ČKAIT: Buildings are of lower quality due to pressure for low prices

Prague - Builders in the Czech Republic are increasingly using substandard materials and construction methods that do not meet Czech standards. They are compelled to do so by the increasing pressure for the lowest possible prices. Karel Vaverka, a member of the board of the Czech Chamber of Authorized Engineers and Technicians Active in Construction (ČKAIT), stated this to ČTK. Representatives of construction companies also acknowledge declining construction quality.
    "The mess currently prevailing in Czech construction forces construction firms to work for 40 to 60 percent of the normal price. But then they have a problem staying within that budget, so they look for every possible way to save. They choose the cheapest materials and install whatever they can into the buildings," claims Vaverka.
    According to him, contractors cannot be relied upon too much because their only criterion is supposedly the lowest price. "They have contracted poor prices, and somewhere that has to reflect. The problem also lies with some developers who sell the construction and do not care at all that it is of poor quality," criticizes Vaverka the increasingly common practices in the Czech market.
    That the Czech market has recently been flooded with low-quality construction materials due to relentless cost-cutting is confirmed, for example, by Radek Bedrna, managing director of Knauf Praha, a manufacturer of drywall building materials. "The problem is the immense pressure on prices, which construction companies have to adapt to by severely cutting quality. For example, they use materials that are not suitable for that specific construction. We are increasingly encountering imported cheap uncertified products from abroad, mainly from Poland," says Bedrna, who claims that up to half of the constructions are compromised.
    The Association of Property Inspectors (AIN) also pointed out the declining quality of buildings this year, as its members uncovered numerous defects during inspections of the technical condition of new family homes last year, the remediation of which would cost around one hundred million crowns. And this was only after inspecting 700 residential buildings, which constitutes a mere one percent of all houses intended for sale.
    Builders also admit a greater willingness to cut quality. In a recent survey by the analytical company CEEC Research, 59 percent of construction firms stated that they are constructing buildings on the verge of quality. "Many directors of construction firms confirm that the current crisis in the market, manifested by a lack of contracts and investors' efforts to achieve the lowest possible prices, in some cases forces them to reduce the quality of construction work," commented CEEC Research director Jiří Vacek on the survey results.
    However, Vaverka warns that quality cannot be lowered indefinitely. "There are two types of risks - direct and indirect. Direct means that the construction collapses outright, or for example, gas starts to leak through damaged pipes. By indirect risk, I mean that the lifespan of such poorly constructed buildings may drop to half, walls crack more often, structures warp, and so on," Vaverka described possible risks.
    The head of the Czech building materials manufacturer Bedrna emphasized that the situation has now crossed the line of acceptability. "It's a huge gamble. Over the years, it has become so prevalent that we see tremendous danger in it," Bedrna does not hide his concerns.
    According to experts, the situation would improve if the construction and technical supervision of the buildings was enhanced. More thorough quality control of materials and construction work is also needed.