BIS development ERDF project Round 1 (26 November 2017–28 August 2020) COMPLETED

The implementation of the European Regional Development Fund project ‘Development of construction processes and information system (Round 1)’ has ended

The first round of the project ‘Development of construction processes and information system’ implemented by the State Construction Control Bureau (SCCB) officially ended on 28 August this year. The project was co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and the development of the Building Information System (BIS) has been based on it.

‘Getting funds for the development of the Building Information System from the European Regional Development Fund was vital. Without it, Latvia would not be proud of having a fully digital construction documentation processing system. Right now, we have reached an important milestone, but we will not stop there,’ SCCB director Svetlana Mjakuškina promised.

The project started in 2017 and was implemented in seven rounds, or releases. As a result, in Latvia, one can handle all construction-related formalities, from registration of the plan to the commissioning of the building, remotely.

The data management process for building merchants was improved first, making it possible to classify building merchants in the system.

The design documentation approval process was significantly improved in the first release, creating a workplace for the issuers of technical regulations, and introducing major changes in the public portal, and the workplaces of building authorities and supervisory institutions. The most important new e-services, whose use became possible within the process, included the requesting of technical regulations, simultaneous approval of design documentation and its receipt electronically.

With the second release, improvements were made in the supervision of the construction process, an electronic construction log was developed, and functions for commissioning a building were improved. The system also became available to foreign construction specialists and merchants.

The third release drastically improved the supervision of the operation of buildings, creating an operation file for every inspected building, and a map of the operating status of public buildings was introduced.
In order to ensure that construction involving high risk pertinent to the construction process is monitored more closely (for example, due to previously registered violations by the contractor), a risk level algorithm for the supervision of construction was incorporated into the system. In addition, the transfer of data on new buildings and buildings to be deleted from the Cadastre Information system, as well as buildings whose use has been changed, to the State Land Service, was enabled. It was made possible to file a complaint via BIS.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth releases were developed in parallel. As part of this, unprecedented data automation options have been created. For example, BIS automatically retrieves data on the specialist’s higher education from the State Education Information System. Improved management of data pertaining to the practice and professional growth of construction specialists and improved specialist verification process. Registers necessary for monitoring the field of energy performance were implemented, and a database for the compliance of structures and construction products was incorporated into the system in cooperation with other institutions.

Currently, 55 construction e-services and 16 register e-services are available in BIS. In the system, one can create authorisations and delegations, and submit all documents related to the construction process. 11 different registers and databases can be found in BIS, including those maintained by other institutions: Latvian national standardisation institution ‘Latvijas Standarts’, which is responsible for information about harmonised construction product standards, and the Consumer Rights Protection Centre, which maintains a register of deficiencies in construction products.

BIS is integrated with 20 other state information systems or their components, including the National Real Estate Cadastre Information System of the State Land Service, the State Revenue Service Information System, the State Single Computerised Land Register, and the State Education Information System of the Ministry of Education and Science. The integration enables the reuse of data available to the state and reduces possible errors in the preparation of documents for real estate, its owners, construction specialists, building contractors, and other parties involved in the construction process, as the data are retrieved automatically.

The goal of the project ‘Development of construction processes and information system’ is to enable the creation and provision of services that meet the needs of citizens in order to reduce the administrative burden, improve the availability of services, and increase the efficiency and transparency of public administration. The financing of the first round of the project was EUR 1.7 million, of which 15% came from the national budget, and 85%, from ERDF.

For the development of the first round of the system, 167 working groups were created, with 2805 participants. Through classroom sessions and online seminars, 12,882 BIS users were trained as part of the project.

The first round of the project is followed by the next: the second round of BIS development, launched in November 2019. The implementation of the second round will continue until October 2022, and the further development of BIS is to be towards the optimisation and automation of its processes. Unprecedented opportunities for the use of electronic work time record data in construction supervision will be provided. A BIS mobile equipment app will be developed, construction waste disposal records will be created, and other significant innovations will be introduced.

European Regional Development Fund project ‘Development of construction processes and information system (Round 1)’

With the financial support of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the State Construction Control Bureau concluded an agreement with the Central Financial Contracting Agency and started project No 2.2.1.1/17/I/021 ‘Development of construction processes and information system (Round 1)’ of 30 November 2017 (‘project’). The expected time for the implementation of the project activities after the conclusion of the agreement is 33 months.

The financing approved for the project is EUR 1,700,000.00. Of this amount, 15% comes from the national budget (EUR 255,000.00), and 85%, from the European Fund (EUR 1,445,000.00).

The main goal of the project is to enable the creation and provision of services that meet the needs of citizens in order to reduce the administrative burden, improve the availability of services, and increase the efficiency and transparency of public administration.

As part of the project, it is planned to improve or redesign 7 public administration processes and 8 public services, and publish 13 data sets in the open data portal.

As part of the project, it is planned to develop the Building Information System (BIS) website bis.gov.lv by 2020, improving/designing 7 processes, including:

• A process for reviewing and approving construction plans and construction designs;
• A construction process monitoring process;
• A building operation monitoring process;
• A building contractor classification process;
• A construction specialist data management process;
• An energy performance of buildings management process;
• A process for managing the main characteristics data for buildings and construction products.

The project also includes a plan to train about 300 system users and administrators.
The systems are developed by SIA Tieto Latvia, with consulting support provided by SIA AA Projekts.

Project partners: Ministry of Education and Science, State Regional Development Agency, Courts Administration, State Land Service, Ministry of Economics, Latvian State Radio and Television Centre.

Project implementation progress reports

Final report on the progress of the BIS 1^st round project

Report on the progress of the BIS project II, 2020

Report on the progress of the BIS project I, 2020

on the progress of the BIS project IV 2019

Report on the progress of the BIS project III_2019

Infographic_BIS_document circulation

Report on the progress of the BIS project II_2019

Infographic_April_2019

Report on the progress of the BIS project I_2019

Report on the progress of the BIS project IV_2018

the progress of the BIS project_III_2018 Report on the progress of the BIS project III_2018