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The government has prepared the most important executive regulation governing the design, location, and use of protective structures, which will determine how shelters and hideouts must be built and equipped in Poland. Part 1 of our analysis focuses on resistance categories of protective structures as well as the technical conditions for their location and use. These regulations will directly affect public authorities, developers, architects, and investors preparing construction projects from 2026 onwards.

1. Protective structures and the obligation to build them (Act on Civil Protection & Defence)

On 1 January 2025 the “Act of 5 December 2024 on Civil Protection and Civil Defence” (henceforth “the Act“) entered into force, imposing new obligations on the competent public authorities (civil protection authorities, “CP“) but also on investors, property developers, architects, and builders regarding the creation and maintenance of so-called collective protection facilities (“CPF“), meant to protect the population against threats resulting from natural disasters, acts of terror, or military operations. The Act divides CPF into the following categories:

a) protective structures, of which there are two types:

• shelters – enclosed and hermetic structures that protect against most threats;
• hideouts – structures that are not hermetic and protect only against some potential threats; and

b) places of emergency shelter – structures (or parts thereof) that do not meet the requirements for a protective structure, but are adapted to temporarily shelter people or protect them from certain threats.

For the private sector, of the greatest practical importance is Article 93 of the Act, which introduces the obligation to build protective structures within certain public utility buildings. According to Article 93, protective structures have to be built within those public utility buildings in which this is both justified by the need to provide a place of shelter for people, and possible given the technical and structural solutions present in the building, and in particular the presence of at least one underground storey, although the obligation may be waived in certain circumstances. The concept of public utility building is a very broad one and takes in basically all retail buildings, office buildings, sports buildings, tourism and travel buildings, etc. The criteria for determining whether a public utility building has to include a protective structure or not are specified in the “Regulation of the Council of Ministers of 31 July 2025 on detailed conditions for designating public utility buildings as ones in which a protective structure has to be provided”, discussed in the previous article in this series. The obligation to build a protective structure will apply to new public utility buildings, i.e. ones for which the building permit application (or another relevant application or notification) was submitted after 31 December 2025 (Article 206 of the Act.)

2. Act outlines scope of technical conditions, delegates specifics to a regulation

Article 92 of the Act states that CPF facilities, including protective structures, should be designed and erected in a way that ensures compliance with technical and building regulations issued on the basis of the Construction Law, as well as with “technical conditions, technical conditions of use, and technical conditions of location whose fulfilment is necessary to perform the function of a CPF.”

The Act explains that:

(a) Technical conditions include, in particular, appropriate strength, fire safety solutions, ventilation, evacuation solutions, energy and water supply, sewage disposal, and other solutions aimed at ensuring the survival of persons in the protective structure.

(b) Technical conditions of location include, in particular, distance from other structures.

(c)  Technical conditions of use include, in particular, capacity and equipment. (The term seems unfortunate, because the capacity of a protective structure, i.e. the maximum number of people who can stay in it with safe conditions, belongs to the sphere of technical conditions rather than technical conditions of use.)

Article 92 also states that protective structures should be designed, so far as possible, as dual-use facilities, i.e. in a way that makes it possible for them to  be used according to the needs of their owners or managers in normal times (e.g. to perform commercial functions) while at the same time guaranteeing the performance of protective functions when necessary. This presents certain challenges, as the relevant requirements may be difficult to reconcile.

Under Article 115(1)(1) of the Act, the technical conditions for protective structures, their location, and use referred to in Article 92 are to be laid down “in a regulation issued by the minister competent for internal affairs, in consultation with the minister responsible for construction, planning and spatial development, and housing, and with the minister responsible for transport.” This regulation, which officials have been working on since the beginning of 2025, will therefore serve as a key implementing act concerning protective structures. Until it is adopted, designing and building protective structures – or even making a proper estimate of costs – is impossible.

3. Draft Regulation on technical conditions for protective structures

Officials have now come up with a draft text of this regulation, whose full title is “Regulation of the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration on technical conditions for protective structures and technical conditions for their use and location” (henceforth “Draft Regulation“). It is currently subject to the notification procedure to the European Commission and EU Member States for assessment of compliance with EU law.  At this stage, legislative work is suspended for a period of three months, during which comments and/or detailed opinions may be submitted by the European Commission and EU Member States, as well as EU entrepreneurs. This means that Draft Regulation may still be subject to some changes, and that its official announcement, and entry into force (“14 days from announcement”) will probably not take place earlier than February 2026, causing a corresponding delay in the preparation of new construction projects, including new public utility buildings, that must include protective structures.

