Act on the Verification of Qualifications

The new Construction Act that entered into force in the beginning of 2025 lays down provisions on qualification requirements in construction and the verification procedure for qualifications. Provisions on the procedures to be followed in verifying the qualifications and the bodies authorised by the Ministry of the Environment to issue qualification certificates are laid down in the Act on the Verification of the Qualifications of Persons Serving in Building Design and Site Management Tasks. The Act also lays down provisions on the recognition of degrees awarded in other countries with respect to professional qualifications of EU and EEA citizens awarded in EU and EEA countries when a qualification certificate is required under the Construction Act.

The qualification certificate must include information on the body awarding the certificate, the recipient, the field and level of the qualification and the period of validity of the certificate. The certificate can be issued for a maximum of seven years.

Ministry’s decisions on qualifications verified earlier

The Ministry of the Environment has by its decision approved all designers and site managers approved by the municipal construction supervision authorities between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2024 to act in corresponding tasks in terms of both the difficulty class and intended use of the construction project. The decision ensures that there will be enough qualified designers and site managers for construction projects until the qualification certificates under the new Construction Act have been issued. The qualifications verified by the construction supervision authorities are approved as qualifications under the new Act as a whole. The decision is in force between 1 January 2025 and 1 January 2027.

By its decision, the Ministry of the Environment has approved the designers and site managers approved by FISE Qualification of Professionals in Building, HVAC and Real Estate Sector in Finland by 31 December 2024 to serve in corresponding tasks as specified for each difficulty class. The decision ensures that persons with a valid qualification certificate issued by FISE concerning design and site management tasks can continue to perform these tasks without having to apply for new approval under the new Act. A certificate issued by FISE qualifies a designer or site manager to perform the relevant tasks in all parts of Finland.

By its decision, the Ministry of the Environment has also approved the designers accepted by the Finnish Association of Architects SAFA as its full members by 31 December 2024 to serve in corresponding building design tasks of the difficulty class ‘conventional’ as specified for this class. The decision ensures that persons with a valid qualification certificate of the Finnish Association of Architects SAFA concerning building design tasks can continue to perform these tasks without having to apply for new approval under the new Act. Full members of the Finnish Association of Architects SAFA are qualified to serve as building designers in the difficulty class ‘conventional’ in all parts of Finland. The decision will remain in force until 1 January 2030.

The Construction Act lays down provisions on the difficulty classes of the design and site management tasks and qualification requirements for designers and site managers

The difficulty classes of design and site management tasks laid down in the Construction Act are minor, conventional, difficult, very difficult and exceptionally difficult. The difficulty class is determined on the basis of the architectural and technical requirements of the construction work, intended use of the building and requirements related to the construction site and construction conditions. A single construction project may involve design and site management tasks belonging to different difficulty classes.

According to the Construction Act, designers and site managers must present a certificate issued by a body authorised by the Ministry to prove that they are qualified to undertake conventional, difficult, very difficult and exceptionally difficult design and site management tasks. Provisions on the qualification requirements concerning the degree and work experience for each difficulty class are laid down in the Construction Act. Work experience is required for difficult, very difficult and exceptionally difficult design and site management tasks.

With the provisions of the new Construction Act, the building design and site management tasks have become regulated professions. A profession is regulated if it requires specific education or a specific degree or right to practise the profession based on law. At the same time, the authority to recognise foreign degrees was transferred from the Ministry of Education to the Ministry of the Environment.

The Construction Act provides for a transitional provision, according to which a person who meets the qualification requirements as a designer or site manager will also be considered qualified until January 1 2027, if they have been granted approval for similar tasks by a building control authority up to five years before the entry into force of the Construction Act, both in terms of the level of requirement and the intended purpose of the construction project.

Government Decree lays down provisions on difficulty classes of building design and site management tasks and on education required for the tasks

Based on the Construction Act, a decree was prepared at the Ministry of the Environment concerning the criteria for the difficulty classes of building design and site management tasks and the education required for these tasks. The series of amendments to the Construction Act specify in more detail the regulation concerning the required degrees relative to the difficulty of the task and the authority to adopt a decree on education requirements. Further provisions on the education required for design and site management tasks can be issued by Government decree. The Government Decree on the Determination of the Difficulty Classes of Building Design Tasks and Construction Management Tasks and the Education Required in the Tasks (1063/2024) entered into force on 1 January 2025  and it states the requirements in relation to degree, content and length of the studies.

