On 26 January 2023 Further changes envisaged will enter into force Act dated 7 July 2022 amending the Act – Construction Law and some other laws. What changes to building law in the construction log, in particular the introduction of an electronic construction log, will a new piece of legislation bring?
The construction log shall be an official document intended to record the course of the construction works and the events and circumstances in the course of the execution of the works relevant for the technical assessment of the correctness of the execution of those works. The construction log can be kept in paper or electronic form. This Article discusses second from the envisaged forms which the amending act allows to be used.
What is EDB
The electronic construction log will be kept in the Electronic Construction Journal (EDB system). EDB will be an information system within the meaning of the rules Act dated 17 February 2005 information about the activities of entities carrying out public tasks. The address of the website on which the EDB system will be made available, the Chief Inspector of Construction Supervision will make available in the Public Information Bulletin on the website of the office serving it.
For keeping a construction log in accordance with the law – The construction law corresponds to the construction manager.
The participants of the construction process, the surveyor who performs geodesic activities for the construction site for the purposes of construction, as well as the authorised staff of construction supervisors and other bodies entitled to check compliance at the construction site, as part of the inspection activities carried out.
The issue of the construction log is requested by the investor. The request for the publication of a construction log conducted in electronic form will be made in the EDB system. The publication of the construction log will take place by providing access in the EDB system to the construction log conducted in electronic form.
An individual number will be given to each electronic construction log issued in the EDB system.
The electronic construction log will only continue in electronic form. If the construction works are completed, the construction manager will close the building log with the entry. The closure of the electronic construction log will be done by giving it "closed" status in the EDB system. On the other hand, if a notice of completion is accepted without objection, or if the competent building supervisor is allowed to use it in the EDB system, it will give the building log the status of "enabled".
Establishing an account in EDB
In order to request the publication of a construction log conducted in electronic form and to enter into entries in that journal, the investor and the persons entitled to enter will be required to have an account in the EDB system. In order to establish an account, indicate the name and e-mail.
In the case of an electronic construction log, the investor will make this journal available in the EDB system to other participants in the construction process and to other eligible persons, and the construction manager or the manager of the works will make available to the authorised surveyor at the construction site for the purpose of the construction and to the authorised staff of the construction supervisors and other bodies entitled to check compliance at the construction site, in the framework of the inspection activities carried out.
The EDB system will provide access to the construction log in electronic form for the duration of the construction work. Data collected in the EDB system on the individual construction log will be deleted after 25 years from the date of granting the status of "resigned for use" (in the case of construction) or "closed" (in the case of construction works other than construction).
Importantly, access to the EDB system on a permanent or temporary basis, i.e. for the time of carrying out compliance checks at the site, it will be provided to the bodies of architectural and construction administration, construction supervision authorities and other bodies empowered to check compliance at the site.
Author: Oliwia Wójcik
Lawyer. Graduated from the Faculty of Law and Administration at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin and Postgraduate Studies of the Legal and Economic Fundamentals of the Investment Process organized by the Warsaw School of Economics. Its professional interests are economic law, with particular emphasis on the law of commitments. He also has practical experience in conducting litigation.