<div>Komora architektů označila stavební zákon za nevyužitou šanci</div> <div>The Chamber of Architects has described the Building Act as an unutilized opportunity</div>

Prague - The submitted version of the draft building law does not bring the necessary reform of the construction law system in the Czech Republic and represents a missed opportunity to address the problems in construction and planning. This was stated by the Czech Chamber of Architects (ČKA) in a press release today. According to the chamber, the draft law, after the comment procedure, does not correspond in structure or content to the substantive intention of the law approved by the government on February 6. The Ministry for Regional Development (MMR) disagrees, stating that the draft of the new building law fully corresponds to the approved substantive intention.

"The main goal of the new building law is to accelerate the approval of buildings, simplify the overgrown administration that accompanies it, and ensure compliance with deadlines by the state. And the current version fulfills this," the ministry responded to the criticism.

The ČKA stated that one of the fundamental goals of the recodification of construction law has not been met, namely sufficient integration of the concerned bodies of state administration. For those not included, expressions remain in the form of binding opinions. "This can only be accepted in the case of heritage care for objects under heritage protection - national cultural monuments and listed immovable monuments, heritage reserves and zones," said ČKA Chairman Jan Kasl.

According to the ministry spokesperson Vilém Frček, the concerned bodies of state administration are fully integrated, except for fire protection and heritage care in objects under heritage protection - national cultural monuments and listed immovable monuments, heritage reserves and zones. "Outside the zones, including in protective zones, which are very broad in the Czech Republic, heritage care has already been integrated into the building authority. Here, experts on heritage protection will continue to defend the interests of protecting historical heritage, newly within the framework of the building authority, which will issue a single integrated stamp for the purposes of building permits," the spokesperson stated.

The ČKA argues that based on an agreement between the prime minister and local governments, municipal offices are to remain in the model of transferred powers. "The transfer of building authorities at all levels under the state building administration has been unnecessarily deformed," Kasl criticizes the draft law. "All negative impacts, for which the state building administration model was created, will thus persist," he adds. According to the ministry spokesperson, several thousand comments were received on the original draft of the law, which could not be completely ignored. "A compromise was therefore sought along with options on how to adjust the proposal to meet as many of the entities involved in the construction process or interested parties as possible," he stated. The biggest change, according to him, is the retention of building authorities at the lowest level in the transferred powers at municipalities. "This is a political agreement reached at the level of the prime minister and the minister of the interior. And of course, MMR respects this agreement," he added.

The ČKA positively assesses the fact that it will be possible to fulfill the intention of digital submission of electronic documentation at the unified Builder's Portal. According to the chamber, a nationwide Geoportal for spatial planning, designed as an agenda information system, will also be beneficial.

The ČKA considers the new building law in its submitted form to be rather another major amendment to the existing building law. "Expectations placed in the new law have not been fulfilled, and a real opportunity for a truly new system of planning and building approvals has been squandered," mentioned ČKA Chairman Jan Kasl.

As a benefit of the draft law, the chamber states that it at least provides for one resulting building permit issued at one of the building authorities in a limited number of proceedings. "Certainly not in a single one, as was the original goal," Kasl noted.