Dostálová: The construction law should reach the Chamber of Deputies by September

Prague – The draft of the new building law should reach the Chamber of Deputies by this September. The Ministry for Regional Development (MMR) is now processing all the comments it has received regarding the law. In the case of significant changes, Minister Klára Dostálová (for ANO) is prepared to repeat the interdepartmental comment procedure. She admitted this today in an interview with Czech Television.

MMR concluded the acceptance of comments on the controversial regulation on December 23, as several critical remarks were collected. The proposal has faced opposition, particularly from organizations defending the interests of cities and municipalities, and has also been criticized by firefighters, conservationists, and environmentalists. On Monday, MMR obtained the consent of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) to process comments until the end of March, which is two months longer.

"To be frank, if the law were to change so much that I would need to repeat the interdepartmental procedure, I would gladly do it because we have a two-month break. I truly believe that there is still room for this," said the minister.

Today, her deputy Marcela Pavlová met with representatives of large cities that criticize the building law. "We managed to clarify some unjustified fears of local governments about losing their influence over what is built in their jurisdiction. We will adjust some paragraphs of the law during the comment process so that the role of cities and municipalities is further strengthened," Pavlová stated in a press release.

According to MMR spokesperson Vilém Frček, city representatives agree that they should assert their rights in the permitting process as participants in the proceedings in the future. Under an agreement, municipalities will now have the opportunity to issue preliminary information regarding a builder's intent, which will also contribute to speeding up the permitting process. Municipalities should also be informed about the initiation of the permitting procedure through a "watchdog" as part of the digitalization of building regulations, so they can begin monitoring documentation immediately. Conversely, at the next meeting, the ministry's working group will return to how the law will regulate spatial planning with representatives from Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Liberec, and Plzeň.

According to Dostálová, the law's effectiveness, including digitalization, must not be before 2023. The law is planned to take effect in 2021. The government's effort is, according to her, to show that a reform law can be approved within one electoral term. "So far, we are keeping to the schedule," she noted.

On Monday, the Deputy Minister of Culture Vlastislav Ouroda expressed concerns that the new building law could weaken the position of UNESCO heritage sites. Dostálová mentioned today that she spoke on Monday with Minister Lubomír Zaorálek (of the ČSSD) and they "shook hands," ensuring that the agreement between the ministries will be unconditionally upheld. "If there is any wording that the Ministry of Culture wants to change, we will, of course, change it. The agreement made with the Ministry of Culture will be fully honored," she emphasized. According to Dostálová, MMR has the same agreement with firefighters. She stated that firefighters have created categories for buildings, and for significant buildings in categories three and four, fire supervision will be maintained.

On Monday, the government also postponed the discussion of the analysis from the Ministry of the Interior, which did not recommend transferring municipal officials to the state during the planned changes to building law. The analysis mentions high costs associated with transferring up to 13,500 officials and files. The one-time costs were estimated at 2.2 billion in the minimum variant. In the maximum version, it would rise to 32 billion crowns, as it accounts for the construction of buildings costing 29 billion crowns. However, according to Dostálová, it is "sheer nonsense" for the state to build new offices for all officials. "We will not build new offices. The state is already paying for office rentals in municipalities; it pays four billion annually for that service, and just the rent today costs 360 million crowns," she noted. According to her, the actual costs for the Ministry of the Interior are 2.7 billion and for MMR, 2.2 billion crowns.

According to the new building law, a two-tier permitting system should be established in the Czech Republic, led by the Supreme Building Office, under which regional building authorities will be created, with branches in municipalities. Currently, there are 730 building authorities in the Czech Republic. The new system, according to Dostálová, will eliminate a large number of stamps and establish clear and enforceable deadlines.