Explosion in Tbilisi reveals imperfection of construction supervision

The nine-storey building, where four humans perished in gas explosion, was gasified and inhabited, but has not yet been commissioned, the Tbilisi Mayoralty has confessed. The relevant gaps in the legislation must be eliminated, the Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA) has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 16, an explosion in a nine-storey residential building in a Tbilisi outskirt killed four people.

The current legislation lacks an article that obliges any particular body to check internal utilities in a newly constructed building, the GYLA members have indicated. They believe that this gap needs to be eliminated. They also declared the inadmissibility of situations, when buildings are populated prior to being commissioned, the "Rustavi 2" TV Company broadcast on January 18.

On the same day, Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi, held a press conference, at which he acknowledged that the building was not commissioned for use. "We declare with full responsibility that according to the current legislation, the safety of the natural gas network in the building is in no way connected with the commissioning," he said.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 19, 2019 at 09:30 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.