Amendment of the Construction Law is favorable. An important change of “yellow card”

On June 10, the government adopted a draft act amending the construction law (so -called deregulation project). KPMG LAW experts assess that the adopted solutions are beneficial and can contribute to the decarbonization of the economy, although they also indicate some deficiencies and errors in the project.

On June 10, the government adopted a draft act amending the Construction Law and some other acts (so -called deregulation project). The new regulations were proposed by the Minister of Development and Technology.

In the government's opinion, the amendment to the construction law is not only a reduction in formalities, but also shortening the time needed to implement both public and private investments. This translates into a real benefit – reduction of investment costs.

“The solutions adopted in the Deregulation Act should generally be considered as favorable and heading in the expected direction of simplification and acceleration of the investment process. The adopted changes will affect, among others, the implementation of investments in the energy sector and – hopefully – will contribute to the decarbonization of the economy” – wrote Joanna Grajecka, legal advisor, real estate and construction investment practice in the PAP. Aleksandra Kolenda, legal advisor, consulting practice for the energy industry, KPMG Law.

According to experts, from the point of view of the energy industry, it is important that building permits will no longer require the installation of technical devices on building facilities with masts used to generate electricity from wind with a power of not more than 50 kW (i.e. micro -installation power) with a height of 3 to 12 m, and those up to 3 m high – they will not even require notification.

Similarly, it will not require notification to install electricity warehouses with a nominal capacity of not more than 20 kWh, which – as indicated in the justification – may constitute a functional part of photovoltaic installations and have a beneficial effect on the stability of the country's energy system.

“From the point of view of the implementation of larger investments, it is important to clarify that it does not require a building permit or notification to install additional cables in existing (used) networks and technological channels. This issue sometimes raised doubts of the authorities, adversely affecting the efficiency of the investment process” – wrote Joanna Grajecka and Aleksander Kolenda.

In their opinion, a very important change is the introduction of the so -called “Yellow Cards”, i.e. the investor from the building supervision authority of the instruction on the need to bring construction to the state of compliance with the building permit, project documentation or law.

According to the proposed change, the investor may receive the above instructions before initiating formal proceedings pursuant to art. 50-51 of the Construction Law.

“The institution of the yellow card will be used primarily in the case of significant withdrawal from the design documentation. During the construction process, it happens that the change qualified by the designer as irrelevant is considered by the building supervision authority to be a significant change, requiring a change in the building permit” – wrote in the commentary.

After the amendment enters into force, the investor will be able to receive instructions as a warning of the supervisory authority about the qualification of the change and remove its effects.

“It seems reasonable that the investor can, also after receiving the instruction, submit an application for a replacement permit. Unfortunately, the amendment does not grant the investor such entitlement, which reduces the benefits of the new institution” – wrote KPMG Law experts.

“In addition, as a disadvantage of the adopted solution, too short, 60 -day deadline can be indicated to the compliance of works and support the decision of the supervisory authority as to the instruction on administrative recognition, according to which the supervisory authority is not obliged to apply the institution of a yellow card in each case before initiating the proceedings for bringing works to a state of law,” added Joanna Grajecka and Aleksandra Kornand.

Extension of the so -called Simplified legalization proceedings are to allow the legalization of building objects, when at least 10 years have passed since the completion of construction works. This will facilitate the process for older investments that do not meet some formal requirements.

The amendment assumes extending the deadline for the obligatory use of the electronic construction log until December 31, 2034 (previously it was December 31, 2029). According to the amendment, the owners and managers of building facilities who have so far kept the books of a building in the paper version will be required to switch to the electronic version by December 31, 2034.

Changes also include facilitations for farmers who will be able to build rainwater and melt water tanks up to 30 cubic meters as a complement to farm buildings on existing habitat plots without having to develop a construction design (without the need for a building permit). The new regulations will allow you to build tanks faster, which will contribute to easier access to the “My Water” program and EU funds, including the common agricultural policy.

In the same way, they include the construction of pools and ponds. Installations up to 50 square meters can be implemented without a notification, including with individual recreation buildings, and pools up to 15 m2 and stitches up to 10m2 in family allotment gardens. (PAP Biznes)

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