On 23 January 2020 – exactly a month after it was submitted to the Sejm, and
eight days after its first reading – the lower house of Polish Parliament passed a
government-sponsored package of changes to construction laws. The legislation, titled
“Act Amending the Construction Law and Some Other Acts” (“Act”, “Amendment”), is
now in the Senate, where it is being considered by the Infrastructure Committee.
Among other things, the Amendment alters regulations pertaining to the building
design and the technical design; sets a maximum of five years for declaring a
planning permission or occupancy permit null and void; makes changes to the list
of constructions exempt from the obligation of obtaining planning permission; and
introduces provisions to bolster enforcement of the obligation to connect buildings to
the heating system.
But the changes that have attracted the most attention concern legalization of unlawful
building works. Under existing law, when unlawful building works – i.e., a construction,
or part thereof, that was built or is being built without planning permission (or without
prior notification, in cases where planning permission is not required) – is found, the
competent construction supervision authority orders the demolition of such a building
works or structures.
Under the Amendment, the authority will first issue a suspension order, and give the
owner until 30 days from receipt of the suspension order to apply for legalization. When
such an application is submitted, the authority will officially request the applicant to
submit legalization documents. These will include, amongst others: a certificate of
compliance with the local zoning plan and other local regulations, or (where a local
zoning plan does not exist) compliance with the decision on site development and
management conditions; the building design; the technical design; or (in the case of
constructions exempt from planning permission) the site/plot management design.
If the submitted legalization documents are complete and correct, the authority will
determine a legalization fee, upon payment of which the applicant will receive an
official decision approving the building design or site/plot management design, and
permitting construction to be resumed (if it was still underway upon being found).
Furthermore, and in a truly revolutionary development, the Amendment introduces a
simplified legalization procedure for unlawful building works that are 20 years old or
more. If the submitted legalization documents are complete, and if an expert opinion
is presented stating that the structure in question poses no risk to people and can
be safely occupied, the authority will proceed to legalize it, without charging any fee.
Should no further changes be introduced to the Amendment during the legislative
process, the simplified, and free of charge legalization will be possible for structures
that were 20 years old when the suspension order is issued.
Katarzyna Babicka
Lawyer
Miller, Canfield, W. Babicki, A. Chelchowski i Wspolnicy Sp.k.