state and municipal authorities could improve this situation. Lithuanian colleagues said that their biggest challenge at the moment is the so-called electronic "sprint" procurement in the field of construction supervision services organized by the state's centralized procurement agency. In procurement, the only criteria is the price. The regulatory framework provides that the construction supervision contribution in hours must be specified in the work organization project. In this way, only the number of required hours of construction supervision is determined in the Technical Specification of the procurement of the work organization project. Bidders compete on the speed of bid submission.
Representatives of the Latvian side concluded that the functions of construction supervision are similar in both countries, but regulatory framework in Latvia is not as liberal as in Lithuania. Both BIS and EDLUS have been implemented and operating in Latvia for several years. Also, three groups of structures have been defined, which classify structures according to their size and impact on society and the environment. In Lithuania the system similar to BIS has started operating recently, but a system similar to EDLUS does not exist. There is also no division according to the importance of buildings.
