Construction offices continue to criticize the new system, the update has helped only a little

Prague – Building authorities across the Czech Republic continue to criticize the new construction permit system. They call it non-functional. Tuesday's update, according to officials, helped minimally, and most of the shortcomings persist. The process is therefore unduly prolonged. Moreover, officials have to deal with hundreds of applications submitted by the end of June under the old system, ČTK found out.

"It cannot be considered even remotely fully functional, and officials cannot work normally. They are still dealing with situations where, for example, some submitted applications from designers never arrive via the builder's portal," said Vít Heral, spokesperson for the Kladno city hall, to ČTK. In Slaný, they complain that the municipality cannot log into the portal as a municipality, while in Brandýs nad Labem, the system is labeled unreliable.

"When we compare it with the previous system we used and paid for, we were driving like in a Mercedes. Now we have fallen to a pedal tricycle," said Jaromír Kluka, head of the construction office department in Přerov, to ČTK. He pointed out the significant time delays compared to the original state. He identified a major problem, for example, in that the system cannot transfer already inputted data to all processes that officials subsequently create.

Jan Košťál, head of the construction office in Prostějov, admitted that some simple tasks work, such as sending messages to the data mailbox. "However, the basics do not work, namely to initiate the proceedings, notify the participants of the proceedings, and then issue a decision," he noted. In Nový Bor, they are losing faith that the new system will be fine-tuned. According to the spokesperson for the local city hall, Radmila Pokorná, practically nothing has changed after the update. "The portal often does not work at all or has slow response times and contains grammatical errors," she stated.

Filip Poňuchálek, spokesperson for the Brno city hall, stated that every update is beneficial; despite this, officials are reporting a large number of problems. A long-standing issue is the lack of templates for individual procedures or lengthy data entry in the application. "We still perceive the construction permit information system as unfinished and not facilitating work," said Poňuchálek. According to Karel Mozola, head of the construction office in Vyškov, the update resolved part of the issues; however, most remain.

Similarly, representatives of Prague's building authorities see it. The system has improved, but it remains practically non-functional. For example, one cannot view files online, or important templates that help automatically fill out documents are missing. In Plzeň, they complain that attachments cannot be uploaded, which prevents the process from continuing. Such a problem exists elsewhere as well. "The system is unpredictable, it fails in completing intermediate steps. For example, documents could not be uploaded; often, documents that were uploaded earlier cannot be retrieved," stated Radka Janová, head of the construction department in Rokycany.

Staff at the construction office in Kroměříž are facing significant issues with the system. "During the system update on August 2, the ministry managed to set access for the head of the construction office in such a way that the head cannot assign a new application for processing and cannot sign outgoing correspondence," said city hall spokesperson Jan Vondrášek to ČTK. As a result, officials have not processed anything in the new system so far. "Only the ministry can fix it, and despite repeated warnings, it is not responding," added Vondrášek. Aneta Hrdličková, spokesperson for the Jihlava city hall, told ČTK that the previous updates are always just minor adjustments that do not significantly ease the work.

"The construction office is struggling with the new system as best as it can, but it does not work. It is very problematic. Currently, we are verifying whether it is possible to operate legally in the original system so that we can process applications at all," said Marcela Jandová, spokesperson for the Turnov city hall in the Czech Paradise, to ČTK.

Workers in the construction department in Františkovy Lázně, Cheb region, are very dissatisfied. Its head, Roman Macko, sent an open letter to the Minister for Regional Development, Ivan Bartoš (Pirates). "You are putting us in a position where we are forced to use a non-functional tool, and this under the new construction law, where deadlines for processing applications are quite strictly set and where we can be held accountable for improper official procedures," describes Macko. According to him, one cannot even reliably log into the system.

Persistent problems are also confirmed in Hradec Králové. "For example, it is not possible for the processing referent or the department head to sign documents; the system does not reflect the organizational structure of the office; in the case of sent documents, it is not clear whether they have been dispatched by mail," said Kateřina Rohlíčková, spokesperson for the Hradec city hall, to ČTK.

According to her, officials primarily focus on applications from builders submitted by June 30. There are hundreds of such applications at the building authorities, and the staff is overwhelmed by them. "Currently, the main problem is the number of applications submitted before June 30, which we are unable to process in time, leading to delays. If the law were not changed, these applications would come in continuously throughout the year. As it stands, over 600 have piled up here," said Michal Švarc, spokesperson for Sokolov, to ČTK.

Workers in building authorities have been complaining about the non-functionality of the new system since its launch on July 1. Minister Bartoš stated on social network X today that the Ministry of Regional Development has resolved many problematic issues with the suppliers of updates. He also admitted that the ministry has "a lot to catch up on" in email responses to officials' inquiries. Therefore, he has strengthened the technical support team.