Civil engineers join forces - demand a solution to the building permit crisis in the legislative emergency
Not only civil engineers are demanding an amendment to the transitional provisions to the new Construction Act (NSZ), which should become a bypass to overcome the current legal uncertainty. According to the Czech Chamber of Authorized Engineers and Technicians Active in Construction (ÄŚKAIT), the Czech Union of Civil Engineers and the SIA - Construction, Engineering, Architecture Association, the amendment should at least partially remedy the problems that affect the entire construction sector and thus the Czech economy due to the unfinished digitalization of construction proceedings, the National Geoportal of Spatial Planning and, above all, due to the legal uncertainty resulting from different interpretations of regulations and decrees on the new Construction Act.
Civil engineers agree that the statutory regulation of transitional provisions that would allow applications for building permits to be submitted in the same scope and content as before 1 July 2024, when the full effect of the National Planning Act came into force, should take place in a state of legislative emergency. "We do not know how else to describe the current situation. The preparation of buildings normally takes several years and cannot be started except under the existing regulations. It is not possible to make a sharp cut and tell many builders to throw away the work they have done and redo everything according to the new decrees that were published in the Collection of Laws just a few days before they came into force," Ing. Robert Ĺ palek, Chairman of ÄŚKAIT. It is not only about the media-monitored functionality of the Builder's Portal or the digitalization of the key tool for spatial planning - the National Geoportal. Significant problems on the part of planners and building authorities are caused by the late adopted decrees to the National Construction Code, which are supposed to enable the implementation of the recodification of the building law.
Engineering associations and organisations are therefore demanding an amendment of the NSZ and some of its implementing decrees. The aim of this step is to allow all constructions, the preparation of which was started before 30 June 2024, to be completed in the transitional period in accordance with the legislation in force before 1 July 2024, including the possibility to submit applications and documentation for the plan permit, to implement and approve these constructions in accordance with the old Building Act and its implementing decrees, i.e. also in paper form (via data boxes). In a state governed by the rule of law, it should not be possible for such substantial changes to the implementing regulations to come into force only a few days after their publication in the Collection of Laws, without a transitional period after their entry into force.
"We are, of course, in favour of the digitisation of construction procedures. A parallel system, whereby we could submit applications, especially to the authorities concerned, in paper form again for a certain period of time, or via data boxes, including project documentation, could certainly save the current situation at least partially. The current stifling at the level of preparation, permitting of building plans and approval of finished buildings has a negative impact on builders and designers. Within a few months, the crisis will affect manufacturers and sellers of building materials, construction and contracting companies and tens of thousands of tradesmen engaged in the construction industry," says Ing. Adam Vokurka, Ph.D., President of the Czech Union of Civil Engineers (ÄŚSSI) and Chairman of the Authorization Board of ÄŚKAIT.
Construction engineers also point out that procedural uncertainty does not only affect the permitting procedure, but also the implementation and approval: from 1 July 2024, it is not possible to approve buildings completed under the previous legislation, but it is possible to approve buildings only under the NSZ. Prolonging the current status quo may jeopardise the implementation deadlines and thus the use of subsidies and funds for a large number of construction projects. The seriousness of the situation is evident from the number of building permits issued. While until June, according to the CSO, an average of about six to seven thousand building permits were issued per month, since 1 July the building authorities have only managed to issue about one thousand decisions through the portal. However, these include land approvals or land divisions, so it is not just building permits that are the accelerator of the entire construction sector. It is likely that some building permits continue to be issued outside the portal, but the CSO has not yet published this data.
The requirement of the civil engineers does not negate the need to digitise the permitting process. CKAIT is very appreciative that there was someone who had the courage to take on this extremely complicated task. "We just want the digitisation of the construction procedure to be completed, but without collapsing the entire industry. We are responding to a situation of legal and procedural uncertainty in which thousands of construction professionals, including public contracting authorities, find themselves. It is not just about the functionality of the portal, but it should mainly save time and reduce deadlines. If it is functional and takes several times longer, it is no use. If, in 2023, there were about 77,000 permitted plans in the country, you can see by simple maths that if it takes an hour longer just to submit an application, that is a total of 38 years of full-time work for one person - that is, one whole working life. But it's not just one hour," says Ing. Radim Loukota, Vice-Chairman of ÄŚKAIT.
Apart from the impossibility of estimating the length of the permitting procedure, which since 1 July has been possible only through the Builder's Portal, it also concerns the relevance of the statements and decisions of the authorities concerned. This changes the conditions of cooperation between builders and authorised designers, who are usually responsible for preparing project documentation and securing building permits.
The approved and current version of the new Construction Act has created a number of cases where, by 30 June 2024, in accordance with the legislation in force at the time, the preparation of construction contracts has been initiated and contractual relations have been concluded, but cannot be completed in accordance with the then applicable regulations, but must be re-tendered or re-drafted, which means extended deadlines and increased costs.
Those builders who, under the previous regulations of the old Building Act, foresaw a two-stage permit procedure and started work on the documentation for the zoning decision (DUR) and the subsequent documentation for the building permit (DSP), but did not manage to apply for a zoning decision or were refused an application for this or a joint permit, must already follow the new decrees from 1 July. Not only will they be able to throw away the work they have done so far to prepare the contract, but they will also have a unique opportunity to experience in practice the problems that other builders will experience a little later. Problems arise in defining what the new implementation documentation should look like, without which, in most cases, construction cannot start after 1 July. There are problems with the approval of previously authorised buildings, which are also suddenly approved under the new legislation. So it is really not just a question of whether the Builder's Portal works, but above all what has to be uploaded to it.
All this and many other practical difficulties are the reason why engineers are calling for an amendment to the transitional provisions. They want to allow all developments that have started under the earlier regulations to be able to complete those developments under those regulations and to submit applications for planning permission both via the Builder's Portal and in parallel in paper (PDF) form or via the data box system.
So you see, how qualified is our government. We need to change it
