Experts describe the adoption of the amendment to the building law by the Senate as the only solution.

Prague – Experts interviewed characterize Wednesday's acceptance of the amendment to the construction law by the Senate as the only way out of the current unsustainable situation. However, they remain skeptical about further developments, as they believe that real solutions will only come with the delivery of new functional systems. Representatives of professional groups informed ČTK today. The approved amendment allows for partial use of digitized systems alongside the original ones. Officials and builders have been facing problems with the new systems since their launch in July.

The issues with the systems in September led to the dismissal of then-deputy prime minister for digitization and minister for regional development Ivan Bartoš (Pirates) from the government, followed by his party's shift to the opposition. In October, the government decided to announce a new tender for the digital construction management system. At the same time, it also allowed the temporary use of the original systems alongside those launched this summer, which the amendment is set to formalize. It will now be sent to the president for signing.

The system used by officials needed new capacity that would also allow for work with the original systems, such as VITA and VERA. Builders and designers will be able to submit applications in paper form, but they will still be required to publish documentation on the builder's portal.

"The accepted proposal is not perfect, and undoubtedly all professional and technical groups would envision various adjustments. However, it is necessary to perceive that at that time, it was probably the maximum possible. The expectations of many after the dismissal of Minister Bartoš were exaggerated in this sense and will only be fulfilled by a completely new system," stated Zdeněk Soudný, vice president of the Union of Entrepreneurs in Construction and general secretary of the Developers Association.

"On behalf of the Czech Chamber of Architects, we supported the acceptance of the bypass in the wording approved by the Chamber of Deputies, trusting in the competence of the project team and also because there is no time to prolong the uncertainty stemming from the factually unlawful actions of the authorities, who are trying in good faith to decide correctly and prevent impending damage," said Jan Kasl, the chamber's chairman, to ČTK. He believes there are still many questions to be answered, but he trusts that the professional public will have the opportunity to influence the preparation and 'tuning' of the systems.

The Czech Chamber of Authorized Engineers and Technicians (ČKAIT) and the Chamber of Commerce (HK) positioned themselves significantly more negatively against the acceptance of the amendment. According to ČKAIT, the functional digitized builder's portal promised to be launched by Tuesday, December 10, had not been launched. Only a version was presented that could not be tested, similar to what Bartoš did before the July launch, pointed out the engineers' and technicians' chamber.