Dostálová: There were 4500 significant comments on the Building Act

Prague - The proposal for the construction law has received around 4,500 significant comments. However, many of them overlap, so the real number will be much lower. In an interview with ČTK, said the Minister for Regional Development Klára Dostálová (for ANO). According to her, the most significant comments were regarding the degree of independence of municipal building authorities and the independence of municipalities when preparing spatial plans. The government hopes that the law will lead to a significant shortening and simplification of building permit processes. According to World Bank data, the Czech Republic ranks 157th out of 190 compared countries.

"We will announce the final number with the count of comments later, as there are many duplicates. Among the commenting bodies are individual regions, which often used the copy-and-paste function. So we have sometimes 14 identical comments on one topic. The largest volume was related to the institutional model, which we expected, and also to spatial planning," said Dostálová.

She indicated the agreement with the Association of Towns and Municipalities on Monday was very important. According to her, the Ministry for Regional Development (MMR) will adjust the draft construction law so that officials responsible for building proceedings at the municipal level will not be transferred to the new state model with the Supreme Building Authority. Originally, 13,500 officials were to be transferred to the state; now it will be about 7,000.

"We have prepared several compromise variants. The final one was not the only one we discussed. We knew that everyone had to give way to some extent. And I think a reasonable and balanced compromise was ultimately created. So we do not alienate the service from the citizen but at the same time preserve mechanisms for cases where authorities do not act as they should," Dostálová further stated. According to the agreement, the law should maintain building authorities at the municipal level. However, state-controlled regional authorities and the central office will make decisions. Issues related to linear and large public utility constructions should be dealt with directly at the state level.

"As for the independence of cities and municipalities in preparing spatial plans, we must ensure that their interests are reflected there on one hand. But on the other hand, there must be protection of public interests. I understand that no one can order municipalities what should be where. Cities certainly have the resources and personnel to develop spatial plans. But small municipalities will not have that capability," the minister added. Due to spatial planning, MMR is in discussions with large cities. This week, Brno, Ostrava, and Zlín are on the agenda.

As Dostálová further stated, she is willing to make compromises in the comment process. "However, we all must pursue a common goal. And that is to speed up, simplify, and adhere to deadlines. Those are the crucial moments that I must oversee in construction proceedings. When we have a common goal, let's look for a way. And we are ready for any dialogue."

Dostálová has encountered opinions during the preparation of the law that digitalizing construction processes would suffice instead of a new regulation. However, she firmly rejects this. "Digitalization will definitely help us, but within the newly established system. The World Bank ranking is based on deadlines derived from the law. Currently, it takes 246 days in the Czech Republic to obtain the necessary stamps. This needs to be significantly shortened," the minister stated. The World Bank bases its analysis on legislative data for permitting storage facilities. In fastest Singapore, it takes 35 days to obtain a permit. In Europe, Denmark is the fastest with 64 days.

Dostálová also plans to negotiate with judges. Last week, for example, the Supreme Administrative Court stated that the law should be withdrawn from proceedings. "I understand their comments. A lot of things need technical adjustments. But there is nothing that couldn't be eliminated. Every law has comments; that’s why we have this commenting process. However, if a law were to be withdrawn after every comment, we could do that indefinitely," added the minister.