New regulatory rules will simplify the construction of high-rise buildings

The Federal Ministry of Construction, together with leading industry experts, consistently fills the vacuum in the regulatory documents system. The new regulatory and technical documentation is designed to simplify the lives of builders by strictly regulating project requirements. In many cases, a business will be able to do without the cumbersome and expensive coordination procedures and special technical conditions that were previously required of it.

Last year, two new sets of rules (JVs) concerning high-rise construction were approved. One of them — "Engineering systems of high—rise buildings" - entered into force on February 4 this year. The second one is "High—rise buildings and complexes. The design rules," according to the order of the Ministry of Construction, will be introduced in June 2017.

These documents are the first signs of a new system of regulation of the construction regulatory framework, which, according to experts, will improve the investment climate in development. In 2014, at the first international forum of high-rise and unique construction 100+ Forum Russia in Yekaterinburg, the participants for the first time raised the issue of the acute shortage of regulatory and technical documentation for unique construction in Of the Russian Federation. And they were actively supported by the Ministry of Construction.

Special technical specifications (STS), according to which high-rise buildings are designed today, require a lot of time and significant costs for coordination procedures. The vast majority of developers, being able to attract competent specialists to the construction, nevertheless abandon high-rise projects precisely because of this. When uniform building regulations apply throughout the Russian Federation for the construction of residential buildings from 75 meters and public buildings above 55 meters, the business climate in the field of development will improve and businesses will receive a much wider range of opportunities.

The Center for High-Altitude Competencies (CVK), established within the framework of the forum, brought together leading Russian and international experts, as well as federal officials, around the urgent problem. Today, under the auspices of the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation in Russia is creating standard standards, the use of which will greatly facilitate the work of designers and builders. According to the Roadmap approved at the Forum, two such sets of rules for builders have already been approved, and the Russian Ministry of Construction plans to start developing four more joint ventures in 2017.

It is important that the participants of the 100+ Forum Russia were able to directly influence the content of the regulatory documents currently being created — with the assistance of the Center for High-Altitude Competencies, all the proposals of the Forum participants were summarized and consolidated into one document. The Central Committee also actively participated in their discussions in the working groups under the Ministry of Construction. "At the first 100+ Forum Russia, we talked with the professional community about what the regulatory and technical framework for high-rise construction should be," said Elena Sierra, Deputy head of the Federal Ministry of Construction. — Taking into account the proposals of the forum participants, the "zero" edition of the first Set of rules governing high-rise construction in Russia".

Leading scientific and design institutes from all over the country joined the creation of the regulatory framework. For example, the joint venture "Engineering Systems of High-rise Buildings" (which has already entered into force) was developed with the active participation of the national associations of builders and designers NOSTROI and NOP, which had previously been involved in the creation of regulatory documentation for several years, and whose standards were recommended for use by Rostechnadzor.

"The pre—existing system of the Central Research Institute of Higher Education and Educational centers has been destroyed," says one of the main developers JV, Vice-President of NP "AVOK“ by Alexander Kolubkov, and enthusiasts are engaged in educational work, which, alas, can be counted on their fingers. Therefore, the development of advanced construction technologies and engineering support for high-rise buildings has progressed very slowly. We have prepared The joint venture started back in 2012, but only the international 100+ Forum Russia, which began to be held annually in Yekaterinburg, helped to get things off the ground."

One of the milestones of the forum is the roadmap approved by the Federal Ministry of Construction "Improving the business climate in the construction of unique buildings and structures, including high—rise residential and public buildings." Today, this document is one of the backbone documents in the construction industry, because it involves the development of new codes of practice for civil engineering, which make life easier for the industry.

According to the World Council on High-Rise Buildings and Urban Habitat, more than a hundred buildings taller than 100 meters have been built in Russia. In addition to Moscow and Yekaterinburg, such facilities have been built and are being operated in St. Petersburg, Grozny, Krasnogorsk, Samara, Volgograd, Krasnoyarsk, Sochi and Kazan. However, as industry representatives themselves point out, there could be many more high-rise buildings if there were no obstacles in the way of high-rise construction.

In 2017, the development of four more Sets of Rules for high-rise construction will begin: "High-rise buildings and complexes. Planning and development of territories", "High-rise buildings and complexes. Fire safety requirements", "High-rise buildings and complexes. Operating rules" and "Constructions of foundations of high-rise buildings and structures. The rules of work". The discussion of the first edition of the document on fire safety will take place in October this year at the 100+ Forum Russia in Yekaterinburg. As noted by Dmitry Mikheev, director of the FAA "FTS", these Joint ventures will expand the opportunities for design engineers to find optimal and technically reliable solutions that ensure the safety and comfortable operation of high-rise buildings. "The regulatory and technical infrastructure is being created and, most importantly, the necessary regulatory framework to ensure the quality of high-rise buildings that consumers expect. The most noticeable result of this work should be the comprehensive elimination of the use of STU in the design and construction of high—rise buildings," the expert comments.

Today, a reduction in the number of CTS required in the design of buildings above 75 meters has already been achieved, as new The joint venture summarized the experience of designing and constructing high-rise buildings. Moreover, the regulations that are coming into force are intended for widespread use in the regions of the Russian Federation.

In addition to the participation of professionals and scientists in the development, the Federal Center for Standardization and Evaluation in Construction (FAA "FTS") performs a key function in the chain of adoption of codes of practice.

"In total, about 400 regulatory technical documents — codes of rules and building regulations — will be developed or updated by the end of 2017," says Dmitry Mikheev. "During this period, research work will be carried out to determine the appropriate standardized parameters. This will make it possible to fill the deficit that has formed in technical rationing over the past decades."

Representatives of the expert community, however, note that it is still too early to assess the applied value of the new Joint venture in the field of high-rise construction. "The fact that Russia is undergoing such a systematic process of developing a regulatory framework regarding the regulation of high—rise construction shows, first of all, how relevant this topic is in our country," comments Vladimir Grachev, head of the architectural bureau Grachev and Partners, who authored the Vysotsky project of the first skyscraper in Yekaterinburg. "But how the documents that have already been adopted and those that are yet to be adopted in this area will work can be judged after at least several months of practical work, including the development and approval of CTS for buildings over 100 meters high, taking into account the provisions of the new Sets of Rules."