Zeman's expert team supported the shortening of the construction permitting process

Lány - The construction procedure in the new construction law should shorten the so-called fiction of consent in case the office does not respond within 30 days. This was agreed upon today by the expert group of President Miloš Zeman in Lány. This was reported in a press release by the spokesperson for the Castle, Jiří Ovčáček. The legislative proposal for the construction law should be submitted to the Government Legislative Council in mid-April.

The traditional meeting of Zeman's expert group was attended today by the Minister for Regional Development Klára Dostálová (for ANO) and the Chairman of the Union of Towns and Municipalities František Lukl, Ovčáček stated. "The main topic was the amendment to the construction law. The participants of the meeting in Lány supported the shortening of the construction procedure and expressed their agreement that if the office does not raise objections within thirty days, the application should be accepted," he added.

The simplification and acceleration of the construction procedure is to be the main goal of the new law. However, critics argue that it favors developers, denies public interests, such as the protection of nature, and opens up space for corruption. The Environment Commission of the Czech Academy of Sciences is also concerned that the law is de facto being prepared by the entities that are to be regulated by it. The legislative proposal for the new construction law was prepared by the Czech Chamber of Commerce, which includes, among others, large construction and development corporations.

Dostálová expects that the Government Legislative Council might approve the legislative proposal by the end of May. According to the minister, the law should be in effect from February or March 2021. According to the Ministry of Regional Development, the new regulation should shorten the permitting procedure for constructions from the current average of 5.4 years to one year.

According to the new legislation, territorial proceedings, construction proceedings, and environmental impact assessments should be merged into a unified permitting procedure. A Supreme Construction Authority should be established, which will be part of the state administration. The proposal also includes a fiction of consent. It will not be possible to permit a construction retroactively.