The term technical customer in construction means an organization or association that provides a full range of engineering services from the development and implementation of project documentation up to the commissioning of a completed facility. In construction, the technical customer is one of the key links in the entire process.
Extended concept of technical customer
The functions of a technical customer include:
- preparation of all types of permits;
- obtaining all necessary approvals;
- examination of construction sites and advice on their organization;
- fulfillment of all technical conditions required for connection to utility networks;
- financial control.
Thus, the technical customer plays an important role in the management of the construction process, closely interacts with all participants in the construction process, performs technical supervision and coordinates all stages of construction, as well as the timing and quality of the processes.
The need for a technical customer as a separate organization arose in the 80s of the last century. At the same time, the Gosstroy approved a separate service designed to prepare for the construction of the facility and perform technical supervision over the construction itself. The idea paid off, and the quality of construction increased significantly. But after the collapse of the USSR, this service was no longer able to fulfill its functions in the conditions of modern times.
In modern conditions, the functions of a technical customer are so diverse that extensive knowledge and impressive experience are required for their effective implementation. A technical customer is not a specialty, therefore such specialists are not trained in universities. To become one, you need many years of practical knowledge and experience in construction. By being involved in the construction process, the technical customer draws up a contract for the implementation of the required range of services, which also puts before him the need to understand the legal side of the issue (administrative documentation, judicial practice, etc.).
Legal and regulatory framework
The legal and regulatory framework for the activity of a technical customer appeared in 2011, when the corresponding amendments to the Urban Planning Code of the Russian Federation were adopted. Since then, the term technical customer has officially come to mean an individual or legal entity authorized by the developer and acting on his behalf and in his interests on a professional basis.
According to clause 22 of the Urban Planning Code of the Russian Federation, the functions of a technical customer include:
- conclusion of contracts for engineering surveys, development of project documentation, construction, reconstruction and overhaul of buildings and structures;
- preparation of buildings for reconstruction and overhaul;
- providing contractors carrying out construction, repair and reconstruction of the necessary documentation and material base for the proper performance of their activities;
- approval of project documentation;
- preparation and execution of documents required for putting the facility into operation;
- other functions provided by the Code.
At the same time, it is important to note that the developer has the absolute right to implement all the listed functions of a technical customer on his own.
The role of the technical customer in the construction of the facility
Many experts compare the role of a technical customer in modern construction with conducting in an orchestra. Indeed, its functions include not only the preparation of all pre-project and project documentation, but also the complete management of the construction of the facility at all stages: formation, organization of the construction site, construction of the facility and the stage of its commissioning. He directly organizes interaction between all participants in the construction process: customers and investors, contractors, designers, approving and licensing authorities. It is worth noting the fact that each of the listed entities has their own interests in the case and the task of the technical customer is to hand over the object on time, taking into account the interests of the participants in the process, taking into account the timing and the pre-planned construction plan, taking into account all modern building rules and regulations.
A practical example of the work of a technical customer
Work on the construction of an object begins with the intention of the customer (investor) to invest in the construction of this object on a certain land plot. At this stage, the activity of the technical customer already begins. On the basis of the town planning plan, he needs to prepare and sign all the necessary pre-project documentation work:
- conclude a lease agreement for a land plot;
- conclude an agreement for the urgent free use of this site for the period of design, preparation for construction, the period of construction of the facility;
- prepare and sign documentation on the transfer of land to the desired category.
Thus, the technical customer takes on an impressive flow of paper work on pre-project preparation and preparation of a lot of permits and approvals.
After the stage of agreeing on the architectural concept of the future object, the process of obtaining the conditions of a technical orientation, necessary for connecting the object to the existing engineering infrastructure, begins. All issued technical conditions must be timely registered and confirmed in numerous state organizations related to the operation of buildings and structures. And there are many such technical conditions and they are associated with the organization of water supply, heat supply, sewerage, electrification, installation of telephones, radio equipment, gasification and street lighting.
In order to prepare a project for a competition for the selection of a design organization, it is also necessary to prepare a pre-agreed plan of the selected land plot, an archival geological base, an architectural concept and other papers.
After choosing a designer, the technical customer undertakes the preparation and signing of an agreement with him on the development of design and estimate documentation within a certain time frame. The technical customer will also have to coordinate the received documentation with various departments and carry out various examinations.
At the final stage of design preparation, all design and estimate documentation, all permits and approvals are transferred to the investor to select contractors, suppliers of building materials and the necessary equipment. A technical customer is also necessary at this stage: it is he who actively participates in the process of selecting the necessary organizations, monitors all stages and terms of the competition or bidding for the choice of these associations.
After the selection of contractors and suppliers, the technical customer issues a building permit for the entire "team". To do this, he first carries out all the documentation work to allocate the selected land plot for construction work. For the duration of all construction work, he draws up a permit for the use of utilities from the federal or municipal authorities. Especially a lot of paperwork has to be drawn up if the construction site is located next to a road or railroad, underground communications and engineering structures.
To implement all of the above functions, it is desirable (but not necessary) for the technical customer to have an SRO approval. However, the presence of such an admission allows the customer to control the quality of work on the project, to carry out technical supervision and control, to check the quality of structures and materials, the serviceability of the equipment used.
After the completion of the construction, the technical customer puts the object into operation and transfers to the investor (customer) a full package of documentation for registering ownership, including warranty obligations and papers for the BTI.
Technical Customer Competence Level
A number of people nowadays perceive the association of a technical customer as an auxiliary one, necessary only for the quick execution of all licensing and approval procedures. But this is not the case. The association of a technical customer at an expert level understands the following issues:
- organization of the construction site and activities on it;
- obtaining technical conditions for connecting to existing communications and networks;
- technical supervision of all stages of construction;
- financial supervision of the spending of funds;
- transfer of the constructed object into operation.
Thus, the use of the functions of a technical customer in full makes it possible to achieve a high quality of construction work, as well as adherence to all deadlines according to a pre-planned plan.
A separate area of activity of a technical customer is financial control. It includes the following features:
- agreement with the investor on the cost of all work;
- checking invoices and receipts for services performed and work performed;
- monitoring the expenditure of funds within the framework of the approved estimate documentation;
- report on the timeliness of the application of the allocated funds;
- control over the work of accounting.
Given the multilateral work of the customer with various construction subjects, licensing and regulatory authorities, in most cases, a technical customer is not one person, but a whole organization operating in the form of an LLC.
