The General Review of Building Works (IV)

General Review in Spain (IV)

Construction Manager. Builder in Charge.

In Spain, the Construction Manager ('Jefe de obra' in Spanish) is the person representing the builder. The Spanish Law on Construction Planning requires the Construction Manager is a technician who, by his qualifications or experience, have an adequate capacity for the type of the work to perform. In small construction companies, it's frequent that the Construction Manager has no qualifications at all, so his working experience will have to be enough to provide all the knowledge required to perform his functions. In medium and big companies, the Construction Manager use to have some technical degree, normally Technical Architect, but he can also be an Architect or Engineer. The basic functions of the Construction Manager are:

• supervising the performance of the works, in direct contact with the Builder in Charge
• controlling the costs
• planning time frames
• acting as the builder representative at meetings with subcontractors
• representing the construction company at meetings with the Professional Managers and the Developer
• reporting on the progress of works
• designating a responsible agent for safety and health issues on behalf of the company
• organizing the purchase of materials and the hiring of trades
• submitting Certificates of Work, for the consideration of the Professional Managers
• reporting any anomaly or incident to the Professional Managers, if they arise and can cause problems for the right performance of the works
• taking measures to prevent the incursion of outsiders on site
• taking measures to prevent incidents that may detriment the safety of the work.

The Builder in Charge

The functions of the Builder in Charge ('Encargado' in Spanish) are:

• receiving materials and signing invoices, without technical control
• controlling the performance and order of the different jobs
• controlling all the trades, avoiding interference between them
• controlling stockpiles
• controlling machines and tools.

Architect Daniel Trujillano

http://www.arquitectotrujillano.com/home.html

Architectural Services for Construction Projects in Spain

The General Review of Building Works (III)

General Review in Spain (III)

Coordinator for Safety and Health. Types of Builders.

If the works of a building project involve more than one company or freelancer, the developer must designate a Coordinator for Safety and Health during the performance of the works. According to the Spanish LOE (Law on Construction Planning), the enabling qualifications to serve as a Coordinator for Safety and Health in building projects are:

• Architect
• Technical Architect
• Engineer
• Technical Engineer.

The Coordinator for Safety and Health shall perform the following functions:

• coordinating the implementation of the general principles of prevention and safety in making technical decisions, in order to plan the work to develop
• coordinating the activities of the work, in order to ensure that contractors, subcontractors and freelancers apply the principles of preventive action in a consistent and responsible manner
• approving the Safety and Health Plan prepared by the builder and, when applicable, the modifications introduced therein
• organizing business activities
• coordinating actions to control the correct application of the working methods
• taking measures to limit the access to the building works.

When the building works are not very complex, the developer tends to shift the appointment of the Coordinator to any of the professionals in the Professional Management, either the Director of the Works or the Director of the Performance of the Works.

The Builder

Construction firms can respond to the following classification:

• small companies: they have little business infrastructure and use to outsource some services
• medium companies: they have some technician workforce, which use to act as representative on site
• big companies: they have complex charts composed of delegates, team leaders, production managers, etc.

Small companies use to pursue reform projects for homes, shops and public buildings, and new-building projects for single houses and small housing developments. Medium companies access to more types of works, through tender or auction. Big companies reach high budget building projects.

Architect Daniel Trujillano

http://www.arquitectotrujillano.com/home.html

Architectural Services for Building Projects in Spain

Video 02: Builders in Spain – Obligations, Responsibilities and Guarantees

Architect Daniel Trujillano

http://www.arquitectotrujillano.com/home.html

ArchitecturalDesigns for Building Projects in Spain

Spanish Builder (I)

The Building Contractor in Spain (I)

Obligations of the Builder under the Spanish LOE

Under the current Law on Construction Planning (LOE in Spanish), the Builder is defined as the agent who assumes -in contract with the Developer- the commitment of performing the Works with attachment to the Construction Documents and to the contract.

Obligations of the Spanish Builders

According to the LOE, the obligations of a Builder in Spain are:

• performing the Work with attachment to the Construction Documents, to all applicable Laws and to the instructions of both the Director of the Work and the Director of the Performance of the Work, in order to achieve the required level of quality for the project
• having a degree or a professional qualification entitling to comply with the required conditions
• designating the Site Manager, who will be his technical representative on site and who, because of his qualifications or experience, must have skills in agreement with the characteristics and complexity of the Work
• assigning the required human and material resources to the Work 
• formalizing all necessary subcontracts, within the limits established in the contract
• signing the Stakeout Statement and the Receipt Statement
• providing the Director of the Work all the information necessary for preparing the Performed Work Documentation
• signing guarantees as required by the LOE.

The Formal Statements

After the verification of the stakeout, the Builder, along with the Director of the Work and the Director of the Performance of the Work must sign the Formal Stakeout Statement.

After the completion of the Work, both the Builder and the Developer must sign the Receipt Statement, in order to formalize the delivery. If the Developer observed defects, the Work can be received with reserves, and in this case such defects must be entered in the Receipt Statement, along with the time when they should be corrected. The Receipt Statement must also reflect guarantees as required for ensuring the Builder's responsibilities.