On September 28, Moscow hosted the II All-Russian Congress of “self-regulatory organizations based on the membership of persons involved in the preparation of project documentation”. One of the main results of the two-day work of the congress was the establishment of an all-Russian non-state non-profit organization - the National Association of Designers (NOP), which can be considered the logical completion of the process of structuring the self-regulation system in the design sphere. Alexei Vorontsov, chairman of the board of Russia's first national association of professionals, the Guild of Architects and Designers (GAP), became the president of the new organization.
Today, the NOP unites 25 self-regulatory organizations representing the interests of more than 3 thousand design institutes and organizations of the Russian Federation in the field of housing, civil and industrial design, as well as the design of nuclear power facilities, the space industry and special purposes. With the abolition of licensing and the emergence of an organization authorized to regulate activities in the field of architectural and construction design and improve the legislative and regulatory and technical base, the professional community has the most positive hopes. However, it is not a secret for any of the practicing architects that today the industry is experiencing a deep crisis, and not only economic, but legal, regulatory and, if you like, ideological. Today we are talking with Pavel Andreev, Alexey Vorontsov and Boris Levyant, the “founding fathers” of the GAP, about what problems the SRO will have to solve in the first place.
Anna Martovitskaya, Archi.ru:
One of the main tasks of the GAP and NOP determine the improvement of legislation in the field of architecture and urban planning. What issues, in your opinion, are the first to be settled here?
Alexey Vorontsov: Firstly, in accordance with FZ 148-FZ "On Amendments to the Urban Planning Code and Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation" and 315-FZ "On Self-Regulatory Organizations", we are already actively participating in the activities of government bodies to form a system of self-regulatory organizations. I also consider a very important step in the activities of the National Association to participate in the work on correcting the text of amendments and changes to the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 87 "On the composition of sections of project documentation and requirements for their content." In general, if you list all the laws governing the field of architecture and urban planning and needing amendments, the list runs the risk of becoming very long. After all, this is the Urban Planning Code, the Law "On Architectural Activity", the Law "On Education". In addition, it is vitally important to return urban planning activities to the sphere of regulation - only the mute does not shout that today it is actually not recognized at all at the legislative level. But it is precisely from urban planning, from the placement and binding of the object that the very safety of construction begins, which is positioned as one of the state priorities!
Boris Levyant: I also think it is extremely important to finalize the law "On technical regulation". In fact, having abolished building codes as mandatory, he stopped developing and improving them, while the technical regulations that replace SNiPs are not really a replacement for them, and while architects are more hindered than helped. But standards are the basis of any design! But the most important task facing the SRO, I see the building of clear relationships between the architects who develop building projects, and the bodies that approve these projects, and then control the construction as a process. One of the most painful problems of Russian architectural practice is that, in fact, everywhere the architect is being pushed out of the process of implementing his project. The author loses control over what is being built, the result is monstrous, and all the criticism for what was built in the end still falls on the architect!
Pavel Andreev: Unfortunately, today a new generation of designers has emerged who are used to working without any regard for laws and regulations at all. The main requirement for them is that of the customer, and the power of money takes precedence over considerations of both aesthetics and professional ethics. And I agree with my colleagues that adjusting the system of technical regulations is absolutely necessary, but it is even more necessary to oblige practicing architects to know and follow these regulations. Compliance with the regulations is the first and main stage in the implementation of the basic requirement for the safety of the structure. The ability to handle them is already a matter of talent, ability, etc., but regardless of whether an architect possesses these qualities or not, he must ensure a high quality of design.
What makes you believe that the creation of an SRO will fundamentally change the situation in the professional community of designers?
Alexey Vorontsov: The emergence of SROs will undoubtedly make the project services market more civilized, provide a clean competitive environment and put a ban on dumping. It is no secret that the current tender system is focused on choosing the cheapest project and, perhaps, in some areas of activity, it is the low cost that guarantees the quality of the final product, but design is not one of them. And to fight this vicious system, when orders for design are received by unknown, inexperienced bureaus just because they announced the lowest price, BUT intends to be in the toughest way. In particular, now, in order to participate in tenders, it will be necessary to have the admission of the SRO of designers. And this does not mean that only the most conscious will be admitted to the ranks of the SRO - admission will be a guarantee that its owner is financially responsible for the quality of his work, and not only to developers, but (and this is most important) to consumers - end users of buildings …
Boris Levyant: In addition, as we have already discussed at the congress, it is necessary to correct the very system of tendering in the field of design of objects. Personally, it seemed to me a very reasonable proposal to first hold a qualifying tender, in which only the technologies and experience of designers will compete - this guarantees us the selection of participants who are truly capable of fulfilling an order with high quality, and from the resulting short list, you can choose the cheapest services.
