The site order book: who writes in it and what goes in
Without a certified order book a construction site cannot start, and every instruction written in it will be looked for again at the Form 14 act and at handover. So it is worth knowing who has the right to write in the book, what exactly goes into it, and what you can do when you disagree with an order.
Everything below follows the Spatial Planning Act and Ordinance No. 3 of 31.07.2003 on drawing up acts and protocols during construction. This article is not legal advice. Before acting on a specific dispute, check the text against the current version.
What the order book is
The order book is form 4, Annex No. 4 to Article 7(3), item 4 of Ordinance No. 3. Under Article 170(3) of the Spatial Planning Act, it records all instructions related to carrying out the works, issued by the authorised persons and by the specialised control bodies. The book is bound with a cord, has numbered pages and is kept on the site itself.
The form is mandatory for first to fifth category works (Article 2(2), items 1 and 2 of the ordinance). For sixth category works, only section II of the protocol for construction line and level is mandatory, and only in certain cases.
The back of the cover holds the details of the works and of the participants: address and building permit, client, consultant with the technically qualified persons for each part, site manager, builder, designers for all parts, and the person carrying out technical control for the structural part. Below them is a field for "Changes that occurred during construction".
Who certifies it and when
The book is certified on its first and last page by the person carrying out construction supervision. The deadline is three days from drawing up the protocol for opening the construction site and setting the construction line and level (Article 158(2) of the Spatial Planning Act). Where no such protocol is required, for example for internal refurbishment, certification comes before the works start, and its date counts as the start of the works (Article 157(1) of the Spatial Planning Act; Article 7(2) of the ordinance).
There are three special cases:
- For works under Article 14(2) of the Chamber of Builders Act there is no construction supervision, and the book is certified by the site manager. The text of Ordinance No. 3 still speaks of "fifth category works", so check which case your project falls under.
- Where the building permit was issued by the regional governor or by the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, the book is certified by the National Construction Control Directorate (DNSK). The ordinance adds that it is also registered there, within 3 days.
- For special sites related to defence and security, certification is by officials designated by the relevant agency.
After certification, the supervisor or the site manager has 7 days to notify the municipality, the specialised control bodies and the regional directorate for national construction control (RDNSK) in writing.
Who has the right to write in it
The law gives no list in one place. The right comes from different articles.
The designer. Their instructions on exact compliance with the design they produced, tied to their authorship rights, are recorded in the order book (Article 162(3) of the Spatial Planning Act; Article 5(7) of the ordinance). Under Article 162(5), the designer has the right of free access to the site, the construction documents and the book itself.
Construction supervision. Its instructions and orders recorded in the book are regulated by Article 168(4) of the Spatial Planning Act. Its heaviest order comes under a different article: when a check of the design levels reached finds material deviations from the construction documents, the supervisor suspends construction by an order that is recorded in the order book, and sends a protocol to the regional directorate within three days (Article 159(4) of the Spatial Planning Act).
The specialised control bodies. Article 170(3) of the Spatial Planning Act names them explicitly alongside "the persons authorised for this".
The site manager. Here practice and the law diverge. The site manager directs the construction work and ensures the builder's responsibilities are met (Article 163a(4) of the Spatial Planning Act), but is nowhere named as someone who issues orders in the book on a supervised site. The exception is works under Article 14(2) of the Chamber of Builders Act: there the site manager takes on the supervisor's responsibilities under Article 168(1) and certifies the book personally. On all other sites, the place for their instructions to the crews is the site daily log, not form 4.
The builder is not among those who issue orders. The builder is the addressee of the instructions and is responsible for keeping the book and for making it available on request to the other participants and to the control bodies (Article 163(2), item 5 of the Spatial Planning Act).
What goes in
Under Article 7(3), item 4, letter "c" of the ordinance, the book contains all instructions and orders related to carrying out the works, as well as non-material changes to the approved designs, prescribed by order of the designer.
Non-material deviations are those outside the ones listed in Article 154(2) of the Spatial Planning Act. For these, the designer's order in the book is enough, and afterwards what was built is reflected in the as-built documentation (Article 8 of the ordinance). Material deviations are a different matter. A change to the structure, to the loads or to shared installations (Article 154(2), items 5-8) is allowed only on the basis of an approved design and an order amending the building permit, and only before it is carried out (Article 154(5)). Deviations under items 1-4 are not permitted at all once the permit has been issued (Article 154(4)).
The ordinance names one more entry. If, at acceptance of the foundation soil (form 6), a different design solution turns out to be needed, the supervisor suspends construction with an entry in the order book and gives binding instructions on measures against accident and damage (Article 7(3), item 6).
A good entry has a date, a specific place on the site, a deadline, a name and a signature. "Strengthen the reinforcement" is useless. "Slab level +6.20, axes 3-4/B-C: additional bottom reinforcement per the attached sketch, before pouring" works.
Are the orders binding and how are they challenged
They are binding. The designer's instructions bind the other participants in construction (Article 162(3) of the Spatial Planning Act). The supervisor's instructions and orders bind the builder, the contractor and the site manager (Article 168(4) of the Spatial Planning Act).
Against a supervisor's instruction the law provides an objection to the National Construction Control Directorate bodies within 3 days. The price is high: until they rule, construction is suspended. After a check, the directorate issues binding directions.