Nevertheless, any changes are unlikely to be fundamental, justifying discussion of Draft Regulation at this stage. Due to its extensiveness, however, we have divided the discussion into two articles. In the present one, we discuss so-called resistance categories of protective structures, the technical conditions for their location, and the technical conditions for their use. The (more extensive) technical conditions for the design and construction of protective structures will be the focus of Part 2.

4. Resistance categories of protective structures

Draft Regulation divides protective structures into several resistance categories, depending on the mechanical strength of their structure and the threats they can protect against. The resistance category of a protective structure is the level of protection that it is assumed to offer against harmful influences and loads, including impact factors such as the effects of an explosion (including shockwave or shock), gamma radiation, or biological contamination, which determines the protective functions that it can perform. There are a total of six resistance categories of hideouts and shelters:

1) category U-1 hideout – protects against debris, falling elements of the structure and equipment of the building, fragments of ammunition, including bombs, projectiles and grenades, and fire from small-calibre weapons (up to 11.43 mm);

2) category U-2 hideout – protects against the above-mentioned threats, as well as against penetrating gamma radiation from radioactive fallout (at least 100-fold attenuation of this radiation);

3) category U-3 hideout – protects against the above-mentioned threats, as well as against the impact of an explosion of a force specified in Draft Regulation and other specified dynamic factors of destruction;

4) category S-1 shelter – protects against all the threats that a category U-3 hideout does, but offers protection against the impact of bigger explosions, and protects 10 times better against gamma radiation (1,000-fold attenuation of radiation) than a category U-3 hideout, and additionally protects against the effects of a shock of a certain strength, the effects of a fire in the building in which it is located or a long-term fire in the area, as well as – being a hermetic structure – against contamination from biological, chemical, or radioactive agents;

5) category S-2 shelter – must be an underground shelter, has the same protective functions as a category S-1 shelter, but protects against bigger explosions and protects better against gamma radiation than a category S-1 shelter (1,500-fold attenuation);

6) category S-3 shelter – also an underground shelter, performs the same protective functions as a category S-2 shelter, but protects against bigger explosions than a category S-2 shelter.

5. Technical conditions for the location of protective structures

Draft Regulation lays down two main conditions for the location of protective structures: (1) proximity to places of residence of the population to be protected –  in terms of the maximum permitted distance between a protective structure and these places of residence, counted from the entrance to the structure, taking into account the known routes of movement of people, and (2) distance from potentially dangerous objects – in terms of the minimum required distance from tanks containing oil, other fuels, and liquefied natural gas; pipelines and gas pipelines; water, sewage, and heating network pipes; and power grid cables.

The criterion of proximity to places of residence of the population to be protected is meant to ensure adequate coverage of a given area with protective structures, so that a certain proportion of its population, as specified by the local CP authority, can take refuge in them in a situation of danger (as a rule, at least 25% of the population in urban areas and at least 15% in rural areas). For this reason, the maximum permitted distance is 500 metres in urban areas and 1,000 metres in rural areas, with longer distances allowed where places of residence are in areas of special flood hazard or exposed to flooding in the event of damage or destruction to water dams and similar structures.

As for distance from dangerous objects, Appendix 2 to Draft Regulation specifies the minimum required distances from various types of dangerous objects for different categories of protective structures.

In terms of construction, protective structures may be located in the following ways: (1) completely below ground level (required for category S-2 and S-3 shelters), (2) partially below ground level (provided that a covering or backfilling is ensured so that a layer of soil at least 0.7 m thick is maintained on the ceiling of the protective structure), (3) built into the underground floor or the first above-ground floor of a building, or (4) built as a detached building. Draft Regulation also lays down detailed requirements for the protection of protective structures against flooding in areas of special flood hazard or exposed to flooding in the event of damage or destruction to water dams or similar structures, as well as against rainwater and groundwater.

