Legal provisions
Obligations of owners and administrators regarding maintenance are regulated by Art. 61 of the Act dated July 7, 1994 - Building Law, which mentions obligation to use buildings as intended, according to the requirements of environment protection, and to keep them in adequate technical and aesthetic state. According to Art. 62. p. l and 2 of the Act of July 7, 1994 - Building Law, owners or administrators of buildings in use should put their buildings to the following periodical inspections:
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at least once per year, involving checks of technical state for:
- elements of a building, structure and installations exposed to harmful impact of weather conditions and destructive effects of factors occurring while facility is in service,
- environment protection installations and equipment,
- gas systems and chimneys (for smoke, flue gas and ventilation);
- at least every 5 years, involving check of technical state and usability of a building, its aesthetics and surroundings; this check should also cover examination of electrical system and lightning arresters regarding performance status of joints, accessories, safeguards and measures protecting against electric shock, insulation resistance for wires, and earthing systems for installations and equipment;
- periodical within the scope specified in p. 1, at least twice a year, before May 31 and before November 30, in case of buildings with gross covered area exceeding 2,000 m2 and other buildings with roof area exceeding 1,000 m2; inspector is obliged to notify immediately in writing a competent authority about completed inspection;
- safe use of the facility each time in case if circumstances specified in Art. 61 p. 2 occur;
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involving check of technical state for boilers, taking into account energy efficiency of boilers and their size referred to functional requirements:
- at least every 2 years - boilers fired with non-renewable liquid or solid fuel with effective nominal output over 100 kW,
- at least every 4 years - boilers fired with non-renewable liquid or solid fuel with effective nominal output ranging from 20 kW to 100 kW, and gas-fired boilers;
- at least every 5 years, involving evaluation of energy efficiency for employed cooling equipment in air conditioning systems, their size compared to functional requirements with nominal cooling capacity higher than 12 kW.
During inspection specified in p. 1, it is required to check implementation of instructions given during previous inspections.
Inspections specified above can be carried out by persons possessing construction license in adequate specialisation with the following reservation:
Checks of technical performance status for electrical and gas systems should be carried out by persons possessing qualifications required for supervision and services involving repair or maintenance of respective electrical or gas equipment, defined in specific regulations.
Checks of technical performance status for chimneys can be carried out by:
- as regards smoke and gravity ventilation and flue gas chimneys - person possessing chimney sweep master qualifications,
- as regards chimneys, free-standing chimneys or flues, in which draught is driven by operation of mechanical equipment - persons possessing construction license in an adequate specialisation.
According to Art. 64 p. l of the Act - Building Law, owners and administrators are obliged to keep building log for each facility, constituting a document intended for entries concerning completed tests, inspections and repairs while the object is in use.
The obligation of keeping building log is not applicable only in case of owners and administrators of individual single-family housing, farm and holiday type, and objects that do not require a building permit.
Reports from inspection of a building, evaluations, expert opinions and documentation of construction works, as-built documentation, and other documents and administrative decisions concerning the object should be kept by its owner or administrator as long as it exists, and if necessary - made available to the representatives of bodies authorised to inspect maintenance of buildings. Fulfilment of these obligations is checked by the poviat Construction Supervision Inspectors.
Failure to fulfil the above-mentioned obligations pursuant to Art. 93 p. 8, 9, 10 of the Act - Building Law is subject to liability for an offence on penalty of a fine.