Comunicat ACE privind sprijinul acordat de acesta Germaniei în menținerea sistemului de onorarii minime pentru arhitecți și ingineri

Stimați colegi,

Transmitem din partea OAR Comunicatul Consiliului Arhitecților din Europa (ACE) privind susținerea Germaniei în menținerea sistemului de onorarii minime pentru arhitecți și ingineri (HOAI).

Cu stimă,

23 mai 2015

arh. Cornelia Burcuș
Secretar Executiv

Doamnă/Domnule Arhitect,

Vă transmitem mai jos Comunicatul de presă, în l. engleză, al Consiliului Arhitecților din Europa (ACE) privind sprijinul acordat de acesta Germaniei în menținerea sistemului de onorarii minime pentru arhitecți și ingineri (HOAI), iar în anexă traducerea în l. română.

Cu deosebită considerație,

Mariana Ionescu
Consilier Relații Internationale
Ordinul Arhitecților din România
Strada Arthur Verona, Pictor nr. 19,sector 1, București, 010312
Tel/fax 021 317 26 34, 0728 872 150

www.oar.org.ro, www.oarsquarespace.com

PRESS RELEASE

Member Organisations of the Architects’ Council of Europe express support to Germany for maintaining the HOAI

While the German Federal State just informed the EU Commission that it will not repeal the fee-scales system for architects and engineers (HOAI), the Architects’ Council of Europe (ACE) expresses its support to Germany for wanting to  maintain the HOAI. During the last ACE General Assembly (22-23 April), ACE Member Organisations discussed architects’ fee-scales from a European perspective and broadly supported the German HOAI, considered as a tool in the interest of clients and contracting and public authorities, as well as a driver of quality in the built environment

In June 2015, the EU Commission launched an infringement procedure against Germany on the grounds that the German minimum compulsory tariffs for architects and engineers (Honorarordnung für Architekten und Ingenieure – HOAI) would allegedly violate the Services Directive by preventing professionals from other Member States from establishing and providing their services freely in Germany – the Commission estimates that the HOAI limits the access to the German architectural market, and thus distorts competition in the EU. In February 2016, despite the exchanges held with the German Federal State, which argues that the HOAI is not discriminatory as it applies equally to all professionals established in Germany, the Commission took further steps in its infringement procedure, sending a reasoned opinion. Should Germany fail to remedy the situation by repealing these tariffs, the EU Commission may decide to refer Germany to the Court of Justice of the EU.

ACE has closely followed the various fee-scales in Europe and expresses grave concern regarding this procedure and the removal of all forms of fee-scales for architects. ACE contends that fee-scales, and the HOAI in particular, do not constitute a hindrance to the free establishment and provision of architectural services in Europe. Supported by statistics from its biennial Sector Study, ACE contends that cross border services are in no way negatively affected by the presence of fee-scales. On the contrary, ACE strongly believes that these guidelines serve the common interest:

    • For customers, fee-scales offer a number of advantages: transparency of fees and related services for everybody; certainty of design costs; competition based on quality and not price; guarantee of quality and positive results, with minimal risks of dispute, among others.

    • Regarding architects, fee-scales are of particular importance in assisting  SME’s. Furthermore, there is no evidence to suggest that fixed fees have prevented architects from establishing and providing their services in another Member State. Respondents to the ACE Sector Study cite insufficient language skills and knowledge of building regulations or relocation issues as the main reasons for not moving to another country – local fee-scales are not seen as a major concern. On the contrary, the discussion during the ACE General Assembly revealed that fee-scales can even be a driver for movement, as they are not simply mandatory tariffs, but provide helpful descriptions of services and guidelines to provide these services.

    • Furthermore, recent experience in countries where fee-scales have been removed  show situations in which the courts no longer have any basis on which to make awards during litigation, while public bodies have no references point they can use when drawing up budgets for public works.

Therefore, ACE concludes that fee-scales, including the HOAI in particular, do not constitute an obstacle to cross-border establishment and provision of architectural in services in Europe, nor has the abolition of compulsory fee-scales in other Member States led to an increase in cross-border establishments in the past. For all these reasons and having seen some of the negative effects of total deregulation, ACE Member Organisations cannot but look favourably towards the German model and support Germany in its dispute with the EU Commission.

While understanding the need for strict implementation of EU Internal Market legislation, ACE calls on the EU Commission and Member States to resist undue deregulatory tendencies. ACE believes that deregulation in the architectural sector cannot lead to growth because the growth of the sector depends only on the levels of investment in the building market. Rather, the key issue for economic growth in the architectural market is the quality that can be achieved and maintained, regardless of regulatory approach.

The Architects’ Council of Europe (ACE) is the representative organisation for the architectural profession at European level: it aspires to speak with a single voice on its behalf in order to achieve its aims.  Its growing membership currently consists of 46 Member Organisations, which are the regulatory and professional representative bodies in all European Union (EU) Member States, Accession Countries, Switzerland and Norway.  Through them, the ACE represents the interests of over 565.000 architects from 32 countries in Europe.

Contact

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