6. Technical conditions for the use of protective structures – in Draft Regulation and in Regulation on Operation

The owners of protective structures have responsibility for their proper use, including their protection against devastation and theft, as well as against access by third parties to the technical installations that enable the protective function to be performed. Detailed conditions of use of a given protective structure and its owner’s responsibilities in this regard are specified in the agreement concluded between the local CP authority and the owner (Article 87 of the Act), or in the administrative decision designating a construction as a protective structure (Article 88).

Draft Regulation sets technical conditions of use of protective structures, including their required equipment, as well as conditions of operation, servicing, and maintenance. In this respect, Draft Regulation complements an already-issued “Regulation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration on the preparation of  a collective protection facility for use, detailed conditions for the operation of protective structures, maintaining order within them, and their necessary equipment” (Journal of Laws 2025, item 933), hereinafter referred to as “Regulation on Operation“. For this reason, it is worth comparing the technical requirements resulting from both of these acts.

According to Draft Regulation, a protective structure has to be used in a manner that ensures, among other things: (1) compliance with fire safety requirements; (2) maintenance of proper technical condition of the protective structure, including its protection and encapsulation surfaces, installations and equipment; (3) maintenance of proper hygienic and sanitary condition.

Draft Regulation requires that a protective structure be equipped with devices: (1) for detecting and measuring concentrations of oxide and carbon dioxide in the air – electronic indicators; (2) for measuring air temperature and humidity – a thermohygrograph; (3) for listening to messages about threats as part of a threat notification, warning and alarm system – a radio receiver with the possibility of connecting an external antenna and another receiver of messages or communication system. Depending on the specific character, purpose, and resistance category of the protective structure, it can also be equipped with control and measurement devices used to measure: (1) overpressure – differential pressure gauges; (2) radioactive contamination – dosimetric instruments; (3) chemical contamination – chemical detection instruments or chemical contamination alarms.

Regulation on Operation, meanwhile, lists the following as the necessary equipment of a protective structure (among other things): (1) resting-place equipment (beds, blankets, mats, etc.); (2) first aid kits or a stock of essential medical supplies; (3) radios and means of communication, including radiophones and mobile phones, megaphones or other sound equipment; (4) flashlights; (5) disinfectants and personal hygiene products; (6) garbage bags; (7) fire extinguishers; (8) equipment for opening doors or for clearing debris from buried exits and for short-term repair of damage; (9) a supply of water (a minimum of 3 litres per person per day) and food; (10) equipment for the disabled such as ramps, stretchers, evacuation chairs; (11) protective wear to protect against contamination, including masks, gloves, and clothing; (12) other kit necessary to maintain the proper operation of the protective structure’s equipment.

The conditions of use of protective structures laid down in Draft Regulation are formulated based on the assumption that protective structures are dual-use facilities, i.e. are used according to the needs of their owners or managers (e.g. for commercial purposes) in normal circumstances, but can perform protective functions in the event of a threat. Thus, different rules of use apply in the so-called normal period, during which the structure is not used for the protection of the public; in the readiness-for-use period; and in the protection period, during which the structure performs its protective functions.

Even in the normal period, the following elements cannot be dismantled: (1) approaches and installations necessary to restore the structure’s protective functions, e.g. air intakes; (2) elements of backup exits and protection and encapsulation surfaces, e.g. protective closures.

In the normal period, Draft Regulation introduces the requirement to constantly ventilate the structure and keep humidity below 80%. Regarding day-to-day technical servicing of the structure, Draft Regulation requires the following activities to be performed at least once a month in the readiness-for-use period and as needed in the normal period: (1) inspect the technical condition of the structure’s elements and equipment, recommending for replacement or renovation where necessary; (2) periodically start up the equipment, measure temperature and humidity, check the hygienic and sanitary condition and ventilation; (3) keep a servicing log for equipment. Maintenance activities, i.e. activities designed to keep the protective structure in proper technical condition, are to be performed as needed and include the following (1) protection of construction elements, installations, and equipment against excessive wear and corrosion; (2) minor repairs and removal of defects; and (3) periodic replacement of installation and equipment parts in accordance with the operating manuals and documentation. In these matters, there is a clear overlap between Draft Regulation (§ 63 and 64) and Regulation on Operation (§ 4), but the latter’s requirements are more detailed and include, in addition to the above, also renovation and repair activities, assessment of the tightness of shelter structure, maintenance in working order, cleaning and disinfection of water tanks, and replacement of the water and fuel supplies, all of which should be performed at least once a year.