Building permits will be simplified, administrative fees will increase

Prague - The approval of constructions will be simplified. President Václav Klaus today signed an amendment to the building law, which among other things expands the list of cases where no territorial decision or territorial consent is required for construction. CTK informed about this today, stated the president's spokesman Radim Ochvat. The law also increases certain fees.
     The amendment aims primarily to simplify the approval of constructions. For example, it shortens some deadlines in spatial planning and clarifies the procedure for conducting simplified territorial proceedings. According to the lawmakers, it will allow people to comment on draft territorial plans at a stage where it has not been possible before.
     However, the proposal also increases certain administrative fees. A building permit for a residential building with at most three apartments will cost 5000 instead of the current 300 crowns, while building a garage for a maximum of three vehicles will then cost a thousand crowns instead of 300 crowns. The amendment extends the deadline for municipalities to adopt territorial plans from 2015 to 2020. It will thus allow them to build some constructions even without a territorial plan for up to eight years.
     During the approval process, the Senate proposed that the state, rather than municipalities, should pay for the demolition of buildings that threaten their surroundings. This proposal was rejected by the Chamber of Deputies during a subsequent vote.

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