The chief architect of Sofia, arch. Panayotova, has sent an invitation to a meeting to the professional organizations Chamber of Architects in Bulgaria (CAB), Union of Architects in Bulgaria (UAB), Chamber of Engineers in Investment Design (CIIP) and Bulgarian Association of Architects and Consulting Engineers (BAAC), reports the Sofia Municipality. This will mark the beginning of professional consultations to discuss controversial practices in the administration of the “Architecture and Urban Planning” department (NAG) and interpretations in the application of the current legislation related to the design and construction process in the capital. The invitation for the first meeting of the expert consultations is for May 2 (Friday), 1 p.m., in the building of the “Architecture and Urban Planning” department.
“One of the priorities with which I took office and a task from the mayor of Sofia is to seek broad professional discussion and consensus on controversial issues and for the creation and modernization of administrative practices. With this invitation to professional organizations, we are launching a series of consultations with various professional organizations and communities and are initiating this very difficult, but crucially important expert conversation on the introduction of uniform rules and their uniform application for everyone and in all regions in the capital and NAG”, said the chief architect of Sofia, arch. Bogdana Panayotova.
The regional chief architects of all 24 regions of the capital are also invited to participate in the consultations. An invitation to participate has also been sent to the Sofia City Regional Civil Engineering and Construction Supervision Office and the National Civil Engineering and Construction Supervision Office. The discussion is also open to representatives of individual design offices and construction supervision companies who are interested in joining.
The professional consultations are convened with the aim of broadly discussing outdated and contradictory, and in some cases non-compliant with the regulatory framework, administrative practices in the National Civil Engineering and Construction Administration and, respectively, the regional administrations, and approving new, modernized practices, which will be followed by their introduction in all regions of Sofia and the National Civil Engineering and Construction Administration.
Uneven and divergent pronouncements of the administration have been established in the process of coordinating and approving investment projects and issuing building permits in accordance with the Spatial Planning Act and Regulation No. 7 on rules and regulations for the development of individual types of territories and development zones of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works.
The Chief Architect of Sofia will propose for discussion the introduction of the service “Preliminary professional consultations“ with the experts of the National Agency for Urban Planning to discuss investment projects, compliance with urban planning and implementation of the Spatial Planning Act and by-laws for the respective project before entering for coordination and approval in order to facilitate the activities of all participants in the design and construction process – designers, construction supervisors, investors.