Reconstruction of an Agricultural Building in the Municipality of Rače – Fram

In an extremely interesting diploma thesis, the introductory pages briefly discussed topics such as the vision and some basic objectives of the project. Fully arranged and completed project documentation was the vision of the project, as well as ** professional, efficient and expert work to mutual satisfaction. The basic premise of the diploma thesis was the modification or upgrade of the entire design of the existing condition and reconstruction according to the investor's wishes, as well as the construction of all buildings according to the latest technological standards. The preliminary design was completed within 5 days of receiving the project conditions. On the last few pages of the diploma thesis, a more detailed presentation is given of a very important element in every project – naturally, the ** financial plan.

Problem

In an extremely interesting diploma thesis, the introductory pages briefly discussed topics such as the vision and some basic objectives of the project. Fully arranged and completed project documentation was the vision of the project, as well as ** professional, efficient and expert work to mutual satisfaction**. I must admit that throughout the entire project they followed the set vision and it was not easy to be involved in the so-called paper war with state institutions.

The objectives were primarily cooperation with the investor in adapting the project to his wishes, obtaining all necessary consents and project conditions, properly arranging and designing all necessary documentation in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Slovenia, realising the set time schedule, remaining within the framework of anticipated costs and, ultimately, successful handover of the agricultural building. Throughout all of this, customer satisfaction was of key importance. They also appropriately and at a special level cooperated with the investor regarding his needs through the set objectives at the beginning of the project, particularly from an economic perspective, and successfully cooperated throughout the entire course of the project.

Solution and Method

The basic premise of the diploma thesis was the modification or upgrade of the entire design of the existing condition and reconstruction according to the investor's wishes, as well as the construction of all buildings according to the latest technological standards. I must admit that they had considerable difficulties in the actual realisation of all the investor's needs, primarily due to intervention in the protected area Natura 2000, as there are no exceptions from state institutions, since this umbrella project is backed by strict environmental standards of the European Commission.

At this point I wish to highlight one of the new constructions within the framework of the project under consideration, namely a manure storage facility with an area of 39.40 m² and volume of 110 m³, which unfortunately, due to the most favourable solution in connection with the previous positioning of the agricultural building, partially extended beyond the building boundaries. To the investor's misfortune, this positioning encroached on the ** protected area, where construction is not permitted, and thus began the ** procedure for obtaining building permits, which entailed a series of additional procedures.

After all submitted and received project conditions, they approved the proposed solution for the situation that had arisen and further construction of the building. The purpose of the diploma thesis was to study the process of collecting, arranging and continuously monitoring all necessary information, gaining experience with collecting location and other general data, and obtaining various consents in the field of various regulations that are included. The most interesting personal experience he gained in this field was obtaining ** historical images, as after a spatial review it was determined that the building in question falls under the umbrella of the ** Natura 2000 network. On this basis, due to the building's intervention in protected space, they had to obtain ** nature conservation consent**.

In this field they used one of many regulations, namely the Regulation on Special Conservation Areas, which can be found in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia. In Chapter 7 of the diploma thesis entitled Natura 2000-Regulations, which describes the legal basis, a more detailed explanation can be found. An interesting topic was also the legislation that defines the municipal spatial plan.

In their case, I am speaking specifically about the municipality of Rače-Fram, where their project is located. The legislation stipulates that initiatives proposing new building land ** cannot be considered individually** or on the basis of individual site inspections and assessments. According to the legal provision, this must occur in the actual procedure for preparing the spatial arrangement for ** the entire municipality. The foundations for this very complex matter in the initial phase are represented by appropriate preparation of ** expert materials, including very important expert bases for settlement.

Essentially, development in the spatial sense, or various new constructions, must be directed into settlements, and for precisely defined purposes outside the boundaries of these settlements. This primarily refers to the sensible utilisation of existing vacant or partially exploited areas within settlements. As for settlement expansion, this is only permissible when further spatial development within an already populated settlement is no longer possible.

The author considers it particularly important that municipalities themselves assess which land it is sensible to convert into building land and which not, primarily in terms of ** preserving the best agricultural land** and, of course, the sustainable use of available natural resources. Urbanisation in Slovenia is a spatially dispersed process. Changes in the use of larger areas are noticeable primarily on the periphery of settlements, mainly for the needs of industry and commerce, and along the routes of large infrastructure facilities such as motorways, railways, etc.

