The Public Administration must review, analyze, and eliminate, when applicable, those procedures to protect the exercise of freedom of enterprise and guarantee the defense of productivity...".
II.That the protection of the interests of the community can be achieved with clear, coherent, and simple rules; in contrast to ambiguous situations, where competences and requirements multiply and overlap, adding no significant value and involving direct and indirect costs for individuals and society, ultimately reducing their production capacity and the country's well-being. All of the foregoing in observance of and respect for the principles contemplated in numerals 15 and 16 of the General Law on Public Administration No. 6227 of May 2, 1978 and its amendments, and the Law for the Protection of Citizens from the Excess of Administrative Requirements and Procedures (Ley de Protección al Ciudadano del Exceso de Requisitos y Trámites Administrativos) No. 8220 of March 4, 2002 and its amendments, and within the limits imposed by efficiency, reasonableness, proportionality, and the legal system itself.
III.That the procedure for plan review prior to the construction permit issued by municipalities, can be streamlined and simplified to reduce the costs incurred by citizens and companies and to avoid the waste of resources that reduces the country's productive capacity, but at the same time guaranteeing the protection of legitimate interests, such as the protection of the environment and the health of individuals.
IV.That it is necessary to relieve the State and its Institutions of unsubstantial tasks so that they can dedicate their scarce resources to the pursuit of the purposes and objectives for which they were created, simplifying prior permit procedures and strengthening subsequent oversight processes.
V.That subsection c) of Law No. 3663 of January 10, 1966 and its amendments, the Organic Law of the Federated Association of Engineers and Architects of Costa Rica (Colegio Federado de Ingenieros y de Arquitectos de Costa Rica) (hereinafter called CFIA), indicates that the Federated Association has among the following primary purposes the cooperation with state and private institutions in everything that implies improving the country's development. In this same sense, subsection b) also indicates the obligation to: "Ensure the decorum of the professions, regulate their practice, and monitor compliance with the provisions of this law, its regulations and special regulations of the Federated Association, as well as the provisions in the laws and regulations relating to the fields of application of the professions that comprise it."
VI.That the General Board of Directors of the CFIA, through agreement No. 13 of session No. 18-10/11-G.O. of March 9, 2011, approved the draft bill of this decree.
VII.That the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (Sala Constitucional de la Corte Suprema de Justicia), has been reiterating in its case law, in relation to Professional Associations that: "Since the State is interested in ensuring that the practice of liberal professions is efficient, for the community's guarantee, the University Professional Associations exist for this purpose, which are constituted as entities of public utility due to the form and the public interest purposes they pursue; hence, to protect and monitor their members and maintain professional decorum and dignity, their bodies have been attributed disciplinary power to correct the faults of their members, thus delegating a part of the police or oversight power that is the State's own faculty." (1970, Court of Cassation, 3:00 p.m. of July 17, 1979, Court of Cassation, No. 186 of 9:30 a.m. of November 14).
VIII.That the use of the CFIA consultancy contract electronically for the abbreviated procedure for projects of subdivisions (urbanizaciones) or condominiums of individualized primary filial farms (fincas filiales primarias individualizadas), as well as for projects of built condominiums and other types of projects, not only greatly simplifies the process of authorizing construction plans at the level of the Ministry of Health, the National Institute of Housing and Urbanism (INVU), and the Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers (Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados, AyA) but also, in accordance with considering clauses V and VI indicated above, places on the professional responsible for the work and the oversight, their duty to act in respect of the regulations that govern them as a member of the Federated Association of Engineers and Architects of Costa Rica.
IX.That based on the National Development Plan 2011-2014 María Teresa Obregón Zamora, for the Government of the Republic, it is of utmost importance the creative use of information technologies to transform the way the Government interacts with companies and citizens; achieving the modernization of the State, simplifying and making more efficient the provision of services and the completion of procedures in the public administration.
X.That based on the Principle of Clear Rules that inspires Regulatory Improvement, inserted in the Law for the Protection of Citizens from the Excess of Administrative Requirements and Procedures, Law No. 8220 of March 4, 2002, and in application to the use of new digital information technologies, it is essential to modify the Executive Decrees called: "Regulations for the Plan Approval Procedure for Construction", Executive Decree No. 27967-MP-MIVAH-S-MHC of July 1, 1999 and its amendments, and the "Regulations to the Law Regulating Property in Condominium", Executive Decree No. 32303-MIVAH-MEIC-TUR of March 2, 2005, so that Projects for subdivisions (urbanizaciones) or condominiums of any type, which are processed before the Ministry of Health; the National Institute of Housing and Urbanism (INVU); and the Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers (AyA), have a digital processing channel for their respective approval. And that in safeguarding the autonomy of the municipal regime, the present decree only establishes the procedures and requirements for the review of construction plans concerning the State, its institutions, companies, and non-state public entities: not so those relating to municipalities, entities that will continue with the competence to grant the respective construction permits. Therefore,
They Decree:
Regulations for the Review Procedure of Construction Plans
General Aspects