Recently, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development ("MOHURD") and the Ministry of Emergency Management ("MEM") have jointly issued the Opinions on Giving Stricter Punishment to Individuals of Enterprises Held Liable for Construction Safety Accidents (the "Opinions").
The Opinions require: 1. practicing the work safety commitment mechanism; 2. revoking the practicing qualifications of individuals held liable; 3. intensifying the accountability over individuals held liable according to law; 4. strengthening the pursuit of criminal liability of individuals held liable according to law; and 5. taking stricter disciplinary measures against the dishonesty of those individuals held liable. Among others, the Opinions require that the competent authority of housing and urban-rural development shall suspend or cancel, according to law, the practicing qualifications and job certificates in relation to work safety held by the individuals held liable in construction enterprises, whose failure to perform work safety duties results in work safety accidents, particularly major or more serious accidents, and also ban them from taking up the relevant jobs; and pursue their criminal liability if any crimes are constituted. In addition, the relevant certified practitioners of survey, design, supervision or other entities that are held accountable for the accidents shall be ordered to cease practicing, and the worst result is that their relevant certificates will be revoked and they are banned from engaging in related construction activities.