The construction industry is facing legislative changes, declared the prime minister

Prague - Czech construction, which is slowly recovering from a long-term crisis, mainly needs changes in legislation. This was agreed upon today by Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (ČSSD) with the President of the Union of Entrepreneurs in Construction in the Czech Republic Václav Matyáš and the Chairman of the Trade Union of Construction of the Czech Republic Stanislav Antoniv.
    "Construction is an important part of the economy and a significant source of employment. It needs budgetary and legislative impulses. The government must focus on reviving investment construction, which is hindered by excessively long building permit processes. Therefore, next year we want to concentrate territorial and construction procedures into one process," stated Sobotka after the meeting with the representatives of builders and construction unions.
    In addition to the planned amendment to the building law, Sobotka considers the change in the law on public procurement to be key, whose first so-called technical amendment has already been sent by the government to the Chamber of Deputies, along with a completely new law on linear constructions, which, among other things, should expedite the purchase of land under constructions of great significance.
    Employers' representative Matyáš emphasized that the current problem is not a lack of money. "In addition to poor legislation, construction is also hampered by instability in state investor organizations," reminded Matyáš of the constant personnel changes in the management of the Directorate of Roads and Highways of the Czech Republic, the Railway Infrastructure Administration, the Directorate of Waterways of the Czech Republic, and the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure.
    According to trade union leader Antoniv, the government should also focus on supporting vocational education, as the average age of professionally trained builders continues to rise. He also urged that public contracts should be awarded only to "decent companies."
    Czech construction has been significantly affected by the economic crisis, losing 443 billion crowns since 2008, which is the turnover for an entire year. According to an analysis of statistical data, 41 larger companies went bankrupt during that time, and up to 50,000 people lost their jobs in the sector. One of the consequences of the crisis is also a significant drop in prices in public construction tenders.