The digitization of the building approval process shows fundamental shortcomings and errors according to the Senate

Prague - According to the Senate, the digitization of building management exhibits significant deficiencies and serious errors. The Ministry for Regional Development (MMR) should consider appointing a crisis manager and a working group with representatives from building authorities and the Chamber of Architects. The upper chamber stated this in today’s resolution. Minister for Regional Development Ivan Bartoš (Pirates) stated that he has a list of deficiencies, which he wants to present to the government first. Senators warned during a roughly three-hour debate about potential economic consequences, the departure of workers from building authorities, and possible lawsuits against the state for damages. Jan Kasl, the chairman of the Czech Chamber of Architects (ČKA), expressed his approval of the Senate's decision to ČTK. However, according to MMR, the establishment of a crisis manager would not resolve the issue.

"We have a clear plan and timeline for deploying individual functions that the law did not fundamentally require. But this is about the efficiency of the system's operation," Bartoš told the senators. For instance, automatic templates for individual decisions, of which there are supposed to be 130, are to be delivered by the end of August, he noted.

"The system has not been functioning for a month and 21 days since its launch," said Hynek Hanza (ODS), who proposed discussing the issues surrounding electronic building management. He emphasized that this is not about politics, but about the future of building management. "Another threat is the economic consequences, the subsidy consequences," the senator stated. "These are enormous billions at risk," Jiří Čunek (KDU-ČSL) added.

Many senators called for the suspension of the effectiveness of the new building law and for a transitional period in which constructions would be permitted under the original law. According to Raduan Nwelati (ODS), the system is absolutely dysfunctional and it may not be possible to fix it even in a few months. "It may happen that many building authority employees will leave just because of the Ministry for Regional Development's approach," stated Jan Sobotka (STAN).

During the debate, senators also questioned some specific changes, such as those regarding the approval of apartment buildings and groups of structures and in the approval of buildings, which is also pointed out in the resolution of the upper chamber. "Without changing the law, certain problems are unsolvable," said Hana Kordová Marvanová from the ODS and TOP 09 club. Bartoš acknowledged a mistake regarding the approval of buildings permitted before July; according to him, the ministry released a methodology on the matter.

The only senator from SOCDEM, Petr Vícha, called for Bartoš to resign. "I personally think that the only thing to do is commit harakiri and resign. And allow someone new to come in and try to do something about it," he said. Vícha noted that he feels Bartoš is the only one who thinks everything is functioning. On the other hand, Bartoš, who is the chairman of the Pirate party, was defended by Adéla Šípová (Pirates). She claimed it was a mistake to even attempt the digitization of building management. "If he were to commit harakiri now and somehow leave, then everything would fall under the table," believes Šípová.

In a 14-point resolution, the Senate also recommended, for example, checking whether the integrated system of building management and the builder's portal contain critical errors. According to the upper chamber, the ministry should describe the current state, identify deficiencies, and present a specific plan and timeline for their resolution. It should examine the possibility of legislative steps that would lead to the suspension of the effectiveness of the new building law or allow for the simultaneous operation of the old and new building laws to create a space for refining the digitization of building management. The resolution is, according to Sobotka, a recommendation for further action. Hanza spoke of urging the government "to start doing something."

In recent weeks, Bartoš has been regularly meeting with builders, designers, and representatives of municipalities who have long criticized the current form of digitized building management. He promised them that some basic deficiencies in the systems would be addressed by the end of August. At the same time, MMR published a schedule of when and what other adjustments it plans to make to the systems by the end of this year. According to Kasl, however, it is questionable whether the steps planned by the ministry will be sufficient, especially concerning the operation of the Information System of Building Management used by officials. The appointment of a crisis manager and a working group would, in his view, help MMR to look at the current issues from an independent external perspective.

According to MMR spokesman Petr Waleczek, however, the establishment of a crisis manager alone will not ensure that the system will meet all users' expectations within days or weeks. "The team at MMR has been intensively working on the amendment to the building law for a year and a half, and for another year on the issue of digitization. Thus, they have insights into this complex issue that a newly arrived crisis manager could not gain in a few weeks or months, regardless of his commitment and qualities," Waleczek told ČTK this evening.

Today, Bartoš was to present the procedure for implementing the new system and the plan to address the issues it faces at the cabinet meeting. TOP 09 called for a coalition meeting on Tuesday. Some coalition politicians requested during the summer that Bartoš ensure that the building management systems were functional by the end of August.