The new building law should be effective in spring 2023

Publisher
ČTK
08.10.2018 16:15

"Officials should have a deadline of 60 days to express their opinions during the construction approval process. If they do not respond by then, it would mean automatic consent," said Minister Dostálová. Photo: https://www.anobudelip.cz/

Prague - The new building law is set to come into effect in spring 2023. This is according to the timeline presented by the Ministry for Regional Development (MMR), which is responsible for preparing the law. At a press conference today, Minister Klára Dostálová (for ANO) and President of the Czech Chamber of Commerce Vladimír Dlouhý announced this. The new law aims to significantly shorten the approval period. As Dostálová stated earlier, the ambition of the MMR is one office, one stamp, one permit. She also wants to create a state building authority.

“The timeline that circulated through the public administration at the beginning of the year indicated that the law could be completed by 2026, with it coming into effect in 2027. Then we got involved together with the MMR and agreed that it needed to be significantly shortened. The timeline has primarily a mobilizing effect. We will see how it goes, but we would like to stick to the timeline,” said Dlouhý. The Chamber of Commerce signed a memorandum on cooperation with the MMR today regarding the preparation of the law.

According to the proposal, the law should be valid in the second quarter of 2022, with its effectiveness to begin a year later. “In terms of the volume of work and impact, it is similar to the Civil Code, which has been in force since 2014,” noted Dlouhý. In the case of the Civil Code, the difference between validity and effectiveness was almost two years.

“We have prepared the basic points that need to be changed. This pertains to both spatial planning and substantive construction law. But also to issues such as the change of the combined model of state administration and local self-government, which poses a significant problem for us in practice. It concerns conflicts of interest and systemic bias. We agreed that the most suitable solution would be to separate this model. That means going down the path of a state building authority,” added Dostálová. She believes this will not only resolve systemic bias but also ensure uniform permitting across all regions. Furthermore, in the event of a shortage of officials when approving a large project, for example in České Budějovice, colleagues from Ostrava could help. This is currently not possible.

Since the beginning of this year, a new amendment to the building law has been in effect in the Czech Republic aimed at simplifying and speeding up the approval process. Dostálová intends to present the material proposal for the new law to the government by October 2019. According to her, it will also be necessary to amend 89 related laws.

Already this autumn, the MMR plans partial adjustments to the building law. “This concerns primarily the fiction of consent to binding opinions. Officials should have a deadline of 60 days to express their opinions during the construction approval process. If they do not respond by then, it would mean automatic consent,” Dostálová further stated. Another important point, according to her, is the creation of spatial planning documentation at the state level, which would allow the government to carry out strategic investments, for example, in transport, the environment, or energy.

“I would not want our actions to be perceived as only supporting those who want to build. We understand that we must open space for all civil society institutions in a democratic country. But the situation has reached a point where it is unacceptable for it to continue. The Czech Republic ranks among the worst countries in the world in terms of the speed of building approvals. This inefficiency creates a barrier to economic growth,” added Dlouhý.

The new building law should be effective in spring 2023

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