The digitized building approval process will start this month, according to Minister Bartoš

Prague – The system of digitized building permits is set to launch this August, according to Minister for Regional Development Ivan Bartoš (Pirates). Bartoš stated this today in the Partia Plus program on Prima Television. The minister noted that of the 6000 applications submitted in the new system so far, approximately 64 percent are in progress and about 500 have been decided, with most being occupancy decisions.

"Most of the most important updates are planned for this month," the minister said in response to criticism of malfunctions in the new system that was launched at the beginning of July. He linked this to the fact that other relevant authorities must also engage in the system. However, according to Bartoš, there will not be a situation where, after two months of operation of the new system, buildings that could not have been permitted in regular proceedings would automatically be allowed.

Bartoš rejected the characterization of the situation as a disaster, as assessed by the Vice-Chairman of ANO, Robert Králíček, as the minister's opponent in the debate. Referring to the criticism from builders and the Association of Towns and Municipalities, he said that Bartoš does not have their trust in his ability to manage the situation. "Talking about some disaster after a month of the system's operation is not right," Bartoš said. "The system is already functional now, it has its problems," he added, stating that he would discuss the new system with President Petr Pavel in September.

Minister Bartoš was not clear in his statements regarding how adjusted the system will be from September. He first stated that the system would "fully launch" during August, later saying that the system would "more or less" start this month. Bartoš related the problems of building authorities to the fact that they were flooded with applications that had to be processed under the old system until the end of June.

The Association of Towns and Municipalities wants some essential shortcomings in the digitized building permit systems corrected by Bartoš's ministry by August 20, when representatives of the association are to meet with the minister. The association includes, for example, automated form filling and the identification of participants and parcels. The ministry had earlier promised that in the first half of August, it would add features such as bulk uploading of data about individuals and parcels to the system.

Since the launch of the systems at the beginning of July, city authorities, some builders, and professional chambers and associations have been complaining about problems with electronic building permits. According to some estimates, issues with the digitization of building permits could result in billion-dollar losses. Besides the opposition, even the government partners of the Pirates are pointing out the deficiencies. For example, according to the chairman of the TOP 09 MPs, Jan Jakob, the minister should take personal responsibility if the system is not fixed by the end of August. However, Minister Bartoš has repeatedly stated that he does not consider resigning.