How will the architect's responsibility be measured? Money?
Alexey Vorontsov: Yes, imagine. The time for ideological appeals has passed. Reputation is now measured in money, and this is completely normal practice. I mean the insurance system for SRO members. Last year we started with insurance with a total cost of 30 thousand rubles, and it turned out to be enough for Rostekhnadzor to register us. Then the Guild of Architects and Designers developed a new insurance product - Compulsory Collective Insurance of SRO Members, which costs each of its members about 14 thousand rubles. But we do not stop at this either: the next step is individual insurance of each member of the SRO, and it is the amount for which the architect is insured that, over time, should become the most important component of his reputation. Judge for yourself: if I insured my business for only 14 thousand rubles, then, in the opinion of an outsider, I can only be entrusted with designing a two-story shed. And if my insurance premium is a decent amount, it means that I am confident in myself as a professional, and I can be entrusted with a serious object.
But in order for the insurance company to agree to insure you for a million dollars, it must also be confident in both your professionalism and the adequacy of the project you are undertaking.
Boris Levyant: For this, a system of independent expert agencies will be created, the main customers of which will be insurance companies. By order of the companies, these agencies will thoroughly check all projects, and this will ultimately provide the architect with unconditional economic security.
Okay, let's pretend for a moment that this is all already reality. The architect is protected financially, and his right to control the project implementation process is protected by law, and there is also a flawlessly working system of independent examination - corrosive, but fair. Do you need a system of state expertise in these conditions, or can this "extra link" be eliminated?
Boris Levyant: This is a very tricky and tricky question! Personally, I am convinced that the final expertise of the project and the ultimate responsibility for its quality and implementation should lie with the architect himself and the SRO, of which he is a member. But one should not forget about such an important link as the customer. It will be possible to do without state expertise in the field of construction only when the customer is legally obliged to comply with the approved and agreed project, and this obligation will not be as fictitious as it is de facto today.
Pavel Andreev: The fact is that earlier in the examination, real work was carried out to find optimal solutions for the implementation of specific objects. And today a lot of young guys have come to work there, who realized that the word “no” can earn more and faster than looking for alternative solutions. And today, as a rule, the very first visit with a state examination with a project ends with the receipt of a pre-prepared, template list of claims, which stops work for several days, or even weeks. And in fact, all architects, as a result, are not engaged in designing, but in shipping documentation for construction on a waybill. What kind of creativity can we talk about in this situation, what kind of primogeniture of the author? In general, the state examination system itself needs to be reformed, but its complete abolition, I think, will only lead to even greater chaos. In the end, it is the examination that knows about all the standards that have been issued in this city and in this country.
Alexey Vorontsov: Well, we hope so, at least. In general, as you know, the Urban Development Code has decreed that there is a state examination and there is a non-state examination. I am convinced that the latter will eventually become more important than the former, because the situation in the construction market should change dramatically due to the influence of self-regulatory organizations.
Self-regulatory organizations call their one more important task the professional development of personnel and certification of employees of architectural bureaus. And this is understandable: both construction technologies and materials are constantly being improved, requirements for the safety of structures are growing, and an architect may noticeably miss the only one higher education received once. But what is professional development in the opinion of the SRO? After all, the traditional 70 hours at the faculty of professional retraining of the Moscow Architectural Institute can hardly help a practicing architect …
Boris Levyant: It is difficult to disagree with this. I, for example, and some of my employees would gladly improve their qualifications after working for a month or two with Wolf Prix or Tom Maine. But go to the respected Moscow Architectural Institute and listen to lectures by very respectable, but far from real practice, professors? Why waste your time and these teachers, why this profanity? I would rather talk about the need to create competent certification commissions capable of realistically assessing the level of an architect.
Pavel Andreev: You can improve your qualifications in a variety of ways - by participating in exhibitions or competitions, for example, acting as consultants, attending master classes by foreign architects. It will inevitably take time for us to develop an assessment system that takes into account all these factors, but we will definitely do it.
Alexey Vorontsov: Do not forget that professional practice itself is a constant improvement of one's own qualifications. Gradually, we intend to approach the Western model of assessing the certification of an architect, in which a yesterday's graduate of a specialized university cannot be considered a professional, first he must work for several years as an intern, and then pass something like an aptitude test. The results of these exams, as well as all additional "points" for participation in master classes and competitions will be recorded in special certification books. It is from this book, the amount of insurance and, of course, the completed projects, and the reputation of a responsible and educated architect of the XXI century will be formed.
