The Ministry of Infrastructure and Construction estimates that by 2030 the number of flats per 1000 Polish citizens will reach 435. The current figure is 363 flats. This target is to be met through implementation of various schemes, including Mieszkanie+ CFlat+D. By way of comparison, according to the 'Property Index: Overview of European Residential Markets' for 2015, the average housing stock in the EU Member States was 486.5 flats per 1000 citizens.

The start of a new year usually brings about New Year’s resolutions. We tend to reflect on our accomplishments in the previous year and set goals for the year ahead. It is also good to consider what resolutions we can make and keep for 2017 for our industry. Below please find the three of them. Although rather standard, if successfully followed, they can significantly improve the construction environment in which we operate.

We have passed the time of customs and rituals related to celebration of All Saints' Day, Polish Independence Day, St. Martin's Festival or St. Andrew's Day. And we head toward Christmas, rich with many beautiful traditions. Interestingly, there are also customs and superstitions which are linked directly to the construction industry, especially building a house. Many of them are forgotten, while others lasted for centuries and are still known nowadays.

Almost every single construction works start with excavations. Many upgrade projects also require earthworks in order to erect or replace service lines.

The railway in Poland began in 1835, when a railway line from Warsaw to Zagłębie Dąbrowskie and Cracow was opened. More lines were built afterwards. Prior to World War Two, there were 306 km of 115 km/h rated railway lines and 2035 km of 100 km/h rated lines. Following its accession to the EU, Poland began adapting its railway system to high-speed operations (200-250 km/h) which require novel construction technologies for the railway industry.

Occupational health and safety (OHS) is a set of rules and provisions concerned with creating working conditions that do not endanger the life and health of workers.

Basic OHS requirements are described in Chapter X of Polish Labour code, the regulation on general occupational health and safety provisions (JoL. of 1997, No. 129, item 844 as amended), Polish Standards, and other regulations. The National Labour Inspectorate (PIP) supervises the compliance with OHS rules and provisions.

The summer has finally arrived and it's a holiday season. What's more, we have just finished a series of lessons about different stages of building a home. It seems a good time to brush up your English and revise vocabulary and expressions related to the construction industry. Complete the following tasks and check what you remember from all the fourteen lessons published in „Inżynier Budownictwa” monthly starting from March 2015.

Once a house is constructed, its acceptance must be carried out for you to be able to legally live in it. To do so you must take care of many formalities, in particular collect the necessary documents, and then submit them to the relevant Construction Supervision Inspectorate together with a notice of completion of construction and an application for occupancy permit.

An already built and beautifully finished house does not mean the end of building works. One should still take care of its surroundings. After all, no one wants to live on a construction site. On the contrary, we want to have a nice, well-ordered and functional plot, which will be the pride of our home and, along with it, will fit into a harmonious whole.

Carrying out the electrical installation works includes electrical service connection, concealed installations (wiring) as well as electrical equipment. When dealing with wiring, you should remember to install telecom cabling systems (interphones, telephones, antennas, computer networks, etc.) as well as an alarm system.