Regional development minister Ivan Shishkov told parliament that builders of a housing complex in Varna's Asparuhovo district, where a landslide struck, broke the Spatial Planning Act. The breach came to light when officials checked the building papers a second time after the landslide.
The building's water and sewage connections were not approved by Varna's water utility, and the site has no connection permit, which the law requires, the minister said. He was answering a question from Kosta Stoyanov of the Vazrazhdane parliamentary group about what steps the ministry is taking. Stoyanov said the landslide was caused by "yet another huge private building project in Varna".
The ministry will ask prosecutors to declare the building permit void because key documents are missing. The construction cannot be declared illegal, because the permit has already come into force. Shishkov said the same approach was used in the case of the Elenite resort.
Varna's chief architect signed the permit on the basis of a full compliance assessment report. The regional office of the national construction control directorate (DNSK) found no breaches in its first routine check.
The head of DNSK has ordered a full check of Varna municipality over the papers it issued for the site. The check will also cover papers from the past 5 years, because of suspicions of a systemic practice.
The regional DNSK office in Varna stopped work on 21 September and ordered immediate reinforcement. The landslide was officially registered on 23 September. It is up to 20 m long and about 60 m wide, covers about 1,200 sq m, and the earth moved to a depth of up to 4 m. It destroyed two access streets and damaged a retaining wall.
Shishkov said that before the incident there was no record of landslides at the site and no warnings of dangerous ground movement.
An independent technical commission has been set up to find the exact causes of the failure. It includes experts in structures, surveying, geology, water and sewage systems and road building. Officials have also ordered a survey of the water and sewage network and of the ground.
The Varna firm Geozashtita is carrying out an engineering-geological survey of the site. It says the landslide was caused by the complex geology, the sloping ground, shallow groundwater and undercutting at the foot of the slope. The firm also names a break in an asbestos-cement water pipe, which soaked the earth and put heavy water pressure on it.
Geozashtita recommends urgent survey, design and reinforcement work, and a full review of the water and sewage lines above the landslide.