Stricter administrative and criminal penalties are being implemented for violations of urban planning legislation requirements.

The plenary session is chaired by the Chairperson of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis, Tanzila Narbaeva.

You can follow the discussions of the plenary session live through the Senate's channel on YouTube.

During the current plenary session, the Law on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Connection with the Improvement of the Seismic Safety System was considered.

It was noted that the country is taking systematic measures to improve urban planning and ensure the seismic safety of facilities.

Over the past three years, the Construction Control Inspection has established state oversight over the construction of nearly 100 thousand facilities.

However, there are also increasing instances of non-compliance with established norms by some builders. For example, in 2022, over 6 thousand violations related to urban planning legislation were identified, while in 2023, this number rose to nearly 8 thousand. In the first 11 months of 2024, this figure reached almost 9 thousand.

Due to identified poor-quality construction and installation works, construction activities have been suspended on over 4 thousand facilities, and approximately 1.5 thousand demolition works have been conducted over the past three years.

Additionally, the number of cases of illegal construction by entrepreneurs is on the rise. Specifically, during the period from 2022 to 2024, construction work began on more than 13 thousand facilities without state registration.

Such deficiencies are attributed to various organizational and legal gaps.

For instance, examples include conducting construction work without permission, failing to comply with the master plan, not adhering to the rules for the acceptance of facilities into operation, and the low effectiveness of established administrative fines for unauthorized demolition or reconstruction of the basement and first floor of apartment buildings.

The legislation does not even establish liability for non-compliance with instructions given by the designer.

This leads to the failure of the customer to follow the instructions of the Construction Control Inspection and the designers.

There is an increasing number of cases where load-bearing parts of the basement and first floor of apartment buildings are being converted into non-residential objects through unauthorized demolition or reconstruction.

Destruction caused by severe earthquakes that have occurred in other countries in recent years, particularly in Turkey, Morocco, and Syria, necessitates the implementation of a range of targeted measures in our country aimed at ensuring seismic safety and enhancing the seismic resilience of buildings and structures.

It becomes especially relevant to regularly implement targeted programs and scientific research in the field of protecting the population and territories from seismic hazards.

Changes are being made to the Criminal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the Code of Administrative Responsibility, as well as to the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Licensing, Permitting, and Notification Procedures," aimed at improving construction quality, preventing illegal construction of buildings and structures, and ensuring strict compliance with urban planning legislation.

For instance, changes are being made to Article 2293 of the Criminal Code that introduce criminal liability for violations of the rules for issuing permits for the operation of completed buildings and structures and their acceptance into operation, for constructing objects without the permission of construction control inspections, and for altering and/or reconstructing load-bearing structures in apartment buildings in violation of legislation and regulatory documents in the field of technical regulation if these acts are committed after administrative penalties have been applied for similar actions.

Separate criminal liability is established for violations of urban planning legislation that result in death or other serious consequences.

There is also the possibility of exempting from liability a person who has committed a crime related to the alteration and/or reconstruction of load-bearing structures in apartment buildings in violation of the law for the first time and voluntarily eliminated the alteration or violations and their consequences.

The established fines for violations of urban planning legislation are also being strengthened.

As a result of the discussions, the Law was approved by the senators.