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All drafts of the sitting of the NA Standing Committee on Economic Affairs held on September 28 referred to the field of urban development.

According to the package of drafts on Making Amendments and Addenda to the Law on Licensing and the related ones authored by the Government, it is proposed to thoroughly review the procedure for licensing in the field of urban development.

Currently, there are various licenses in the field of urban development for design, construction implementation, supervision and other types of activities. However, there is no distinction: what degree of complexity and riskiness does the construction site have? In other words, in case of building a garage and block of flats, the same procedure for licensing applies, with the same requirements and the same fee.

Now it is proposed to separate them and introduce 3 classes for each license according to the degree of complexity. The types, sub-types and class levels of activities that provide requirements for the qualification of professional activities, the rights and responsibilities of those who carry out urban development activities, a number of additional functions of the state administration body in the field are defined according to the riskiness of the construction sites and licensing in the field. The amount of the fee will also be distinguished. In case of more complex, high-risk facilities, the fee will be higher than now, in case of others, it will remain the same or be lower.

According to the RA Deputy Chairman of the Urban Development Committee Davit Grigoryan, the need for legal regulations with the package of drafts is due to the effective implementation of the licensing process by the state administration body in the field of urban development, the filling of legislative gaps in the Law on Urban Development, as well as the introduction of a continuous professional development system in the field of urban development in order to increase the qualification of specialists.

The next draft is aimed at the solution of the problem of unsafe buildings. Today, there are more than 600 blocks of flats and 1200 residential houses in insufficient technical condition in the republic. As the RA Chairman of the Urban Development Committee Armen Ghularyan noted, according to the draft envisaging an addendum to the Law on Urban Development, authorizing norms for the Government will be established. In response to the question of the Committee member Hovik Aghazaryan, Armen Ghularyan emphasized the need for common responsibility for the operation of blocks of flats.

According to the third legislative package on Amending to the RA Code on Administrative Offenses and on Amending the RA Law on Urban Development, an attempt is made to clarify the existing problems in the field and give them certain solutions.

The Committee member endorsed the legislative initiatives.