President Pavel signed a law that abolishes the Supreme Construction Authority

Prague - The planned Supreme Building Authority and the associated system of regional building authorities will not be established. The abolition of the purely state building administration in the new building law of 2021 was signed by President Petr Pavel in the government amendment to the building law. This was announced today by the Castle. Building authorities will remain with the municipalities. Only a Transport and Energy Building Authority under the Ministry of Transport will be established, which will mainly be responsible for transportation and energy constructions. The amendment to the new building law is designed to speed up and simplify the building process.

The new building law from 2021, advocated by the then government of Andrej Babiš (ANO), planned the establishment of a state building administration and the transfer of building authorities under the state. It was supposed to speed up building permits mainly by adhering to deadlines. However, the then opposition parties, which now form the government coalition, did not like the establishment of a new state authority and decided to abolish it. The amendment maintains the 694 current building authorities in municipalities, with the possibility of reducing this number according to building activity.

The amendment to the building law is set to take effect on July 1, 2024, while for reserved constructions, such as highways or power plants, it will apply from January 1, 2024.

The Senate's Constitutional and Legal Committee wanted to include a rule in the amendment to ensure that building authorities in municipalities are maintained by law and not only by decree of the Ministry for Regional Development. Minister for Regional Development Ivan Bartoš (Pirates) disagreed with this. Since the senators approved the amendment, they did not further address the mentioned proposal.

Thanks to the amendment, builders may also find it easier and quicker to obtain building permits. This will be facilitated by a process where the building authority will itself contact other affected authorities and obtain their opinions in what is called a coordinated binding statement. This statement will now also include the so-called unified environmental statement (JES) under a completely new law. In the end, there should be only one stamp for the builder. The building authority could also, when necessary, initiate discussions with the affected authorities and the builder.

The approved amendment should also allow for the legalization of some illegal constructions. To legalize a building, it must be in accordance with the municipal zoning plan or territorial measures, and it must also be consistent with public interests or requirements for public transport and technical infrastructure.

If someone appeals against a decision made by the building authority, the superior authority will have to decide. The case will not be returned to a lower level. The building authority will be able, if necessary, to initiate discussions with the affected authorities and the builder, for example, regarding environmental protection. Thus, the builder could be immediately informed of any potential conflict with public interest protection.