Today, thanks to consistent reforms being implemented in New Uzbekistan, the construction industry, like the whole country, is moving to a new stage of development. The results of the implemented works are reflected in great changes in our social life, in particular, in the construction of the «Obod qishloq», «Obod mahalla», «New Uzbekistan» massifs, as well as in the joy of people who will have their own dream home for many years.
From this point of view, it must be emphasized that the active participation of builders in the construction of modern buildings and structures, a radical change in the appearance of our cities and villages, as representatives of an industry that directly serves to improve the quality and standard of living of our people.
Modernity and safety are the main criteria in construction
As we have already mentioned, today construction has become one of the fastest growing sectors of the country’s economy. The total volume of construction work in the republic amounted to 35 trillion soums in 2017 (17.11.2023- $1=12269,42 soums), 51 trillion soums in 2018, 71 trillion soums in 2019, 88 trillion soums in 2020, 108 trillion soums in 2021 and 131 trillion soums in 2022.
The adoption in recent years of 28 presidential documents and 24 government decrees on reforming the construction sector has created the basis for improving work in this system in all areas. And the adoption of a new edition of the “Urban Planning Code”. Served to adapt the work to the requirements of the new era.
The strategy and roadmap for the modernization and innovative development of the construction network for 2021-2025 were also approved. It is important to note that within the framework of these documents a number of measures and reforms have been implemented and certain results have been achieved.
First of all, it should be noted that over the past six years, 1,370 urban planning documents for urban and rural settlements have been developed, including master plans and projects for 202 cities and towns and master plans for 1,168 rural microdistricts along with detailed plans.
In addition, within the framework of the «Obod qishloq» and «Obod mahalla» programs, 1944 comprehensive master plans for mahallas were prepared, with a large number of socio-economic problems.
By the end of the year, it is planned to develop another 225 urban planning documents, including master plans for 11 cities and 50 villages, master plans for 42 districts, and master plans for 122 villages.
Work is also underway to create the main schemes for the first placement in the republic. This requires qualified and experienced personnel. Therefore, experienced foreign specialists working in the field of urban planning are involved as consultants to the main design institutes of the system.
In six years, 537 technical regulations relating to the construction industry have been developed and old ones have been updated. 10 regulations on improving the energy efficiency of buildings and the use of renewable energy sources have been improved based on European standards.
In 2023, in order to simplify the requirements for the construction industry in urban planning standards:
– 44 will be mutually combined;
– 36 of them will be combined into estimated resource standards;
– 30 will be transferred to the category of technical regulations;
– 76 will be transferred to the reference category;
– 46 will be transferred to the category of estimated resource standards.
In order to introduce modern standards and technologies, cooperation has been established with advanced foreign countries. In particular, expert consultants from Japan on seismic standards, the United States on fire safety regulations, South Korean expert consultants on harmonization of building standards with foreign standards, taking into account geology, natural climate and seismic characteristics, were involved.
At the same time, in our country, the technical regulations of the construction industry of such countries as Great Britain (USA), China (GB, CJ, JC, JG), Korea (KVS), the European Union (EU), Russia (SNiP, SP), USA (IBC), Japan (JIS). It should be noted that these are very necessary and relevant areas for the industry. Because the building can be built quickly. But if you do not pay attention to issues of earthquake resistance and fire safety, the building may not be a solid home for people, but an ordinary shelter. The modern world and modern requirements do not allow this.
The project documentation review process has been transferred to a fully transparent electronic system. The practice of submitting a set of paper documents to expert bodies has been completely abandoned. Design and estimate documentation is submitted for examination online.
To date, a total of about 111,000 facility projects have been reviewed through this system. As a result, about 20.5 trillion soums were saved on these facilities.
Also, by issuing certificates to legal entities working in the field of expertise, a competitive environment has been created in the system. Based on the category of object complexity, the system for providing expert opinion was classified. An electronic rating of expert organizations has been launched to issue opinions to projects of a differentiated category.
A mechanism has been created for certifying experts and issuing opinions based on the classification of projects by complexity categories.
The practice of using the “volumetric” method in the development of design and estimate documentation is being introduced. The works of foreign countries in this direction, the applied regulatory documents, new technologies and achievements achieved as a result of the use of the volumetric method are studied.
As an experiment, it is planned to use the “volumetric” method in some social areas and infrastructure facilities included in the 2024 program, and an appropriate regulatory document is being developed to introduce these methods.
According to the results of the experiment, by 2025 it is planned to apply the “volumetric” method to other areas of construction and bring the share of the “volumetric” method in the total number of construction projects to 50%.
The information system “Construction Control” has been introduced on the ground, control processes have been automated. Thus, in 2022, more than 30,000 objects were monitored through this system. In order to overcome bureaucratic obstacles and widely introduce modern information and communication technologies, in addition to the national information system “Shaffof Qurilish”, a number of electronic online platforms have been launched. These include the systems “Construction Quality Control”, “Expertise of Design and Estimate Documentation”, “Target Program Monitoring System”, “Vigilant Citizen”, “Geoportal”, “Building Materials Classifier”.
Public services in the construction industry have been digitized. As a result, today it is in this order that the coordination is carried out to change the appearance of buildings and structures, change the specialization of buildings and structures, give permission for the reconstruction, reconstruction and construction of additional buildings and structures on our territory, agree on project estimates, register an object to start construction -installation works, services such as issuing a permit for the use of an object, the construction and installation works of which have been completed, and issuing a certificate on whether the real estate is damaged or not, are provided.
