Patir noted that stiff competition in the planning branch of the construction industry has brought prices down considerably and is hindering planners from doing a thorough job, including being proficient in the regulations of the complex standards. In certain cases, for example, no thought was given by the planners to whether buildings would be able to withstand earthquakes, as required by the regulations. Dr. Yoav Sarne, president of the Association of Building and Infrastructure Engineers, says the lowering of rates negatively affects the quality of the planning. He feels that in order to prevent instances of substandard planning, planners and engineers should be required to sign a declaration at the end of a job, stating that they have acted in accordance with regulations. Sarne notes there are engineers who don't meet the standards, especially the ones that are not obligatory.
Good engineers work according to the regulations.
Ella Ben-Nun, who heads the structural department of standardization division at the Standards Institute, says the public has become aware of substandard construction only during the past few years. She notes that engineers and planners who are supposed to learn all the regulations of the standards on their own are not always willing to do so, given the small fees they are paid for their work. The problem is even worse, says Patir, because of the nature of the people on a building sites. Many of the workers are cheap, unskilled, temporary laborers, which makes it very difficult for the contractor to oversee the quality of their work. Unlike other countries, Israel does not require construction workers to undergo any training before they arrive at a job site.