The Regional Director for Public Works, Technology and Communications revealed today in Ponta Delgada that a reform on the legislation applicable to the construction sector is being implemented in order to adapt to the Region the Community directives that are not consistent with the Azores reality.

"Our goal is, on the one hand, to create the conditions, from a legal standpoint, for the reduction of costs of context and/or construction and, one the other hand, to adapt to the Region the legislation and rules established by Community directives that, according to the Azorean Government, need technical improvement in the regional construction sector," said Bruno Pacheco.

The Regional Director spoke to journalists after meeting with the regional sections of the Associations of Architects, Engineers and Technical Engineers. According to the government official, these meetings were held with the aim of "explaining the generic goals set by the Regional Government on this reform process as well as to clarify the goals and areas the Government should initiate this reform.”

"The reform of the current legislation is specifically addressed at the revision of rules on the thermal performance of buildings and the installation of air conditioning on buildings," Bruno Pacheco explained, stressing that Community directives were "created for the weather and climate patterns of Central and Northern Europe, with very high thermal amplitudes, which are not suitable to the reality of the Region."

The Regional Director for Public Works, Technology and Communications thermal amplitude has a direct influence on the choice of materials used in construction, whereas in the case of the Azores "the technical solutions required by the legislation are exaggerated."

In this regard, he stressed that "the oversizing of projects sometimes results in additional construction costs, which, in turn, require increased investment from the public and private sectors."

The Regional Director stated that "the Government intends to reduce this investment" by adapting these Community directives to the Region's socio-economic context and climate specificities.

Furthermore, Bruno Pacheco also said that this legislative reform is also intended to "assure construction companies that the Azorean Government is committed to creating the conditions to guarantee the stability of their operation at the lowest cost possible without ever jeopardising the safety of goods and people.”

The Regional Director also revealed that a substantial part of these initial reforms should be completed by the first quarter of this year, adding that this process should be carried out throughout the current legislative system.