The Senate will be voting on the construction law on July 1st, rejection or amendments are expected

Prague – The construction law, which the government claims will speed up and simplify the construction process, will be discussed by the Senate on July 1. CTK was informed about this today by the Senate's press secretary Sue Nguyen. It is expected that the controversial regulation, which has raised objections from the opposition, as well as from regions and the Association of Towns and Municipalities, will be rejected or at least amended by the upper chamber.

According to the version approved by the House, all building authorities will fall under the Supreme Building Authority and will be organized similarly to, for example, tax offices. Some opposition members reject this principle, claiming it will paralyze the construction process. The Association of Regions also argues that the chosen adjustment will not accelerate the construction process and will not be effective.

"The construction law would create an office that, in our view, would not speed up the process and would also be expensive and ineffective," said the South Bohemian governor and chair of the Association of Regions Council, Martin Kuba (ODS).

The Ministry for Regional Development hopes that the new rules will ensure compliance with established deadlines. According to the approved form, the Supreme Building Authority will be based in Ostrava, along with a Specialized and Appeal Building Authority, as well as regional building authorities. Regional building authorities will have individual territorial offices and will make decisions in the first instance. Builders will appeal to the appeal building authority, which will also be responsible for approving highways or airports.

The law will differentiate between minor, simple, reserved, and other structures. Their list will be included in an annex to the law. A product that fulfills the function of a building will also be considered a building. Permits will need to be applied for all constructions except for simple ones. Builders will be able to construct minor and simple buildings by themselves, but if they are not technically competent, they will have to arrange for building supervision for certain structures. For residential buildings, they will have to ensure a site manager.

The Developers Association and the Association for Foreign Investments welcomed the approval of the law. The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) stated that the new construction law violates the protection of cultural heritage and international treaties on the protection of monuments.