The poviat inspectors, whose main duty is to guarantee the adequacy of investments, are not effective. They do not monitor if investments are carried out properly. They do not verify if investors discharge their duties. They fail to keep registers and records with due care and so they lack information concerning the number of started constructions or the number of facilities handed over for use. Administrative proceedings being an outcome of complaints consume most of their time. Though, their main duty should be planned audits (verifying if an investment is adequate and compliant with the terms of the construction permit decision). In 23 poviat inspectorates audited by NIK only 32.5 audits were of that kind. The majority (51.3 percent) were undertaken following complaints. In five poviat inspectorates started investments were not audited at all.
Effectiveness and quality of inspections made by the construction supervision leaves a lot to be desired. E.g. in Grójec the inspections were conducted by persons without proper construction authorities, who even were not employees of the inspectorate. In 2 poviat inspectorates (Leszno and Radom) no employee was entitled to impose fines. At the same time in Człuchów, the poviat inspector audited an installation project drawn up by himself. In four poviat inspectorates (Grójec, Skierniewice, Brzeziny, Wrocław) and two provincial inspectorates (Łódź, Poznań) NIK identified cases of withdrawal from imposing a fine. Since the reasons of that withdrawal were unclear, this may suggest corruption.
The factor reducing the quality of inspectors’ work are staff problems. They are mainly related to the fact that the construction supervision is underfinanced. The poviat inspectorates lacked more than PLN 10 million to properly conduct all audits in the period 2009-2012, whereas in case of provincial inspectorates the deficit amount exceeded PLN 12 million. The number of construction specialists is also too small. Low salaries and high requirements result in high staff rotation. The supervision is trying to manage by increasing salaries at the cost of employees. In the poviat inspectorates audited by NIK all funds have been used for salaries, although only less than three fourths of full time jobs have been staffed.
NIK finds it problematic that the poviat inspectors are dependent on poviat heads. This dependence is of structural nature, since it is the poviat head who appoints the poviat inspector. Besides, from among 23 inspectors whose activity was screened by NIK, as many as 15 used material and financial aid of local governments. In Wodzisław Śląski five communes even made financial contributions to maintain the inspector. NIK points out that in the audited period (2009 - 2012) a corruption-prone conflict of interests occurred in that case since local governments were carrying out 36 investments. According to NIK, the situation may be improved provided the construction supervision bodies get independent from the poviat heads.
NIK also detected minor irregularities in the work of provincial inspectors of the construction supervision. A half of them did not check the activity of the poviat inspectors. Thoughtlessness of four provincial inspectors may have been particularly dangerous as they improperly verified construction materials which were critical for the structure safety and fire protection. They only relied on the declarations of construction managers instead.
