On May 12, the Ministry of Housing and Urban–Rural Development issued the “14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Engineering Survey and Design Industry,” which sets forth the following development goals for the period: the industry will achieve steady growth, with continued expansion in scale and significant improvements in performance; the leading role of survey and design in engineering construction will be further strengthened; relevant laws and regulations governing survey and design will be continuously refined, the market environment will be further optimized, a preliminary integrity system will be established, and the quality of survey and design will be fully assured; the green, industrialized, and digital transformation of the engineering survey and design industry will be comprehensively accelerated, with ongoing enhancements in technological management innovation and comprehensive service capabilities, as well as further improvements in standardization and integration, thereby continuously supporting the high-quality development of the construction sector.

Source: China Construction News

To the Departments of Housing and Urban–Rural Development of all provinces and autonomous regions, the Housing and Urban–Rural Development (Administration) Commissions of directly administered municipalities, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Planning and Natural Resources, the Housing and Urban–Rural Development Bureau of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and the Construction Divisions (Bureaus) of the relevant departments under the State Council:

To provide guidance and promote the high-quality development of the engineering survey and design industry during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, and in accordance with the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives for 2035 of the People’s Republic of China, our Ministry has organized the preparation of the “14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Engineering Survey and Design Industry.” This document is hereby circulated to you; please implement it conscientiously in light of your specific circumstances.

Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development

Development Plan for the Engineering Survey and Design Industry during the 14th Five-Year Plan Period

I. Development Environment

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, China’s engineering survey and design industry maintained steady development, with a large number of national key projects successfully designed and constructed. The originality of design solutions improved, and the technical level of survey and design reached a new height. The scale of the industry continued to expand, management standards and economic performance further enhanced, with the total number of enterprises reaching 23,741—an average annual growth rate of 3.0%; the total number of employees reaching 4.4 million—an average annual growth rate of 7.7%; and total operating revenue reaching RMB 7.24967 trillion—an average annual growth rate of 21.8%. Innovative project delivery models emerged, with rapid growth in full-process engineering consulting and engineering general contracting, and pilot programs for the architect-in-charge system yielding positive results. Scientific and technological innovation capacity strengthened steadily, with average annual growth of 28.8% in R&D investment; breakthroughs were continuously made in research on critical technologies, leading to an increasingly sophisticated technological framework; and the green, industrialized, and digital transformation of the engineering survey and design industry progressed in an orderly manner. Internationalization also advanced significantly, with newly signed contract values in overseas markets increasing by 47% compared with the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan period. The engineering survey and design industry played a vital role in promoting new urbanization, continuously improving living environments, and fostering high-quality development of the construction sector.

At the same time, it must be recognized that the engineering survey and design industry has yet to fully exert its leading role in construction projects; innovation capacity in design remains inadequate; attractiveness for high-end talent is declining; there is a shortage of multidisciplinary professionals; the capacity to deliver high-end services urgently needs to be enhanced; homogeneous, low-price competition persists; international competitiveness still requires improvement; and there remains a gap between the quality of survey and design services and the people’s growing aspirations for a better life. Therefore, the responsibility for promoting high-quality development of the survey and design sector is immense.

The 14th Five-Year Plan period marks the first five-year span in China’s new journey toward fully building a modern socialist country and advancing toward the Second Centenary Goal. Tasks such as developing new urban infrastructure, promoting urban renewal, building comprehensive residential communities, and implementing rural development initiatives are creating fresh opportunities for the engineering survey and design industry. The goals of peaking carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality are charting a new course for the industry’s green and low-carbon development. Meanwhile, the ongoing new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation—particularly the extensive integration and deep penetration of digital technologies into the construction sector—are providing fresh impetus for the industry’s transformation and upgrading. New business models, including full-process engineering consulting, engineering general contracting, and the architect-in-charge system, are expanding rapidly and opening up new avenues for growth. The new development paradigm, with the domestic circulation as the mainstay and the mutual reinforcement of domestic and international circulations, is placing new demands on the industry’s transformation and upgrading. The engineering survey and design industry must seize these new opportunities, squarely confront the emerging challenges, and achieve high-quality development.

II. General Requirements

(1) Guiding Principles.

Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we will thoroughly implement the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and all subsequent plenary sessions of the 19th CPC Central Committee. Grounded in the new stage of development, we will fully, accurately, and comprehensively apply the new development philosophy, foster a new development pattern, take promoting high-quality development as the central theme, regard meeting the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life as the fundamental goal, adhere to the architectural policy of “suitability, economy, greenness, and aesthetics” as the main thread, harness deepening institutional and mechanism reform as the driving force, and accelerate technological and managerial innovation as the engine. In doing so, we will continuously optimize the market environment, reform regulatory approaches, ensure quality and safety, enhance project quality, invigorate development, and give full play to the leading role of surveying and design in engineering construction, thereby contributing to the high-quality development of urban and rural construction.

(2) Basic Principles.

