SvD Opinion - Tighten the requirements for building inspections

[mariatherese]

Article by Henrik Järrel in SvD today. He believes stricter requirements are needed for inspectors who inspect constructions.
http://www.svd.se/opinion/brannpunkt/skarp-kompetenskraven-vid-byggbesiktningar_8396348.svd

I am a bit doubtful if it is a good proposal. I have never used an inspector for completed construction work because I have been able to be present during all building phases to ensure it is carried out according to the relevant standards and plans. However, I have used an inspector when buying a house... and here I can directly see with my limited experience that not all inspectors measure with the same yardstick.

But is it a problem in construction? How is the inspector appointed when building a turnkey contract?

 

[bjolo360]

I think instead that the requirements for the KA should be expanded so that they function as an inspector during the construction period. It is completely pointless to bring in an inspector only when everything is finished to examine the wallpaper. Personally, I have had a KA who acted somewhat as an inspector during the construction, which was fantastic, but that was mostly on his own initiative and because he is an experienced builder; formally, he almost only needs to request a few reports.

 

[mariatherese]

I both agree with you and at the same time don't...

We also had a KA who could give good advice and help on certain issues. But in some matters, he was completely useless (for example, he didn't understand energy calculations at all and actually made our work harder by messing things up with the municipality).

A competent KA can thus be a good support and, as you say, better than an inspector who afterwards has little opportunity to inspect anything other than the purely superficial.

On the other hand, the increasing requirements for KAs would probably weed out quite a few. The requirements for national certification for OVK inspections seem to be quite high, by comparison. I can say that as a private person living just north of Gothenburg, it wasn't easy to find an inspector, and getting any form of price competition was impossible.

I tend to think that construction needs to become less bureaucratic in this country - rather than the opposite.

 

[bjolo360]

I'm inclined to think that construction needs to become less bureaucratic in this country - rather than the opposite.

Completely agree, my thought was mostly that when you already have a requirement for a KA, you might as well require him to do something useful

 

[Drömhus2012]

Totally agree, my thought was mostly that when you already have requirements for a KA, you might as well require him to do something sensible

It is also probably about finding a KA who is interested in their job and thinks it's fun. I know some who have built and never even had a visit from them on the site.
On the other hand, I know of a construction that had countless visits from their KA, mostly to have good contact with the customer and to have a good grasp of the construction. He also gave good advice and tips that weren't within his responsibilities, but he was genuinely interested in the customer being satisfied with their house and not realizing something later that should have been done, as most issues were already addressed when the construction got there (self-built with hired-out parts).
There are both good and bad in that profession too, no surprise, but still worth saying.