President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting January 7 on priority tasks to further accelerate reform in the construction sector.

The scope of creative work in our country has been expanding from one year to another. New housing, large factories, modern infrastructure facilities are being erected. High-quality and timely completion of construction works due to their growing volumes requires skilled builders and designers, sustainable organizations with sufficient resources.

The President sharply criticized the state of affairs in the field, outlined problems and shortcomings.

Thus, there are about 22 thousand construction and contracting organizations in Uzbekistan, most of which do not keep records of the number and professional qualifications of personnel. A negative impact on the timing and quality of work is provided by the fact that all construction works in the regions go through a single customer entity. In international practice, under strict control are safety, quality and the final result of construction, whereas in our country all the forces and resources are directed at overseeing the construction process, while quality is granted secondary attention. 

The head of state identified important measures to eliminate drawbacks and develop the sphere in accordance with modern requirements.
It is imperative, Shavkat Mirziyoyev insisted, to shape a healthy competition among construction design institutions, to develop specific criteria for bidding (tender contests) on the basis of foreign experience, and also to introduce, as an experiment, a corresponding electronic system in the city of Tashkent.

The ministries of construction, finance, justice and other responsible departments were instructed to devise by July 1 an assessment methodology and rating of the activity of construction enterprises. The ranking will be shaped in accordance with such criteria as the number and qualifications of personnel, the amount of works performed, the timely payment of taxes and repayment of loans.

The necessity of improving the norms and rules of urban development, the activities of service organizations of a single customer was emphasized.

The President pointed to the low level of application of information technology in the field. In particular, the elaboration of projects, examination, issuance of permits, control of construction and contracting works are still carried out on paper. There is no geo-information system that allows investors and entrepreneurs to choose sites for construction.

In this regard, the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry for the Development of Information Technologies and Communications are entrusted with the development of a “roadmap” for the full digitalization of the sphere, which will be implemented this year.

It was noted that accidents are occurring due to non-compliance with safety requirements, lack of risk analysis and control. The relevant ministries and agencies have been urged to radically reorganize state control in the construction sphere and strengthen labor protection.

Particular attention at the meeting was paid to personnel issues. The head of state stressed that the system of training specialists for the industry hardly meets today’s requirements.

The ministries of labor relations, construction, as well as higher and secondary special education have been tasked with introducing a classifier for mid-level specialists and worker occupations in the sphere and, on its basis, launching the training of builders in vocational colleges.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev indicated the need for updating educational programs worked out on high technologies and innovative approaches, for training personnel in modern design and working with software, including BIM (Building Information Modeling) technologies.

Responsible executives reported on issues discussed at the meeting, and appropriate measures were identified.