Strict Standards to be Established in Construction Sites: Government Decision Made

The government has made a decision aimed at enhancing discipline in construction sites. According to the relevant decision made on December 8, clients will be required to include regulations in the contracts for the procurement of construction projects addressing the situations at construction sites, safety at work, sanitary and hygiene conditions, technical safety, and norms regarding the pollution of atmospheric air and the environment. Concurrently, the draft contracts will also include provisions for accountability for violations, such as suspending construction, fines, or penalties.

“This issue was discussed in the Prime Minister's office, and we decided to regulate it together with the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures and the Urban Development Committee as early as September. At that time, we concluded that in state model procurement contracts approved by the Minister of Finance, we could include a norm indicating that contractors could demand that these construction norms be observed, with technical oversight affirming it, specifically regarding the safety conditions and work attire. However, experience has shown that this is insufficient, and it is necessary to raise the level of regulatory standardization and make these regulations mandatory. We are now elevating this discretionary regulation, which was originally intended for exemplary procurement contracts, to a mandatory norm,” said Minister of Finance Tigran Khachatryan during the government meeting where the project was presented.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan emphasized that standards should be established at construction sites. “We are talking about defining standards for construction sites, what condition the site should be in, what condition the workers should be in, and what clothing and safety measures they should wear. The issues here are multi-layered, starting from the fact that during the previous period, we observed the level of dust when construction volumes were significantly high in Yerevan. On the other hand, we are constantly receiving alerts and observing very high pollution levels recorded in Yerevan. One of the reasons for this is that standards are not adhered to at construction sites. We must be consistent on this issue,” concluded the Prime Minister.