The builder is a profession that requires a lot of responsibility. Not everyone is involved in construction work. Electronic rating and bidding in the system help to identify real and experienced contractors. In particular, the rating of construction contractors and design organizations is integrated with the information systems of relevant state bodies on the electronic rating platform. Thanks to this, their information and rating in this area is formed. Currently, this rating includes more than 19,000 construction and contracting organizations. In total, more than 1900 design organizations are included in the rating system of design organizations.
Thanks to the electronic tender platform, the human factor in the electronic tender processes in the construction industry is completely eliminated. The system determines the performing organization based on the rating of organizations and automatically evaluates their commercial offer. In addition, this system prevents various paperwork and expenses. Through the platform, tenders for 7,057 objects were held in 2022 and 748 billion soums were saved. This year, tenders were held for 656 design organizations and 509 construction and contracting organizations, saving 149.5 billion soums.
The main goal is to provide the population with housing
Over the past six years, the population of our country has increased by 5.5 million people, exceeding 36 million. At the same time, our cities are expanding and becoming more modern. This, of course, increases the need for housing. In our country, the construction of many dwellings in order to create decent living conditions for people is becoming more and more intense, and the goal is to meet this demand.
From this point of view, it is noteworthy that since 2017, 326,000 new houses have been commissioned across the country, and the provision of housing per capita has increased by 18% over this period.
Over the past three years, banks have provided 33 trillion soums of mortgage loans to 210,000 families. 73,000 low-income families received a subsidy in the amount of 1.3 trillion soums for the initial payment and interest payments. These are certainly not small numbers. Behind this, first of all, lie the results of the reforms carried out in a humane state based on the principle “for human dignity.” Indeed, thanks to such efforts, not only new houses and social facilities are being built, but also the infrastructure of our cities and villages is being modernized, and the possibilities of additional networks are also increasing.
As a result of the introduction of market principles into the industry, hundreds of private client companies were formed. There were 11 large clusters of prefabricated reinforced concrete high-rise buildings. Thanks to the creation of conditions for entrepreneurs, the production of cement, gas blocks, tiles, porcelain stoneware has increased, and their price has become much cheaper. Last year, 60,000 apartment buildings were built. The construction of the New Uzbekistan massifs began in 31 regions.
In general, the volume of housing construction this year is planned to increase by 1.5 times – up to 90 thousand.
The dream place is the arrays of “New Uzbekistan”.
In fact, such a social policy that puts the interests of the individual first becomes even more important as it becomes coherent. And these matters are under the personal attention and control of the head of state. In particular, in order to ensure the implementation of the Decree of the President of April 13, 2023, according to the address list approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, the construction of 2012 houses with a total of 90,923 apartments has been determined. Of these, 837 houses for 30,639 apartments will be built in 38 «New Uzbekistan» blocks in 14 regions.
According to last year’s program, out of 532 houses that were planned to be built in the “New Uzbekistan” area and transferred from year to year, 111 (21 percent) were put into operation. According to the 2023 program, out of 305 houses that will be built in such areas, they were put up for auction, 218 were sold, and contractors were identified. Sales of the remaining 70 continue.
The design and estimate documentation developed for 172 houses was also reviewed, and positive conclusions were received. 153 houses were registered and permission was received to begin construction and installation work from the control inspection in the field of construction and housing and communal services.
To date, 126 houses (3,994 apartments) have been put into operation in the «New Uzbekistan» massif. That is, many people got the house and address of their dreams.
Also, according to the program, in other regions with a high demand for housing, private entrepreneurs are building 60 thousand 284 houses, out of 1 thousand 175 houses 1008 (5 thousand 047 apartments) housing control is carried out in the field of construction and housing and communal services, construction and installation work. Work is also in full swing to connect new arrays to engineering networks.
In April of this year, at a video conference meeting dedicated to the priority tasks of housing construction in the «New Uzbekistan» massifs and the implementation of the mortgage program for 2023, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan put forward a number of proposals and initiatives to further develop work in this direction. For example, to reach more people, he said, people with insufficient official income will be given the opportunity to get a mortgage loan. According to him, when determining their solvency, the money paid for using bank cards, rent, utilities and other expenses are also taken into account.
Citizens who make a higher down payment will be able to get a cheaper loan from a bank. It was said that the subsidy notification period would be shortened from 12 months to 4 months in order to use the funds allocated for the subsidy more quickly. At the same time, citizens who have not used the certificate during these months will be given the right to re-apply for a subsidy.
As part of the «My First Home» program aimed at providing the population with affordable housing, a special housing company will be created under the ministry. For this, 36 hectares of land will be allocated in the Zangiata district of the Tashkent region, 58 multi-storey buildings, social institutions and entertainment centers will be built. In this case, it is possible to reduce the price of houses by selling commercial and retail space at the market price.
At that video conference, many more issues related to the construction industry were raised. In order to reduce construction costs, customs duties on the import of wood, plywood, wooden formwork and glass will be abolished until 2025, and the customs duty exemption on high-quality cement will be extended for another year. Look, the cost of building a house comes down to 5 percent just because of the cement subsidy.
The issues of bringing structures up to the infrastructure capacity of the region, supporting manufacturers of building materials, and constructing buildings in accordance with seismic standards were also widely discussed.
The work carried out today in the system is aimed at fulfilling these tasks. Indeed, among the buildings and structures being built, the mood of people and the way of life are of no small importance. In addition, the role and importance of the construction industry in the structure of the economy is also very high. From this point of view, it is noteworthy that the works and services carried out in the construction sector in Uzbekistan today serve not only as a base for strengthening the national economy, but also as an important tool in finding solutions to urgent problems in the social direction. Ultimately, the buildings create a new way of life in New Uzbekistan.
Batir Zakirov,
Minister of Construction and Housing and Communal Services
economy of the Republic of Uzbekistan
