Building authorities have few officials, delays are imminent

Prague - Czech building authorities continue to face a significant shortage of officials, with only one person working at 108 out of 701 offices. This can lead to violations of administrative deadlines. Urban planning is also significantly understaffed at the Central Bohemian regional office. This is according to the Analysis of the State in the Field of Urban Planning and Building Regulations, which the government approved last Wednesday and which is available to ČTK.
    "Across the Czech Republic, there are 108 building authorities staffed by only one employee. This situation is problematic in terms of both the quality and efficiency of work, as well as the complete lack of substitutability," warns the analysis commissioned by the Ministry for Regional Development (MMR). Officials at these offices must handle all the administrative tasks arising from the building code on their own. "They are therefore significantly overloaded, which can lead, for instance, to violations of administrative deadlines," the analysis states.
    The problem also concerns 12 municipalities with extended competence, where administrative activities in the area of urban planning or building regulations are also performed by only one person.
    According to the analysis, the Central Bohemian regional office is also significantly understaffed, with one official dealing with urban planning activities responsible for more than 127 municipalities. The national average, meanwhile, is around 44 municipalities per full-time position.
    "The capacity of the Central Bohemian regional office does not correspond to the real situation and is clearly undervalued compared to other largest regions," the analysis points out, noting that the understaffing of this office does not allow it to perform the functions of the superior authority for urban planning. "At the same time, it does not enable necessary strategic solutions to the spatial connections between the City of Prague and the Central Bohemian Region, particularly in the field of public transport and technical infrastructure of national significance," the analysis states.
    Although the material highlights serious problems, its task was not to propose solutions. The purpose of the analysis was reportedly to identify the existing problems, their extent, and significance. The report also suggests a certain helplessness to address these issues.
    "According to current legislation, regional offices and MMR do not have the capability to effectively influence the integration of building authorities in municipal offices and urban planning authorities in municipal offices of municipalities with extended competence, that is, to influence the number of full-time positions designated for performing delegated powers in the field of urban planning and building regulations, which would correspond to the amount of financial resources allocated for the delegated performance of this state administration," the submission report asserts. According to it, it is thus not possible to control whether the financial contribution for the delegated performance of state administration is actually used for these purposes.