Documents and Laws in Parliament

The amendment aims at greater transparency and professional independence in the newly centralised construction administration. It introduces a publicly accessible timetable for the work of the Office of Territorial Development for the allocation of cases and mandates that expert assessments under other legislation are carried out by qualified officials without instructions from unqualified supervisors. At the same time, the result of this assessment shall be entered in the record of construction procedures. The crossed-out text shows the modification and refinement of the original proposal, in particular the addition of rules on the work schedule and on the recording of professional conclusions.

The amendment adds to the Building Act an explicit reference to climate change adaptation measures as a public interest. It introduces a new definition of adaptation measures and examples of such measures, such as green and blue infrastructure, vegetated roofs, planting of greenery, retention elements or flood protection measures. At the same time, it changes the purpose of the law and the aims and objectives of spatial planning so that municipalities, regions and authorities must take adaptation of land and buildings into account when making decisions. Compared to the original text, this explicitly extends the emphasis from housing, work and business to climate resilience of the territory.

The amendment extends the scope of minor constructions that do not require a building permit to include certain street and road improvements. In particular, it should be possible to change the road surface without a permit, to raise the level up to 12 cm in certain cases and to install or remove posts, railings or bicycle racks on roads and local roads with a speed of up to 50 km/h, provided they do not interfere with the lane. The aim is to speed up public realm improvements, mainly for villages and towns, without significantly affecting traffic safety or access to neighbouring properties.

The amendment modifies the transitional provisions of the Construction Act so that the new fiction of the consent of the owner of public infrastructure and related rules will not apply until 31 December 2030. The aim is to protect municipalities and public infrastructure from a situation where they fail to respond professionally to construction plans in time due to incomplete digital mapping. The proposal also extends the transition period from 2027 to 2030 and delays the full use of the national geoportal.

The amendment amends Section 181 of the Building Act so that the owner of public transport or technical infrastructure has 60 days to comment on the plan instead of the current 30 days, with the possibility of extension only in certain cases. At the same time, the special option to extend the deadline by 15 days for energy infrastructure is abolished. The proposal responds to the risk that short deadlines would often lead to fictitious consent without conditions, which could jeopardise the capacity and collision of public infrastructure, especially in municipalities.

The amendment modifies the rules of conservation care in the restoration of monuments and properties in conservation areas so that tree modifications are only considered on a limited basis. Only the conservation value of existing trees and the preservation of important view axes are to be assessed, which should facilitate the planting of green areas, particularly in towns. The proposal also reduces the time limits for expert opinions from conservation authorities from 20 to 10 days and from 30 to 20 days, which should speed up the procedures.

The amendment changes the originally intended modification so that minor changes to the draft spatial planning documentation will not be made directly by the founder, but by the designer on his instruction. The aim is to preserve the professional responsibility of the authorised person for the accuracy and consistency of the documentation, without limiting the flexibility for minor modifications. The proposal relates to the rules for the production of spatial planning documentation in the Building Act.

The amendment maintains stricter rules for the preparation of project documentation for simple buildings for housing and family recreation. Compared to the main proposal, the possibility for unauthorised persons to draw up such documentation is not to be extended and the required experience is not to be extended from 3 to 5 years. The aim is to maintain the current system of professional authorisation, particularly for family houses.

The amendment deletes amendment point 538 without replacement. This rejects the proposed possibility to retrospectively retain an unpermitted structure even if it does not meet the technical requirements, if its removal would be unreasonable for the owner. The proposal emphasizes maintaining building discipline and prevents favoring owners of “black buildings” over those who follow the law.

The amendment restores the possibility for the building authority to comment in the preliminary information and in the assessment of the project on the requirements for construction, their use, non-use and exceptions. At the same time, it deletes another amendment point without replacement, so as not to create a conflict where the authority could decide on an exemption but could not assess the technical requirements themselves. The aim is to maintain a full assessment of the compliance of the plan with the law, to protect public interests and the rights of third parties and to avoid disputes in the courts.

The amendment repeals without replacement the amendment to paragraph 432 of the main draft Building Code. This is to prevent the building authority from being able to deviate from the planning documentation only with the consent of the council and possibly the landowner, without proper public involvement. The proposal highlights the risk of abuse and weakening of transparency in construction decision-making.

The amendment narrows the rule that public interests are not to be reassessed in construction proceedings. The new rule should apply only to interests that have already been assessed in the planning documentation, not to those that should have been assessed there. The aim is to avoid confusion and possible abuse of the principle of concentration in permitting procedures.

The amendment extends the Conflict of Interest Act to require public officials to also report the rental of municipal housing. They are now required to state whether they occupy the municipal flat when they take office and during the year, who the landlord is, when the lease commenced or ended and what the monthly rent is, but without disclosing the specific flat. The aim is to strengthen transparency and control potential conflicts of interest in the management of municipal property, using the existing sanctions of the law.

The amendment amends the Funeral Act so that public health and groundwater protection assessments are not transferred to building authorities for crematoria and public burial grounds. It preserves the professional role of regional health stations and water authorities and also removes the exclusion under which the opinion of the water authority was not to be issued in the case of a single environmental opinion. At the same time, it retains the change that compliance with the objectives and tasks of land-use planning is only assessed for public burial grounds if the municipality does not have a land-use plan.

The amendment changes the rule for construction requirements to consider only technical and functional feasibility. It rejects the original approach, which could take into account vaguely defined economic considerations and thereby weaken safety, health and other public requirements for buildings. The aim is to maintain reviewable and legally clear rules for building authorities.

The amendment postpones the entry into force of the entire extensive amendment to the Building Act for one year. At the same time, it postpones the subsequent deadlines for the establishment of new land development offices, the dissolution of existing construction offices, the transition of employees and the operation of transitional information systems, typically from 2026-2028 to 2027-2029 and for some digital obligations until 2031. The justification is based on the need for better preparation of the public administration, budget coverage, impact analyses and reducing the risk of chaos in the implementation of the reform.

The amendment adds new protection from the harmful effects of outdoor lighting to the Nature Conservation Act and links it to the powers of nature conservation authorities and offences. At the same time, it confirms and develops support for pollinators, including protection of their habitats and rules for dealing with non-native bumblebees. The bill also modifies exemptions for critical infrastructure, operational security, and national defense. The strikethrough sections clarify language and responsibilities, for example by replacing some older terms and extending penalties to violations of the new outdoor lighting obligation.

The amendment modifies the aims and objectives of spatial planning in the Building Act in order to strengthen the balance between development, housing, business and the protection of the environment, landscape and territorial values. Compared to the previous proposal, the emphasis is changed from a unilateral development approach to sustainable development and the protection of undevelopable land, green infrastructure and the character of the area is maintained. At the same time, a number of points that would have placed more emphasis on manufacturing, storage, waste, labour and business are removed and related references in the Act are technically corrected.

The amendment deletes the point of the comprehensive amendment which was to delete section 108(4) of the Building Act. This preserves the rule that new buildable areas can only be defined in the course of a zoning plan amendment after the need for them has been demonstrated. The aim is to prevent unjustified expansion of development, to protect the landscape and agricultural land, and to promote the economical and sustainable use of land.

The amendment moves the ban on participation by companies connected to members of the government and heads of central administrative authorities from the Conflict of Interest Act directly to the Public Procurement Act. At the same time, it abolishes the existing Section 4b of the Conflict of Interest Act and now explicitly allows or mandates the exclusion of these contractors and their qualifying subcontractors, including cases of circumvention through trust funds. For selected contracting authorities, the same prohibition applies to small-scale public contracts where the award of such a contract would be void.