New law on the legalization of buildings under the supervision of engineers: No project, no control, no responsibility
Source: 021.rs; September 2025
Link to original article: https://www.021.rs/info/srbija/422117/novi-zakon-o-legalizaciji-objekata-pod-lupom-inzenjera-bez-projekta-bez-kontrole-bez-odgovornosti
The Association of Civil Engineers of Serbia announced that the adoption of the proposed Law on the Legalization of Construction Facilities will further worsen the situation in construction and threaten the safety of citizens throughout Serbia.
Photo: 021.rs
The President of the Association Živojin Vujanović accused Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Construction Minister Aleksandra Sofronijević of “encouraging crime, corruption and unsafe construction ” with the proposed law, stating that this directly disregards human safety.”
Mr. President, you and Minister Sofronijević said that the state is not interested in whether buildings are safe. This is terrible. Due to such an attitude of the government, tragedies, demolition of buildings and deaths of citizens occur ,” states Vujanović.Vujanović recalled the tragic cases in previous years, such as the collapse of the suspension bridge in Ovčar Banja in 2022, when two people died and ten were seriously injured. He also mentioned the fall of the canopy of the Railway Station in Novi Sad on November 1, 2024, when 16 people lost their lives and one person was seriously injured.According to him, in both cases, the legally required specialist inspection of the facilities was not carried out, which directly contributed to the tragedies.
Professional control and humiliation of the profession abolishedThe association warns that the new law abolishes the obligation to create a project of the current state of the building, which would entail an expert assessment of the building’s safety.According to Vujanović, this also abolishes the application of Article 159 of the Law on Planning and Construction, which prescribes regular and extraordinary specialist examinations.”
This is how civil engineers are humiliated and told that the profession is not necessary. The law renders engineering control meaningless, which can have disastrous consequences ,” Vujanović pointed out.