Uphold market-driven development guided by the government. Fully leverage the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, orient efforts toward market demand, strengthen the principal status of survey and design firms, and stimulate their vitality and creativity. At the same time, better harness the guiding role of the government by proactively transforming government functions, further advancing the improvement of the legal and regulatory framework and supporting policies, and scientifically promoting the deepening of the “delegation, regulation, and service” reform in the engineering survey and design sector, so as to accelerate the establishment of an efficient, standardized, fair-competition, and unified and open market environment.

Uphold normative constraints and standard-led guidance. Adhere to the core baseline requirements of mandatory provisions throughout the document, and strengthen measures to ensure quality, safety, and performance. With the goal of serving and advancing high-quality development and meeting the people’s aspirations for a better life, leverage the innovative and leading role of voluntary technical standards to create greater room for innovation in the engineering survey and design industry, thereby facilitating the transformation from a major design country into a design powerhouse.

Uphold quality first and green development. Firmly safeguard the bottom line of quality and safety, regard quality as the lifeline of the engineering survey and design industry’s development, and promote full-lifecycle management, comprehensive quality management, and refined management to further enhance the industry’s technical and managerial standards. Implement the green and low-carbon philosophy, foster green development in the engineering survey and design sector, and support the formation and extension of a green industrial chain for construction projects.

Adhere to a talent-first, innovation-driven approach. Fully leverage the supporting role of talent by improving talent development and incentive mechanisms at all levels and enhancing the overall capabilities of the talent pool. Uphold innovation as the central pillar of the engineering survey and design industry’s overall development, strengthen research and application of key technologies, promote innovation in organizational and management models, and elevate the quality of survey and design services as well as international competitiveness.

(3) Development Goals.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the engineering survey and design industry has maintained steady growth, with continuous expansion in scale and significant improvements in performance, further highlighting its leading role in construction projects. Relevant laws and regulations governing survey and design have been continuously refined, the market environment has been further optimized, a preliminary integrity system has been established, and the quality of survey and design services has been effectively assured. The industry’s transformation toward green practices, industrialization, and digitalization has accelerated across the board, with ongoing innovation in technical management and enhanced comprehensive service capabilities. Standardization and integration have been further strengthened, continuously supporting the high-quality development of the construction sector.

The market environment has been further optimized. The management of qualification requirements for survey and design firms and the professional practice qualifications of technical personnel has been further refined; the industry’s integrity system has been further strengthened; a preliminary governance framework has been established featuring individual compliance in professional practice, orderly competition among enterprises, self-regulatory services provided by industry associations, and government guidance and oversight; and a market environment characterized by survival of the fittest and premium pricing for superior quality is gradually taking shape.

Design quality has been further enhanced. The rule-of-law, intelligent, and professional standards for quality oversight in survey and design have been further enhanced, ensuring that the bottom line for quality and safety is fully safeguarded. Green and low-carbon design principles are being fully implemented, with systematic, scientific, and refined design practices further strengthened, resulting in the completion of a number of high-quality demonstration projects for green construction.

Innovative capacity has been further enhanced. Investment in scientific and technological innovation in surveying and design continues to increase, breakthroughs have been made in tackling key core technologies, the industry’s role in empowering other sectors is becoming increasingly evident, and revenue from the transfer of scientific and technological achievements has risen substantially. The digital transformation of the industry is accelerating, with building information modeling (BIM) being progressively adopted for forward design and collaborative design, and the proportion of digitally delivered projects steadily increasing.

The talent structure has been further optimized. The talent cultivation, evaluation, mobility, and incentive mechanisms tailored to the characteristics of the engineering survey and design industry have been substantially refined; the technical competence of practitioners has improved markedly; the proportion of multidisciplinary and highly skilled professionals continues to rise; the ranks of young professionals have expanded further; the overall talent structure has been significantly optimized; and a group of industry leaders has been cultivated.

Development effectiveness has further improved. Operating revenue in the engineering survey and design industry has continued to grow, with an annual growth rate no lower than the GDP growth rate. New business models such as engineering general contracting, full-process engineering consulting, and the architect-in-charge system have been effectively implemented. Large survey and design firms will pursue comprehensive and integrated development, while small and medium-sized firms will focus on specialization and niche expertise; a number of high-end design consulting service brands will be cultivated; the share of the overseas survey and design market will steadily increase; and the international competitiveness of “China Design” will gradually strengthen.

III. Improving Market Operation Mechanisms and Optimizing the Development Environment

(1) Steadily advance the reform of the market access system.

Optimize the qualification management system for survey and design firms by gradually streamlining the categories and levels of enterprise qualifications. Improve the examination systems for registered architects and registered survey and design engineers, advance the implementation of the registration and practice management system, and foster and expand the pool of registered professionals. Enhance the individual practice qualification system and further clarify the rights and responsibilities of registered practitioners. Strengthen local regulatory accountability, conduct regular centralized inspections and ongoing dynamic verifications, and intensify oversight, verification, and disciplinary measures targeting enterprises and relevant technical personnel.

(2) Foster a healthy and orderly market environment.

