The capital city of Prague - Prague's building regulations, which have been surrounded by disputes and heated discussions for several months, are expected to receive notification from the European Commission by the end of February. This was stated by Mayor Adriana Krnáčová (ANO) at today's Žofín Forum on the development of the metropolis. According to her, the approval process by the Commission is proceeding smoothly. They are set to come into effect this year.
Prague has had its own building regulations as the only city in the country for over 100 years. The regulations are an implementation of the building law and govern construction in the city. At the end of 2014 and in the past year, the new regulations prepared by then-Mayor Tomáš Hudeček became a political topic over which the Prague coalition also clashed.
Ultimately, the effectiveness of the material was suspended for 15 months due to complaints from the Ministry for Regional Development last January. Following a competence dispute between the mayor and her then-deputy Matěj Stropnický (SZ/Trojkoalice), the city council approved a new version of the regulations in October and sent it for consultation to the Ministry and subsequently for approval to the European Commission.
The discussion surrounding the regulations was triggered by a billboard lobby that disagreed with the advertising regulation brought by the original regulations. According to the Czech Chamber of Authorized Engineers and Technicians (ČKAIT), the metropolis does not need its own regulations. A high-quality national standard with modifications for heritage-protected objects is sufficient. Developers argue that the absence of their own regulations will complicate construction.