The next chapter of the diploma thesis deals primarily with nature conservation, which is one of the most recognisable characteristics of their small country on the sunny side of the Alps. Very well-preserved natural environment, biodiversity, landscape diversity, rich fauna and flora, diverse geological structure, varied relief and much more are great advantages that they have over neighbouring countries, but which are unfortunately often neglected or destroyed, regardless of the consequences for future generations.

The preliminary design was prepared at the investor's initiative. The design shows the basic floor plan and cross-sections A-A and B-B of the agricultural building, as well as the site plan of the land.

Results

The preliminary design was completed within 5 days of receiving the project conditions. On the last few pages of the diploma thesis, a more detailed presentation is given of a very important element in every project – naturally, the financial plan. Among other things, he became acquainted with ** standards and methods for preparing time schedules** for a particular phase of work.

Consequently, he had to prepare and defend the time schedule in the classical manner and, of course, using software, without which we cannot imagine life today. An interesting experience was becoming acquainted with the requirements of the Rules on Detailed Content of Project and Technical Documentation when preparing the main file for the project for obtaining a building permit, and the standards and method of analysing plans for installations and fire safety of project documentation. They successfully carried out the assigned project without major deviations and, apart from two or three amendments arising from preliminary design documentation, ** additional corrections and consequently increased project costs were not necessary, which also pleased the investor. ** The new experience within the framework of practical training was extremely positively surprising, as it proceeded without major difficulties.

Perhaps I would emphasise only that it was extremely instructive and brought the author ** a great deal of good experience** for the future. The battle for so-called project documentation is never child's play; well, with this project it was a shade more eventful. The path from the beginning to the handover of the assigned project to the investor is quite long. ** They realised the set project vision professionally, expertly and efficiently right up to the completion of the project.** They also achieved the set objectives, which were not easily attainable, with the same work enthusiasm. ** They arranged all necessary project documentation and also met the set time schedule.** So if I add up all the factors, they successfully brought the objectives and vision of the project to completion through joint efforts, which pleased not only them but also the investor.

He learned about the responsibility of the designer and owner of the building under construction. He verified compliance with environmental protection legislation during construction of the building and carried out the planned environmental performance analysis during construction itself and subsequent operation. He became acquainted with project and technical documentation at the construction site and with legal provisions for issuing and validity of building permits.

Within the framework of project phases, he became acquainted with the importance of preparing a comprehensive environmental impact assessment. Nature conservation brings opportunities. Experiencing nature, especially with well-organised tourist infrastructure, is becoming an increasingly important part of the tourist offer throughout the world. ** In Slovenia, despite the country's great recognition for preserved nature, nature-based tourism is still in its infancy.** Nature as a development resource has in the vast majority of cases been simply overlooked.

They wish to rectify this. Protected areas offer rich opportunities for cooperation with local producers – both in management and in marketing possibilities. Nature-based and ecological tourism can become important complementary and recognisable sectors of the lower Podravje region in Slovenia. As an interesting fact, I should mention the data revealing that Slovenia is one of the five most desirable tourist countries in the world, which means that their natural heritage is their great wealth, which must be preserved and similar projects encouraged in the future, which he also encountered during his research of literature for the diploma thesis.

During research or collection of literature, he came across an abundance of extremely interesting materials that served as sources for his diploma thesis. The works used and their authors are listed in Chapter 9 entitled Reconstruction and Renovation of Buildings, where he summarised a few lines from various sources that were most related to their project.

So, to briefly summarise his newly acquired knowledge and answer the question of whether he met his expectations, I must honestly admit that he is positively surprised. In fact, he even acquired additional skills in the field of planning or designing with the AutoCAD programme. Let me summarise just some of the knowledge he acquired during cooperation on the specific project: he learned about the procedure, types of entries and rights that are entered in the land register; he also learned about the purpose and content of attribute data in the land register and learned the difference between basic and visiting data in the land register.

Precisely due to the legalisation of an already existing building, constructed before 1959, he learned about the procedures he already mentioned in previous lines. During this phase of the project, he learned to interpret data on land register extracts and certificates from the building cadastre. Among other things, he also learned about the conditions for recording changes to data in the land register and conditions for recording changes to data in the building cadastre.

Overall, so many different factors influenced the project that he was often surprised in which directions the paths of construction lead compared to other sectors. At the very end, he would like to thank once again the company SVET PROJEKTA d.o.o., which enabled the author to train within the framework of compulsory work placement for the practical training module. I must admit that he gained a great deal of new and interesting experience that will accompany him in his further career.

He also acquired various competences that will accompany him in his further professional development. He upgraded his theoretical and practical knowledge and thereby accumulated a great deal of new work experience.