Further review and abolish regulations and practices that impede the establishment of a unified national market for survey and design services and fair competition; improve the regulatory mechanisms governing enterprises undertaking projects across regions and industries; and foster an open and orderly national market for survey and design services. Organize the development of model contract templates tailored to different project delivery modes, so as to safeguard the equal status of all market participants. Support industry associations in publishing information on industry service costs, explore the adoption of an “hour-based” pricing model, and guide the establishment of reasonable design fees and design timelines. Fully leverage the role of industry organizations, encourage enterprises to strengthen collaboration, complement each other’s strengths, share resources, and cultivate a healthy industry ecosystem.

(3) Further optimize the tendering and bidding management system.

Continuously refine the tendering and bidding mechanism for survey and design services, and explore bidding methods that are tailored to the specific characteristics of such work. Promote the evaluation principle of selecting the best bidder based on quality, appropriately increase the weight of technical proposals in the evaluation process, encourage competition based on quality, rigorously prevent destructive low-price bidding, and foster a fair competitive environment. Advance the implementation of an economic compensation system for unsuccessful bidders whose proposals are not selected, thereby safeguarding creative initiative. Explore the separation of evaluation and awarding, strengthening the contracting entity’s right and responsibility to independently determine the winning bid. Implement a system for publicly disclosing expert review opinions, subjecting the process to public and media oversight.

(4) Improve credit management and collaborative regulatory mechanisms.

Promote the inclusion of survey and design quality information, as well as technical service information related to fire safety design review for construction projects, into the credit information management system. Establish a mechanism for the submission and sharing of credit information, advance the scientific and standardized use of such information, and develop a new credit-based regulatory framework for the survey and design market that fosters coordinated oversight of quality and safety. Refine the credit-based penalty mechanism to ensure that penalties are commensurate with violations, and encourage market entities to undertake credit restoration. Enhance the national public service platform for construction market regulation, strengthen interconnection and information sharing with relevant platforms in transportation, water conservancy, and other sectors, and increase the transparency of survey and design credit information.

IV. Ensuring the Quality of Survey and Design and Firmly Upholding the Development Bottom Line

(1) Strengthen the management of architectural and urban aesthetics.

Strictly review architectural design proposals and refine relevant design codes and management systems for cities, urban districts, and buildings. Strengthen the guiding and regulatory role of urban design over architecture. Enhance the management of oversized public buildings, super-tall landmark structures, buildings in key areas, and large-scale urban sculptures; design proposals for major public buildings shall be reviewed and approved in accordance with the procedures for managing major construction projects. Explore the establishment of a chief urban architect system. Strictly regulate the practices of “using the same map in multiple locations” and “repeatedly using the same map” in real estate development. Enhance the quality of residential architectural design. Launch the “National Architecture Award” selection process to drive a comprehensive upgrade in architectural design and construction standards.

(2) Improve the quality accountability system for survey and design.

Fully implement the quality responsibilities of all participating construction entities for survey and design, emphasize the primary responsibility of the project owner, and clearly define the principal responsibility of survey and design firms. Promote survey and design firms to strengthen their quality management systems, refine internal quality control mechanisms, and ensure the scientific soundness and effectiveness of their quality responsibility frameworks. Further clarify and enforce the responsibilities of legal representatives, project managers, discipline heads, and registered professionals within survey and design firms, and improve the system for holding individuals accountable for quality throughout their professional lifetimes. Enhance the penalty mechanism and impose strict, law-based sanctions on violations of laws and regulations in survey and design activities.

(3) Innovate approaches to quality supervision of survey and design.

Strictly implement the Measures for the Administration of Survey Quality in Construction Projects, advance the digitalization of survey quality supervision, and ensure compliance with requirements such as image retention and real-time data uploading, thereby further strengthening oversight of both the survey process and its outcomes. Comprehensively promote the digital transformation of design quality supervision and enhance interconnectivity among government-design-quality-supervision information platforms. Strengthen ongoing and post-event supervision of survey and design quality, continuously refine supporting systems and working mechanisms for “dual random inspections with public disclosure,” and link the frequency and scope of random inspections, as well as the probability of being selected for inspection, to the credit rating and risk level of the entities subject to inspection.

(4) Deepen the reform of the construction drawing review system.

Continuously advance the reform of the construction drawing review system, strengthen the regulatory role of construction drawing reviews, and rigorously enforce the responsibilities of project owners, survey and design firms, and construction drawing review agencies. Increase the transparency of construction drawing review information to provide critical data support for government oversight and the development of an industry integrity system. Improve the joint review mechanism for construction drawings, with a focus on safety reviews related to structural engineering, fire protection, and other critical areas, to enhance review efficiency and effectiveness. Promote the digitalization and intelligentization of construction drawing reviews, expand the scope of AI-based review pilot programs, and gradually roll out BIM-based review.

(5) Explore the establishment of a quality insurance system for survey and design.

Encourage research on quality insurance for survey and design services and the development of insurance products that meet industry and market needs. Study risk-sharing models between individuals and enterprises, scientifically define the rights, responsibilities, and interests of each party, and enhance practitioners’ awareness of quality accountability and their capacity for risk control. Gradually establish a survey and design quality insurance system comprising end-user latent defect insurance and professional liability insurance for survey and design, thereby leveraging insurance and other financial instruments to promote improvements in the quality of survey and design services.

V. Uphold the Green and Low-Carbon Philosophy and Enhance the Quality of Development