The major amendment to the building law is pending approval

Prague - Exemption of land from the agricultural land fund for the construction of transport buildings and energy distribution systems would not require the legally mandated fees to be paid. This is proposed by MP Jan Čechlovský (ODS) in his amendment to the large amendment of the building law, which was discussed today by the Chamber of Deputies in its second reading. MPs are expected to approve the amendment next Friday. The amendment primarily aims to limit the regulation of building permits to the absolutely necessary minimum.
     Čechlovský justifies his proposal, among other reasons, by stating that the level of fees for the removal of land from the agricultural land fund currently lacks justification and instead generates negative consequences. He points out, for example, that in the case of transport infrastructure, it often concerns the construction of cycle paths, where the investors are municipalities, which then bear the burden of these fees in their budgets.
     The Environmental Committee proposed postponing the deadline by which municipalities must have their land use plans from 2015 to 2020. As Václav Mencl (ODS), the committee chairman, stated to ČTK, municipalities are unable to meet this deadline mainly due to a lack of funds. Along with this, the committee's proposal would allow them to carry out certain constructions by 2020 even without a land use plan.
     The second proposal from the committee responds to the increasingly frequent problems with construction quality. The committee has therefore adopted a proposal for a deepening of author's supervision and enhanced expert control activities. "When constructing, the author should have the opportunity to visit the construction site and conduct author supervision and have the ability to make entries in the construction diary, which is not currently enshrined and authors often do not have this option," described Mencl. The committee also proposes that load-bearing structures such as bridges or halls should be checked by experts during their preparation and implementation.
     The Economic Committee, in its recommendation, among other things, proposes that civic associations participating in administrative proceedings under the Nature and Landscape Protection Act should only be able to raise objections regarding nature and landscape protection. If such an association were to appeal for another reason, the authority would have to reject it. Similarly, if the association turned to the court for reasons not related to nature protection, the court would also have to dismiss the lawsuit according to this proposal.
     ODS MP Jaroslav Krupka proposes, among other things, that the Ministry of Justice should be able to issue a regulation that defines the requirements for the construction of facilities for the prison service. Jan Klán (KSČM) proposes to insert into the law that general building authorities ensure the registration of owners and operators of technical infrastructure. He justifies this by stating that some owners of technical infrastructure are not registered with the building authorities, and thus the builder may not be adequately informed. This would reduce their unnecessary costs and eliminate the need to unnecessarily approach certain infrastructure managers, especially network operators.