Around 352 thousand constructions in Kosovo do not have seismic aspect addressed

On 5 September, 2018, the new Law for Free Construction Treatment has been enacted in the Republic of Kosovo. But even longer than a year since it entered into force, legalisation has remained only as a process, because there is still no legalisation with the new law.

This law had abolished the preliminary law, which had a three - year deadline from February 4, 2014, to the same date in 2017.

Florin Grejchev, construction engineering expert and professor at the Faculty of Construction, said construction is divided into two categories, formal and informal in Kosovo.

The formal constructions we view as objects that do not have the project, have no accounts and are not addressed by the seismic aspect”, Garychev said.

“While those informal ones are handled in the sense of the effects of seismic shock”, Gajchev said.

According to him, to make an assessment of the situation the local power bodies must build troops to make assessments of the state of formal objects of what conditions they are, in terms of security.

So security must be made as there are people living in them”, he stressed.

On the other hand, Servet Spahiu, director of the construction department at the Ministry of Environment and Space Planning, announced that the legalisation issue in Kosovo has begun as the process and hundreds of applications have already been submitted on the part of citizens. But as safe as they are seismically, Mr. Spahiu takes a stand.

I can't tell how safe the objects are because we haven't made an assessment. Without an assessment, we cannot speak. We had 144 applications in two weeks. Legalization is done in two forms, family facilities - homes that are easier procedures for legalisation and those that exceed family homes as second categories. The second category is given inspection in terms of sustainability, additional documentation is required and certificate is required by an expert on whether to legalise”, Spahiu said.

In the Pristina municipality, spokeswoman Miranda Mullafazliu said that in the inspection phase, it cannot be known how safe the objects are, as it takes place in the phase before being granted construction permission to contractors.

When the construction side is provided with construction permits, the inspections are also conducted under permission. Inspections are conducted in the workshop from top to bottom as to whether the standards are being met based on the project the owner has obtained permission of. Where violations are identified, they are punished according to legal procedures. If the conditions for obtaining permission are not met, the construction permit” is denied, Mulfazliu said.

As far as Ilir Gjinolly, the architect, said that in Kosovo any design made to the object of residence by architects, the rules of the euro Code 8, which envisions seismic stability is also implemented. The Euro Code 8 implies the technical rule of earthquake-resistant construction.

But, he says that there should then be continued inspections by inspectors (generous organs) to see if these codes apply during the works.

The “experience that we have in designing residential construction, in Kosovo the rules of the euro code are implemented, which deals with the stability of buildings with seismic forces -- earthquakes. And I'm believing that anyone who does construction knows that earthquakes are likely to happen and that everyone cares. I don't think the buildings are safe. But there should be regular inspections during construction, of course on the side of the municipality”, Djindol said.

According to the National Writers Record, where illegal constructions are registered until September 2015, Pristina has the largest number of illegal construction or more than 46 thousand. In five municipalities mostly without permission, Ferizaj and Gjilani also enter with 32 thousand illegal constructions, Prizren with 27 thousand and Maliseva with 19 thousand Sosh.

And of the 15 thousand illegal constructions were registered in Lipjan and Suhareka, from 14 thousand in Drenas and Rahovec, 13 thousand in Pec, out of 12 thousand in Dragash and Kline, 11 thousand in Decani, and other municipalities less than 10,000 construction without permission. /REL