Building Control and Taking a Building into Service

Statutory functions regarding building control begin when the construction work subject to a permit is commenced and last until the final inspection. Construction work shall be carried out so that it meets the requirements of the provisions and regulations issued as well as the requirements of good building practice. Supervision takes place at the stages of work and on the scale decided by the authorities and focuses on aspects that are significant to achieving a satisfactory end-result.

Before construction work is commenced, the municipal building control authority shall be notified thereof (commencement notification). Construction work may not be commenced before the site manager and possible specialist foremen have been approved. However, ground works, tree-felling or corresponding action preparing for construction work may be carried out before the actual construction is commenced. In such cases it must be taken in to account what is stipulated of landscape work permits. Such preparing actions are also required to be notified to the local authority.

A building or any part of it shall not be taken into service before the approval to use in the final inspection. Inspections that are based on other laws or those essentially affecting the operational safety must be carried out earlier.

The maintenance instructions and manuals, if ordered to be formulated, shall be completed in adequate extent and assignable to the building’s owner when applying the final inspection.

It must be noted, that if the activities in the building require permission in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act, the building shall not be approved for service before the permission has gained legal force.