The building owner/building contractor may delegate an appropriate construction engineering inspector, depending on the nature of the building industrial implementation activity, to represent the contractor on-site. The law may require the employment of a construction engineering inspector. During the entire process of the building industrial implementation activity, the construction engineering inspector facilitates and oversees the observation of the laws, government regulations, standards, contracts and the implementation documents.
The engineering inspector activity can be practiced by a person who has a licence from the registering body. The registering body permits the practice of construction engineering inspector activities for a person who
- is not under a prohibition that excludes him/her from such activities,
- has a clean criminal record, and
- has the required professional qualification and experience.
A legal entity or an organization without legal personality can only perform construction engineering inspector activities if one of its members or legal employees has the engineering inspector licence, and this member or employee participates in such activities.
The condition for receiving a licence is the certification of passing the eligibility exam or the certification of being exempt from the eligibility exam. The compulsory membership in a professional chamber is not required for practicing the activities.
The practitioner is required to notify the regional chamber in writing of any change in his/her registered data within 8 (eight) business days.
Issuing a licence for practicing professional activities
To receive a licence to practice the activities of construction engineering inspector, the applicant has to have either a special higher education degree or a specialised high school diploma corresponding to the type of the structure to be built. Other type of higher education degree with a training goal and training level satisfying the requirements, specified in credit points (or in classes), can also be accepted if it is certified by the degree supplement and the transcript.
In addition to the above, the construction engineering inspector who performs his/her activities in relation to the construction, restoration or demolition process of the building, antenna, antenna support structure and the components related to them, and of the physical structure that is connected to or providing service for them, has to have the qualification Construction Engineering Inspector I or Construction Engineering Inspector II as specified in the National Register of Qualifications.
The required professional training experience for issuing a licence to practice the professional activities of a construction engineering inspector is 3 years with a higher education degree and 5 years with a high school diploma. The training experience can only be certified by public documents or private documents providing full evidence (such as employer’s certificates, certificates issued by the professional advocacy body for the construction industry, employment or agency contracts, certificates issued by the person practicing professional activities etc.).
The eligibility exam
The eligibility exam is organised by the competent national chamber. The examination board is set up and ran by the national chamber. The fee for the eligibility exam is 34,000 HUF in total, out of which the parts with the general system of requirements cost 6,000-6,000 HUF, and the parts with the special system of requirements cost 11,000-11,000 HUF. The eligibility exam can be repeated - in the case of a failure - in parts or as a whole. The fee for the remedial exam is the same as for the eligibility exam.
The fee for the eligibility exam is payable at the time of sign-up to a dedicated account maintained by the national chamber that organises the exam. The national chamber maintains a dedicated register for the examination fee.
The eligibility exam can be waived if the applicant
- has a construction exam or an administrative exam with professional content related to construction, and the system of requirements of this exam fully conforms to the system of requirements of the eligibility exam,
- has qualification of construction engineering inspector as specified in the National Register of Qualifications,
- is at least 60 years old, and has professional experience of at least 15 years in the field applied for at the time of submitting the application.
The licence application and its attachments
The licence application for professional activities must be submitted with the content specified in Annex 5 of Government Decree 244/2006. (XII. 5.) Korm.
The application must include the following attachments:
- a certified copy of the certificate proving the professional qualifications if it is not on file in the register of the regional chamber (a copy of the original certificate proving the qualification, made and certified by the chamber, can be accepted instead of the notarized copy, provided that the original document is also presented at the same time);
- a copy of the transcript or the appendix of the degree certificate must also be presented for the purpose of reviewing the specialization if the applicant earned his/her degree in a credit system or if the regional chamber requests it for the determination of the specialization;
- proof of payment of the administrative service fee determined for the given licence;
- a document proving the professional experience; the certification for passing the eligibility exam or a document proving the exemption from the exam.
At the time of submitting the application, 30,000 HUF administrative service fee has to be paid to the account of the acting authority by the person submitting the licence application for construction engineering inspector activities.
The regional chambers maintain a common electronic register the content and operation of which are determined by the national chambers. The register is continually updated based on the reports of data changes by the professional practitioners and on the documents proving the satisfaction of their continued education requirements.
At the time of approving their eligibility, the regional chamber registers the persons who perform professional activities. The register contains the personal data, professional qualifications and the registration code specified in the appendix for each person performing professional activities. The register has to include information about the payment of the legally required administration fee related to the registration.
The practicing of professional activities can be suspended. The suspension period must be reported to the regional chamber that maintains the register. During the suspension period, the practicing of professional activities is prohibited and it is not required to prove the satisfaction of the continued education requirements.
The suspended professional activities can be resumed if the person requesting the termination of the suspension for the registry entry provides proof for the satisfaction of his/her continued education requirements.
Specific rules regarding the citizens of EU member states
A citizen of a EU member state shall submit his/her registration application to the Budapest Architect Chamber or to the Budapest and Pest County Engineering Chamber, depending on which organization has the authority for the given professional activity, and the application is submitted simultaneously with the request for recognition of the applicant’s professional qualification according to Act C of 2001 on the recognition of foreign certificates and degrees.
The conditions of the professional activity of foreign designers in Hungary are regulated by Government Decree 104/2006 (IV.28) Korm. According to this decree, foreign designers should be treated in two separate groups. The citizens of EU member states belong to one group, and third-country nationals to the other.
A citizen of an EU member state can perform designer activities in Hungary in two ways:
- For a specific design project, he/she can ask for a letter of agreement which is valid for a maximum of one year. The condition for requesting a letter of agreement is the recognition of his/her degree, and this process is carried out by the Budapest Architect Chamber for degrees received in EU countries.
- He/she can become a member of the Chamber and request his/her registration, which is valid for five years and can be renewed. The recognition of the degree is necessary for the admission to the Chamber as well, while the registration requires the completion of the eligibility exam (in Hungarian!). The condition for renewal after each five-year period is the completion of the required continued professional education.
The rules that apply to the citizens of EU member states are also valid for the citizens of Switzerland, exclusively, based on reciprocity.
The forms necessary for application can be downloaded from the website the Budapest Architect Chamber (BÉK); they include a list of the required attachments as well.
Processing fees:
- degree recognition: 51,750 HUF
- letter of agreement: 10,000 HUF
- admission to the chamber: 22,000 HUF
- registration: 10,000 HUF
- eligibility exam: 33,000 HUF
Cross-border service provision
If you wish to launch this service in the form of cross-border service provision, please click here to read the general conditions of cross-border service provision in Hungary.
Forms: