Engineers Chamber: The Builder's Portal is still not functional after more than half a year

Prague – The builder's portal, which builders and designers use to submit requests for permits, has not been functional for more than half a year. According to the Czech Chamber of Authorized Engineers and Technicians (ČKAIT), the approval process for construction has not accelerated, and construction in the Czech Republic is paralyzed. The chamber stated this in a press release available to ČTK. On Monday, a new version of the system was set up at selected building offices, connecting the original functional systems with digital ones, which officials had difficulties with. Although the chamber considers this a correct step, this so-called technological bypass does not address the issues with the builder's portal. It has errors that can completely prevent builders and designers from submitting requests.

The chamber indicated that the new corrected version of the builder's portal was supposed to be fully operational by December 10 of last year. However, only a testing version with added functionalities, which ČKAIT could not preview in advance, was presented to the public and senators, who approved the sixth amendment to the new construction law on December 12. According to the chamber, lawmakers decided, contrary to previous public promises, to adopt the proposed so-called narrow bypass, which mainly affects the ISSŘ and therefore the work of officials.

"We do not know how we stand as builders with new applications. The system does not provide information about the process. On the contrary, it shows requests from other builders or redirects requests to completely different authorities," said ČKAIT Chairman Robert Špalek.

Since December, builders and designers have the option to submit requests in written form, for example via data boxes. However, they still have to publish project documentation on the builder's portal. According to the chamber, it is not possible to open and annotate the uploaded project documentation online on the builder's portal. Construction offices, concerned authorities, and other participants in the proceedings will receive a link from which they must download the documentation folder, without restrictions on further use or identifying who downloaded the project documentation and when.

"We expect that this procedure will soon become the subject of legal disputes, especially in light of the conflict with the administrative code, which clearly defines the circumstances for inspecting files. Additionally, this creates a significant risk of misappropriation or misuse of the builder's property rights and the designer's intellectual property rights," added Špalek.

The Ministry of Regional Development (MMR) launched a so-called technological bypass for the building process on selected offices on Monday, although it did not publish a list of them. In this new setup, officials will be able to use interlinked original construction management systems with new digital ones. According to ČTK, the new interface has not yet been set up at most construction offices contacted, with Rokycany being an exception.

The pilot version is expected to be in offices for ten days, and all building offices should be able to connect to the interface by early February. According to the MMR, this timeframe is intended to rectify potential shortcomings and obtain feedback from officials. However, the chamber considers the new versions of ISSŘ without prior appropriate testing to be irresponsible.