Ordinance No. 3 describes an adjacent procedure for disputes over drawing up acts and protocols. The supervisor's decision is binding on the builder and the site manager, and the interested party may ask for a decision, instruction or order to be set aside within 7 days of signing a disagreement protocol submitted to the regional directorate. The head of the regional directorate rules within 7 days (Article 5(8), item 2). The two deadlines differ, so in a real dispute work to the shorter one.
For the designer's instructions we found no separate challenge procedure in either act. What remains there is the designer's author supervision contract.
Ignoring a suspension order is expensive. If construction continues after a supervisor's order recorded in the book, and the building is later demolished as unlawful, the forced demolition is also at the builder's expense (Article 225(6), item 2 and Article 225a(5), item 2 of the Spatial Planning Act).
What happens to the book at handover
The book is looked at again at handover. At the Form 14 act, the participants review it too and certify that the structure was built according to the approved designs and the changes prescribed by the designer in the order book. With the Form 7 and Form 12 acts, the works prescribed by the designer in the book are also accepted (Article 7(3), items 7 and 12 of the ordinance).
For works accepted by a Form 16 protocol, "certified order book" is item 1.1.6 in the list of documents the commission describes. Non-material deviations prescribed in the book must also be visible in the as-built documentation, which is an integral part of the construction documents (Article 8(4) of the ordinance).
We found no retention period for the book itself after commissioning in Ordinance No. 3. The ordinance provides for indefinite retention only for the original of the protocol for site, line and level (Article 10(2)). It makes sense for the builder to keep the book at least as long as the warranty periods run, but that is our advice, not a quote from the law.
Common mistakes
- Working before certification. Works without a certified order book are stopped by an order of the National Construction Control Directorate, and for fourth to sixth category works by the mayor of the municipality (Article 224(1), item 5 and Article 224a(1) of the Spatial Planning Act).
- Verbal instructions. A change the designer mentioned on site or sent by phone is not an instruction under Article 162(3) until it is entered. At handover, what was built will be compared with the design and with the book, not with anyone's memory.
- A material deviation handled with just an entry. The book cannot replace the approved design and the order amending the building permit.
- The book is not on site. It is kept on the site (Article 170(3) of the Spatial Planning Act) and presented to the control bodies on inspection.
- What was prescribed does not reach the acts. Work carried out on a designer's order is accepted with a Form 7 or Form 12 act, and then enters the as-built drawings. If this is missed, at the Form 14 act the link between the entry and the work done is missing.
How the acts are convened and what happens when a party does not show up is described in the page on the forms of acts and protocols under Ordinance No. 3.
Where Construction Team helps and where it does not
The order book is a paper document with a cord, numbered pages and a certification. Construction Team does not replace it and has no electronic form 4. An entry in our system is not an entry under Article 170(3) of the Spatial Planning Act.
We help with what happens before and after the entry.
Before the entry there is usually a question. In the RFIs module you put it to the designer or supervisor with photos and files attached. The external addressee gets a link and answers without an account, and the answer stays with a date and a name. This does not replace the entry: if the answer changes how the work is done, the designer still has to record it in the book. But you have a trace of when you asked and how long you waited. The RFI also records how the question affects cost and schedule, and when it is linked to a contract, an annex can be created from it.
After the entry, it should also be clear on which day the order was given. The Daily Logs module keeps one log per project per day and has "Visitors" and "Delays & downtime" fields, as well as a "Photos & files" section. You photograph the page from the book and attach it to the log for the day. An approved log is locked for editing. This way the paper entry has a copy that can be found by date, without anyone going out to the site.
When an instruction leads to a revision of a drawing, in the Drawings module you upload it as a new version of the same sheet. Old versions are kept, and at the place of the change you can put a pin with a note or a link to the RFI.
Related Articles
- RFIs to the Designer - the question that comes before the order
- The site daily log - what gets recorded every day
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Frequently asked questions
Who certifies the site order book?
The person carrying out construction supervision. For works under Article 14(2) of the Chamber of Builders Act, it is the site manager. The deadline is three days from the drawing up of the protocol for construction line and level (Article 158(2) of the Spatial Planning Act). Where the building permit was issued by the regional governor or by the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, the book is certified by the National Construction Control Directorate (DNSK).
Who has the right to write orders in the site order book?
The law names the designer (Article 162(3) of the Spatial Planning Act), the person carrying out construction supervision (Article 168(4)) and the specialised control bodies (Article 170(3)). The builder is the addressee of the instructions and is responsible for keeping the book.
Are the orders in the site order book binding?
Yes. The designer's instructions on exact compliance with the design are binding on the other participants in construction, and the supervisor's instructions and orders are binding on the builder, the contractor and the site manager.
How do you challenge a supervisor's instruction?
By an objection to the National Construction Control Directorate bodies within 3 days, with construction suspended until they rule (Article 168(4) of the Spatial Planning Act). Ordinance No. 3 also provides for a disagreement protocol, which is submitted to the regional directorate (Article 5(8), item 2).
Can you build without a certified site order book?
No. Works carried out without a certified order book are stopped by an order under Article 224(1), item 5 of the Spatial Planning Act, and for fourth to sixth category works, under Article 224a(1).