Bodies authorised by the Ministry of the Environment issue qualification certificates under the Act

The Ministry of the Environment can authorise a company or organisation registered in Finland to issue qualification certificates if it fulfils the requirements for this laid down in the Act on the Verification of Qualifications of Persons Serving in Building Design and Site Management Tasks. The authorisation may be more limited in scope than what is presented in the application. Applications to act as an authorised body can be submitted to the Ministry of the Environment. The application is free-form but it must present the details laid down in section 3 of the Act on the Verification of Qualifications. Applications are sent to the Registry of the Ministry of the Environment to the address kirjaamo.ym(at)gov.fi.

The Ministry of the Environment may authorise the authorised body to issue a certificate of the equivalence of a foreign degree when issuing the qualification certificate. The authorised body must keep a register of the certificates that it has issued that are still valid.

The activities of the authorised body are supervised by the Ministry of the Environment. The body is obliged to provide the information necessary for the supervision annually to the Ministry of the Environment, including data on the number of qualifications granted in each field of qualification and difficulty class and information on the collected charges. To supervise the activities, the Ministry of the Environment may, on justifiable grounds, request the body to also submit other information.

Authorised bodies

Bodies authorised by virtue of the Act on the Verification of the Qualifications of Persons Serving in Building Design and Site Management Tasks:

KIWA Inspecta Certification Ltd

• Building design
• Design of load-bearing structures
• Design of foundations and rock structures
• Ventilation design
• Design of a property’s water supply and sewage system
• Building physics design
• Design of moisture damage repair work
• Acoustics design
• Landscape construction design
• Site manager’s management task
• Management task of a foreman responsible for the construction of a property’s water supply and sewage system (WSS foreman)
• Management task of a foreman responsible for the construction of a ventilation system (VS foreman)
• Verification of the equivalence of foreign degrees as part of the process to issue a qualification certificate for the task in question. 

SETI Personal and Company Assessment Ltd

• Management task of a foreman responsible for the construction of a property’s water supply and sewage system (WSS foreman)
• Management task of a foreman responsible for the construction of a ventilation system (VS foreman)
• Verification of the equivalence of foreign degrees as part of the process to issue a qualification certificate for the task in question.

FISE Qualification of Professionals in Building, HVAC and Real Estate Sector in Finland

• Building design
• Design of load-bearing structures
• Design of foundations and rock structures
• Ventilation design
• Design of a property’s water supply and sewage system
• Building physics design
• Design of moisture damage repair work
• Acoustics design
• Landscape construction design
• Site manager’s management task
• Management task of a foreman responsible for the construction of a property’s water supply and sewage system (WSS foreman)
• Management task of a foreman responsible for the construction of a ventilation system (VS foreman)
• Verification of the equivalence of foreign degrees as part of the process to issue a qualification certificate for the task in question.

Finnish Association of Architects SAFA

• Building design in the difficulty class ‘conventional’
• Verification of the equivalence of foreign degrees as part of the process to issue a qualification certificate for the field of qualification in question.

Eurofins Expert Services Oy

• Building design
• Design of load-bearing structures
• Design of foundations and rock structures
• Ventilation design
• Design of a property’s water supply and sewage system
• Building physics design
• Design of moisture damage repair work
• Acoustics design
• Landscape construction design
• Site manager’s management task
• Management task of a foreman responsible for the construction of a property’s water supply and sewage system (WSS foreman)
• Management task of a foreman responsible for the construction of a ventilation system (VS foreman)

RIL ry

Building design in the difficulty class ‘conventional’

• Building design
• Design of load-bearing structures
• Design of foundations and rock structures
• Ventilation design
• Design of a property’s water supply and sewage system
• Building physics design
• Design of moisture damage repair work
• Acoustics design
• Landscape construction design
• Site manager’s management task
• Management task of a foreman responsible for the construction of a property’s water supply and sewage system (WSS foreman)
• Management task of a foreman responsible for the construction of a ventilation system (VS foreman)
• Verification of the equivalence of foreign degrees as part of the process to issue a qualification certificate for the task in question.

Svenska Byggmästare- och Ingenjörsförbundet YH i Finland r.f. SBIF

Building design in the difficulty class ‘conventional’

• Building design
• Design of load-bearing structures
• Design of foundations and rock structures
• Ventilation design
• Design of a property’s water supply and sewage system
• Building physics design
• Design of moisture damage repair work
• Acoustics design
• Landscape construction design
• Site manager’s management task
• Management task of a foreman responsible for the construction of a property’s water supply and sewage system (WSS foreman)
• Management task of a foreman responsible for the construction of a ventilation system (VS foreman)
• Verification of the equivalence of foreign degrees as part of the process to issue a qualification certificate for the task in question.