Construction completed — the company receives a long-awaited certificate from DABI

Complainee: State Architectural and Construction Inspectorate (DABI)
Complaint in brief: A construction company from Kyiv appealed to the Council. The complainant finished construction of apartment buildings (Optymisto Housing Complex) in Kyiv region. In order to set apartment buildings into operation, the company had to receive a conformity certificate from the DABI that would confirm completed construction works. However, the controlling authority refused to issue such a document and as a result, setting of buildings into operation was delayed.
According to the DABI’s position, the company did not provide necessary documentation on engineering facilities of the buildings. Nevertheless, the complainant submitted the respective application and the certificate of readiness of the construction object to the controlling authority in a form provided by the law. The company provided additional documents to the Chief Construction Supervision Officer. During the inspection he did not express any concern about the existing documentation. However, the DABI refused to issue the certificate to the company. After unsuccessful attempts to repeatedly submit the necessary documents for receiving the certificate, the company lodged a complaint to the Business Ombudsman Council.
Actions taken: The investigator examined case materials and acknowledged the complaint was substantiated. The Council appealed to the DABI and recommended to ensure a due and impartial consideration of the complaint’s application, and issue the conformity certificate of the construction objects of Optymisto Housing Complex. As long as DABI representatives did not have any claims related to the complainant’s documents during the construction inspection, non-issuance of the certificate was considered as violation of the company’s rights and legitimate interests. It was also obvious that the supervisory authority had delayed issuance of the certificate, which the complainant had to receive within ten working days from the date of registration of the application.
Result achieved: The DABI upheld the Council’s recommendations and issued the conformity certificate of the constructed apartment buildings. The first three buildings were set into operation. The case was successfully closed.