The Chinese company China Railway International Corporation (CRIC) refused the request from the Infrastructure of Serbian Railways to check the stability of the station building after the canopy collapsed. This is shown by an insight into CRIC’s response to Infrastructure’s letter, which Forbes Serbia had access to.
On November 1, the national building inspector visited the site after receiving information that a canopy had collapsed on the station building. During the visit, two violations were noted.
The first was that no measures were taken to prevent or eliminate an immediate threat to the lives or health of people and safety. The second was that “control and verification of the quality of all types of works and the application of regulations, standards, and technical norms” had not been carried out. A picture of the collapsed canopy was attached as evidence.
The inspector was also required to issue measures to eliminate these violations. Regarding the second violation, it was noted that the Law on Planning and Construction does not specify a measure when expert supervision has not performed the necessary inspection.
However, concerning the first violation, the measure issued was a ban on using wing B of the station building in Novi Sad. Therefore, the inspector instructed the investor (Infrastructure of Serbian Railways) and the contractor (Chinese company CRIC) to “check the static stability of the building.”
As explained in the minutes, which Forbes Serbia had access to, the verification must be done by a legal entity that was not involved in the preparation of technical documentation and technical control for the construction permit, as well as in the execution of works and expert supervision.
The investor and contractor were given 15 days from receiving the minutes to comply.
As seen in another document, Infrastructure of Serbian Railways instructed the supervisor on November 14 to issue instructions to the contractor for checking the static stability of the building, relaying what the building inspector had ordered.
Chinese Response
The Chinese company responded to this letter on Saturday, November 23, at 6:36 AM.
The contractor referred to the contract for the reconstruction of the railway from Novi Sad to the Hungarian border. At the beginning, they mentioned one of the key points in this document.
“Article 61 of the contract stipulates that the part of the work that the Investor begins to use is considered accepted on the day of its use, and from that day, the Contractor is no longer responsible for the maintenance of the accepted part,” the response states.
Since state representatives officially opened the station on July 5 this year, it can be assumed that the Chinese contractor considers this date as the handover of the station building to the state, as they began to use it from then. This is somewhat acknowledged by the inspector, who states that the “technical reception and handover of the works in wing B began on July 5, 2024.”
Therefore, CRIC adds: “According to Article 63 of the Contract, it is stipulated that instructions or changes by the supervisory authority can only be given before the reception of the works.”
Static stability check not part of the contract
The Chinese company also added that the task of checking the static stability of the entire station building in Novi Sad is not within the scope of works prescribed by the contract. “There are no legal grounds for the Investor or the supervisory authority to instruct the Contractor to perform these works.”
They also refer to what the building inspector ordered, which seems to have been overlooked by Infrastructure. Since the inspector requested that the stability check be done by someone not involved in the construction works, the Chinese CRIC reminds the investor that they were the contractor.
They further add that no objections were received regarding the quality of the performed or unperformed works specified in the contract. This is another reason why they cannot comply with the order.
Finally, the Chinese company claims that they only received the inspector’s minutes on November 19 and that they submitted their objections to it.
“Taking all the above into account, we believe that the instructed action is not in accordance with the Commercial Contract and that it contradicts the imposed limitation, so in that sense, the Contractor notes that they cannot comply with the letter,” the contractors state. However, despite everything, they remain available to the investor, the state, and all government bodies for clarification and cooperation on the works defined in the contract.
PROČITAJTE VIŠE:
Infrastructure seeks another company
It seems that this response from the Chinese company forced Infrastructure of Serbian Railways to initiate the procurement process on November 28 for a report on the assessment of the condition of the station building’s structure in Novi Sad.
According to data from the Public Procurement Portal, this procurement is being carried out through a negotiated procedure without publishing a public call.
The reason for entering the negotiated procedure is “exceptional urgency caused by events that the contracting authority could not have predicted.” Infrastructure refers to the decision of the national building inspector to close the construction site and order the verification of the static stability of the building.
Minutes drafted three days later
What can be seen from the minutes is that the supervision was carried out on the day of the accident, November 1. The drafting of the minutes started on November 5 and was completed three days later, on November 8—one week after the accident.
It is also evident that the former acting director of Infrastructure of Serbian Railways, Jelena Tanasković, who is under house arrest, attended the inspection on November 1. There was also one representative from the contractor and the supervisor present.
Another interesting observation by the building inspector is that the construction diary for the station building was kept from December 13, 2021, to July 18, 2024. Later, she cites the regulation stipulating that the inspection book and construction diary should be kept from the start of works until the completion of the construction and handover of the building to the investor.
READ MORE:
“NO ONE CAN DENY”: Croatia officially acknowledges genocide against Serbs in ISH (NDH)
SERBS DELIGHTED: American christmas movie filmed in popular Serbian mountain! (VIDEO)
Source: Forbes Srbija, Photo: MUP