Legislators recommended that the government approve the construction law after amendments

Prague – The Legislative Council of the Government (LRV) recommended today that the cabinet approve the revised wording of the proposed new building law, which was submitted to it by the Ministry for Regional Development (MMR). A condition is its revision based on the comments raised by the LRV. The Council, which discussed the law on Thursday and today, stated this on its website. The Minister for Regional Development, Klára Dostálová, stated today that the MMR received a preliminary advisory opinion from the LRV regarding the law.

According to the ministry, the formal and final conclusion of the council will only be known after the chairwoman of the council, Minister of Justice Marie Benešová (for ANO), signs the opinion, and it is entered into the system of the legislative process electronic library eKlep. According to information from ČTK, Benešová could sign the opinion next week.

"After a very extensive debate, which included discussions on terminology and definitions of key terms, the position of the affected parties in the preparation of spatial planning documentation, the issue of judicial review, the institution of planning agreements, the issue of compensation for changes in the territory, or adjustments to the conditions for additional building permits, the LRV concluded to recommend the government approve the revised wording of the proposed new building law and the related revised wording of the accompanying amendment law, provided they are amended in line with the comments raised by the council," the LRV stated today on its website.

At the end of June, the council returned the draft to the MMR for amendments. The spokesperson for the office, Vilém Frček, stated last week that the ministry expects the government to discuss the draft law by the end of August. The Chamber of Deputies should assess the law in its first reading at the turn of September and October, he added. Today, the ministry stated that there were no significant conceptual changes to the wording of the law, and most amendments were more about technical matters and legal clarifications to ensure the law functions as effectively as possible in practice. The new building law is expected to be valid in 2021, with its effectiveness gradually coming into force by mid-2023.

"We believe that the final verdict will be positive and that after incorporating the council's comments, the building law will be able to move to the government. For now, we can only take pleasure in the preliminary advisory opinion and the council's statement that we have done a great deal of work on the law," stated Dostálová today. "We realize how much our country needs the new building law for economic recovery and to maintain competitiveness. It’s simply not possible to wait an average of 13 years for a building permit for a highway and for an apartment building in Prague, which takes more than five years to approve," she added.

Government legislators returned the draft to the ministry in June "for further work on certain institutions and procedural and other amendments that could not be resolved or specifically formulated during the discussion." According to Dostálová's earlier statements, the problem of current building legislation lies in the fragmentation of regulations and building authorities, with nearly 20 types of building proceedings and ten types of various approval processes existing.

According to the proposal, after its approval, one administrative proceeding should be sufficient, and the entire building permit process will be managed by one building authority. The entire process is to be digitized. Those not integrated into the so-called one-stop approval system are expected to remain only partially heritage protectors, specifically for cultural and national monuments and heritage reserves.

According to representatives of business chambers and unions, the law, after incorporating comments, has diverged from its original form and is likely to significantly worsen the situation in construction instead of simplifying it. The original draft of the norm also faced numerous criticisms. The most common criticism was that it favored developers and did not protect public interests. The Association of Local Authorities (SMS ČR) stated this week that the law would abolish most building authorities in municipalities and lead to a drain of experts who have so far handled specialized building agendas there.

"Although there are also many positive proposals in the new draft, such as a fundamental restriction on the malpractice of granting retroactive permits for illegal buildings, municipalities fundamentally disagree with the abolition of more than 400 of the current 700 building authorities. We cannot agree with this reduction because it will undoubtedly decrease the availability of this agenda for citizens. Moreover, the new large districts of building authorities will not be known to officials at all, especially in cases where the area is almost as large as the former district," said SMS ČR chairman Stanislav Polčák (STAN).

According to the director of the development company Rostislav Petchenko, the changes proposed by the law are sufficient to improve the current situation in the construction market. "However, only on the condition that they will actually work. Even currently, under the condition of adhering to mandatory deadlines, the permitting process does not have to be so burdensome, yet these deadlines are not met. Often, inadequate staffing of the authorities is also a problem," he added.