PROMHOUSE WILL HELP UZBEKISTAN IN PROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT OF HOUSING FUND

The country launched the implementation of the PROMHOUSE project “Promoting professional housing Management in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan”. The project participants intend to achieve this goal by contributing to the development of the private sector in the housing sector, strengthening the rights and opportunities of private companies involved in the management of multi-apartment buildings (MAB).

The project implemented by the Housing Initiative for Eastern Europe (IWO, Germany) with financial support from the European Union. On the German side, the partner is European educational centre for the housing and real estate industry (EBZ). From Uzbekistan - the Association of Professional Managers and Housing Services Organizations of Uzbekistan (further - the Association of Management Companies (MC).

 

The readiness of an international consortium of specialists from Germany, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to join forces in implementing the idea of ​​professional management of apartment buildings turned out to be very timely for our country. The Promoting professional housing management is one of the priorities of housing policy. She is destined for the role of a locomotive designed to bring our housing to a new level. Housing reform is continuing in the republic, slowing down somewhat due to the epidemiological situation. Practice shows that without professionally trained personnel, no efforts to promote reform in the housing sector will bring the desired result. The triumvirate of partners offers our country assistance in improving the professional level of housing workers and in training residential property managers for MAB.

It should be noted that the project is a continuation of the previous one with similar goals and name - PRO HOUSE. For three years, German experts shared with our residents the experience of professional residential property management. The main emphasis placed on modernization, energy-efficient redevelopment, energy saving in the MKD, which is extremely important for the housing stock, where typical high-rise buildings built in 60-90 years, make up about 80% and need these measures. German experts also assisted in the development of a new Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the management of multi-apartment buildings”, which was adopted but will come into force on August 1, 2020.

The start for a new project was the accumulated experience and practice of the previous one. Since the professionalization of the housing stock has many aspects, it was decided to consolidate the results obtained earlier and continue work further. Among the main indicators of the new project are vocational education and training of competent managers, as well as the development of standards for the maintenance of residential real estate.

It is very important that these tasks are consonant with a number of political decisions and government documents on reforming the MAB management system. Together with government agencies, PROMHOUSE is ready to assist in the implementation of these priorities.

 

The national coordinator of the PROMHOUSE project is the MC Association. The relevance of its innovations lies in the fact that educational institutions of Uzbekistan do not train managers for housing. Meanwhile, the market is waiting for a new generation of competent specialists. Housing construction is in full swing in the country. Today we have a tremendous demand for managers of new buildings, because there is its own specifics. The typical high-rise buildings erected in the last century need modernization, energy-efficient renovation, and ensuring comfortable living for the population. Managers face serious challenges and requirements for a professional level. Today they are expect to receive special knowledge, skills, and high qualifications.

Promoting of professional housing management and improvement of the quality of MAB maintenance, in fact, are 2 sides of the same coin. In this regard, it is important to develop within the framework of the draft standard for residential property management. The need to develop a management standard was spelled out in regulatory acts on housing reform. Currently, the republic is working on the creation of new housing legislation. There was a situation when a number of old norms and rules of technical operation by the housing fund are outdated, canceled, and new ones are not yet prepared. The standard for managing residential real estate will help establish common concepts for all those associated with it: these are owners, users of MAB, as well as those involved in the management and maintenance of the housing stock. This will enable the parties to build relations based on equally understood general concepts regarding the content of real estate, clearly defined actions for the management, maintenance and repair of real estate.

The project partners in conjunction with government agencies will decide these issues.

 

WHAT IS ALREADY DONE?
The UK Association has formed 2 working groups consisting of specialists from the Ministry of Housing and housing services, the Ministry of Building, the Ministry of Education, the Uzbek Agency Uzstandart, the Ministry of Innovation Development, the Qualification Center at the Tashkent Architectural and Construction Institute, and other departments. An agreement has been signed with the State Unitary Enterprise "Educational and Methodological Center" Kommunalukuv ", which is engaged in the training, retraining and advanced training of personnel in the field of housing and communal services. Together with the Ministry of Housing and Public Utilities, the colleges subordinate to it monitored and a pilot facility was identified - the Polytechnic College in Karshi, where they will begin to develop management training tools for managers. Also, in the capital of Uzbekistan, the “Tashkent College of Construction and National Fisheries” has been identified as a pilot college.

A study visit to the European educational centre for the housing and real estate industry (EBZ) in Bochum planned as part of the project. This will allow partners to be acquainted with the process of organizing professional education and advanced training in Germany, and will help in the development of training modules and programs for our colleges in the training of property managers.

Of course, the training of future managers must meet the requirements of the labor market. That is, simultaneously, within the framework of the project, issues of youth employment will be addressed, which is also relevant for Uzbekistan and meets the country's socio-economic policy. It is expected that the organization of vocational education for the housing sector will increase the demand for skilled labor and will contribute to its more active involvement in the labor process. Today, housing workers note an acute shortage of managers for MAB, while young people often cannot find work. It is assumed that the project will help to balance the imbalance of supply and demand. Based on this, the Association of Management Companies has prepared an analysis of the real estate market and its needs for qualified personnel. An important role will also be given to informing young people about the prospects of employment in the housing sector, the benefits of vocational education in the field of housing management.

Among the tools to achieve the goals - seminars, trainings, study tours, monitoring the housing fund management market and the potential for professional property management, the development of a directory on housing management and energy-efficient modernization, recommendations for managers, training programs for their preparation, and so on. However, the most important thing is new ideas, experience, and knowledge, exchange of opinions and practices, and good intentions.