The Chamber of Deputies approved a new building law aimed at accelerating the construction process

Prague – The Chamber of Deputies today approved a new building law. It is set to replace the existing law from 2006 and is aimed at speeding up and simplifying the construction process. The Ministry of Regional Development (MMR) hopes, among other things, that it will ensure compliance with set deadlines. The goal of the MMR is also for citizens not to have to visit the office thanks to digitization.

Ninety-two deputies voted in favor of the new law today, while 88 votes were needed. The law was supported by deputies from ANO, SPD, and three Social Democrats. Some Social Democrats voted against the law, as did other deputies. The law withstood a rejection proposal put forward by the Pirates. The law was not supported by deputies from KSČM, who were bothered by the passage of a proposal that removes the requirement for direct lighting and ventilation in residential rooms.

The Chamber approved the law against the original government proposal, stating that all building authorities will be transferred under the state. They will fall under the Supreme Building Authority and will be organized similarly to financial offices, for example. Part of the opposition rejects this principle, claiming that it will cripple the building process. The opposition parties ODS, TOP 09, KDU-ČSL, Pirates, and STAN, which advocated for some offices to remain with municipalities and towns, were unsuccessful.

The law will now be sent to the Senate for discussion. The law is set to take effect from July 1, 2023, but it will be able to start hiring new officials as early as January next year. Minister for Regional Development Klára Dostálová (from ANO) previously stated that between 5,000 and 6,000 people could transition from current building offices to the state administration. According to MMR, officials will lose up to 40 percent of their agenda.

The law will differentiate between small, simple, reserved, and other constructions. Their list will be included in an annex to the law. A construction will also be a product that serves the function of a building. Permits will be required for all constructions except for simple ones. A builder will be able to construct small and simple buildings independently, but if they are not technically qualified themselves, they will need to secure construction supervision for some projects. For residential constructions, they will have to ensure a construction manager, as well as if they are demolishing a building containing asbestos. The law also includes the electronic processing of agendas. For example, applicants will be able to submit documentation electronically through the builder's portal. According to the minister, documents will circulate, not applicants.

For simple constructions, the building authority must decide within 30 days from the day it initiated the proceedings. The building authorities will also include the ministries of defense, interior, and justice, regarding proposals related to their tasks. Municipalities will also be participants in the proceedings on whose territory the proposal is to be implemented.

Minister Dostálová previously stated that the state would not build any new official buildings from scratch. It will try to negotiate with mayors to keep officials where they currently are. However, opposition politicians dispute this. According to them, the offices often do not have enough suitable space.

The government states in the explanatory report that it does not plan to build buildings for employees, but only to rent other spaces, for example, from the Railway Administration, which has about 1,200 station buildings available.

The Ministry of Regional Development ultimately supported a purely state building administration option. It made its way into the law as part of a comprehensive amendment from the parliamentary economic committee, supported by a group of deputies led by Martin Kolovratník (ANO). According to the approved version, a Supreme Building Authority will be established with its seat in Ostrava, along with a Specialized and Appeal Building Authority and regional building authorities. Regional building authorities will then have individual territorial offices and will decide in the first instance. Builders will appeal to the appeal building authority, which will also be responsible for authorizing projects like highways or airports.

Officials could help each other at those offices where multiple proposals would come together. According to the minister, the threat of so-called systemic bias will also be removed, where officials from building offices under municipalities could be accused of bias because they are employees of municipal offices and decide on matters in which the municipality might have an interest.

At building offices, there will need to be at least four people working, for example. The MMR states that currently, 16 percent of offices have only one person working there. It could then happen that due to their illness, the workplace does not function.