The Association of Local Governments welcomes the preservation of building offices in municipalities

Prague - The Association of Local Governments of the Czech Republic (SMS) welcomes the fact that the substantive amendment to the building act approved by the government today preserves building authorities in municipalities. This was stated in a press release sent to ČTK. However, the number of building authorities may decrease in the future based on their evaluation according to performance, which, according to construction law expert Karel Huneš, could bring about the professionalization of decision-making. Members of the platform for a healthy building act, who called for the postponement and revision of the amendment, offer cooperation and hope for the removal of "defects" in the approved amendment. The Chamber of Engineers ČKAIT is again calling for the preservation of uniform building technical regulations.

"We consider this to be a huge success of our long-term efforts to maintain the accessibility of the building process in the territory," stated SMS Chairwoman Eliška Olšáková in a press release. "By issuing a decree that will continuously update the list of building authorities, the system will become more flexible in terms of the creation and dissolution of authorities," added Věra Kovářová, member of the SMS presidency.

The Ministry for Regional Development (MMR) in the amendment abolishes the creation of the Supreme Building Authority approved last year and its subordinate system. Thus, building authorities will remain in municipalities, with one of the proposed variants suggesting a number of 375. The government-approved version anticipates that the system of building authorities will not be determined by law but based on an implementing regulation and decree, maintaining all existing (694). Their list will be updated. The amendment still needs to be discussed by the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate, and signed by the president.

Minister for Regional Development Ivan Bartoš (Pirates) stated today after the government meeting that the government decided to proceed with a performance methodology. This may lead to the abolition of building authorities where there are few performances and their merging. "The decision-making practices of building authorities are currently suffering from significant fragmentation and inconsistency. Reducing the number of building authorities should contribute to the professionalization of decision-making; at the level of larger units, effective setting and enforcement of uniform methodological procedures could occur, resulting in the unification of practices," said Karel Huneš, a construction law specialist, to ČTK.

The amendment to the building act is criticized by the platform for a healthy building act, and its members met with Bartoš and Minister of Transport Martin Kupka (ODS) on Monday. "We understood that the government would not be willing to postpone the material and revise it in response to the submitted suggestions. However, we continue to offer cooperation to remove defects in the proposals," representatives of the Chamber of Commerce, Czech Chamber of Architects, Confederation of Industry and Transport, Confederation of Entrepreneurs in Construction, Association of Developers, City Deal, and Confederation of Employers and Business Associations stated after the meeting.

The Czech Chamber of Authorized Engineers and Technicians Active in Construction (ČKAIT) again calls for the preservation of uniform building technical regulations, about which there is ongoing debate, as cities led by Prague want to have their own regulations. "Part of the architectural and development community confusingly equates the uniform building technical regulations preferred by the European Union with restricting spatial planning, including the placement of buildings. However, no one wants to interfere with this competence of the cities," warns ČKAIT Chairman Robert Špalek.