Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend U. Ismaylova / The Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan approved the regulations for activity of the State Agency for Control on Security of Construction Work under the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
A sixteen-storey building collapsed in one of the central streets of Baku on 28 August and as a result, twenty-five people died. The experts state that the building collapsed as a result of using low quality construction materials and breaking technical safety regulations. After this incident, the President of Azerbaijan issued an order on 30 August which strengthened regulations for State control on the construction sector.
The State agency was then empowered to prevent all illegal construction activity. According to the regulations, construction activity is prevented due to the absence of construction licenses or the use of construction materials not meeting standards.
Control on construction activity has been taken over by the Head State Construction Inspection of the State Agency. While discovering any violations, the inspectors devise and register documents during the inspection.
The violator should inform the inspectors of the measures taken to eliminate the violations. The measures are taken at the expense of the culprit. The Chief of Inspectors established a commission to aid in inspecting construction sites.
As a result of inspections carried out at construction sites, in September the Labor Inspection under the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Azerbaijan halted activity at six companies in response to their violations of technical safety regulations.