On the 2nd, the reporter learned from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development that Beijing's first local regulation on construction project quality management, the "Beijing Municipal Construction Project Quality Regulation," will officially take effect on January 1, 2016. At that time, the lifetime responsibility system for project quality will be elevated to the level of local regulation, and enforcement will be further strengthened to strictly safeguard the lifeline of project quality.
This regulation explicitly stipulates that the legal representatives and project managers of the five responsible entities—construction, survey, design, execution, and supervision—as well as the legal representatives of enterprises supplying materials for building main structures and load-bearing structures, must sign a project quality lifetime responsibility commitment in accordance with regulations and keep it in the archives for permanent preservation. The Regulation shifts the responsible entities for project quality from focusing on units to emphasizing both units and individuals, and will also strengthen accountability for individual illegal acts. Once a housing quality problem occurs, the responsible persons involved will be held accountable. This means that from now on, those responsible for quality accidents such as "toppled buildings" and "flawed buildings" will not escape blame for life.
Regarding the quality warranty of residential projects that the public cares about, the Regulation clearly stipulates that the construction unit bears the primary responsibility for warranty. That is, during the warranty period, if quality problems such as leakage or wall cracking occur, owners should directly file quality complaints with the construction unit, and after receiving the quality complaint, the construction unit shall require the contractor to carry out warranty repairs.
In addition, the Regulation also requires construction units engaged in residential real estate development to obtain quality latent defect liability insurance for foundation works, main structures, and waterproofing works before the project starts, so as to fully protect the interests of individual homeowners.
A relevant person in charge of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said that after the Regulation takes effect, housing quality in Beijing will be better guaranteed, responsibility allocation will be clearer, and warranty channels will be smoother. The phenomenon of buck-passing and wrangling between owners and construction units or contractors over warranty and other issues will be improved.