The planned Supreme Building Authority will not be established, decided the Chamber

Prague - The planned Supreme Building Authority and the subordinate system of regional authorities will not be established. Their abolition was approved today by the Chamber of Deputies in an amendment to the building law. Building authorities will thus remain under municipalities. Only a Transport and Energy Building Authority subordinate to the Ministry of Transport will be established, which will mainly be responsible for transportation and energy projects. The amendment to the new building law is also designed to speed up and simplify the building process in its approved form. It will now be sent for discussion in the Senate. Afterwards, it will be sent for the president's signature.

A total of 161 deputies from all parliamentary parties, including the opposition, voted for the amendment. No deputy voted against it. The amendment to the building law is expected to come into effect on July 1, 2024, and for designated projects, such as highways or power plants, it should apply from January 1, 2024.

The new building law from 2021, which was pushed through by the then-government of Andrej Babiš (ANO), anticipated the establishment of a state building administration and the transfer of building authorities to the state. It aimed to accelerate the building process mainly through compliance with deadlines. However, the then-opposition parties, which now form the governing coalition, did not like the establishment of a new state authority and decided to abolish it. The amendment preserves the 694 current building authorities in municipalities with the possibility of reducing this number based on construction activity. The coalition agreed on some amendments with the opposition, said Minister for Regional Development Ivan Bartoš (Pirates).

The former opposition parties claimed in the previous electoral period that the planned change would paralyze the building process. The former government, on the other hand, highlighted the substitutability of officials and the emphasis on compliance with deadlines. It was not supposed to happen, for example, that the office would not function due to one official's illness. However, former Minister for Regional Development Klára Dostálová (ANO) reiterated today that this risk will persist at small building authorities.

Bartoš appreciated the agreement between the coalition and the opposition, calling it excellent news for the construction industry. According to him, the ministry will also push for legislative changes related to land-use planning. The coalition collaborated with the opposition on several amendments. "We support this amendment and are pleased that a compromise solution was reached,” said Marie Pošarová on behalf of the opposition SPD club.

Thanks to the amendment, builders could also more easily and quickly obtain building permits. A new process will allow the building authority to directly contact other relevant authorities and obtain their opinions in a so-called coordinated binding statement. This statement will now also include a so-called unified environmental statement (JES) according to a brand-new law. This law was also approved by deputies today, and its effectiveness is proposed from January 1, 2024. In the end, there should be only one stamp for the builder. The building authority could also initiate a discussion with the relevant authorities and the builder if needed.

While approving, the Chamber of Deputies also decided that Plzeň and Liberec will not receive the option to issue their own building regulations. This option will be preserved only for Prague, Brno, and Ostrava. Minister Bartoš also opposed the proposal, arguing for the need to unify legal regulations and the fact that cities can have their regulatory plans. Furthermore, deputies decided that building regulations in these cities should not regulate technical infrastructure projects.

The approved amendment is also expected to allow for the legalization of some illegal constructions. The proposal in this regard was advocated in the public administration committee by STAN MP Eliška Olšáková. According to the MP, this will mainly concern various garden sheds or pergolas, where meeting the conditions can be expected. To legalize a construction, it must comply with the municipality's land-use plan or land-use measures and must also be in accordance with public interests or requirements for public transport and technical infrastructure, among others, she described one of the conditions. Consent from neighbors, for example, will also be necessary.

The Chamber of Deputies approved a proposal from the Economic Committee to include charging stations and gas storage facilities among public infrastructure and facilities serving public needs. It also supported a proposal to facilitate the construction of underground optical public networks. The law is also expected to simplify the establishment of facilities for forest kindergartens in undeveloped areas.