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New technical conditions for buildings are being prepared in Poland. The draft regulation will introduce changes affecting construction, building permits and technical requirements.

On 20 September this year, by virtue of Article 66 of the Act of 19 July 2019 on ensuring accessibility for persons with special needs, part of the implementing regulations to the Act of 7 July 1994 – the Construction Law (C.L.) – is due to expire, including the most important regulation for the construction industry, namely the Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure of 12 April 2002 on the technical conditions to be met by buildings and their location (Journal of Laws of 2022, item 1225) – “the Regulation”. In connection with the above, the Government Legislation Centre is preparing a draft new Regulation of the Minister of Finance and Economy on the technical conditions to be met by buildings and their location and the technical conditions for the use of residential buildings (the Draft), the latest amendments to which were published in July this year. Work on the Draft appears to be considerably delayed; it is to be hoped, however, that the new regulation will be issued before the current one expires, since otherwise even a brief absence of applicable technical conditions for buildings would cause enormous problems in designing buildings and obtaining building permits.

The Draft, which is to replace the Regulation that has been in force (with amendments) for over 20 years, introduces new requirements and solutions in the areas of building accessibility for persons with special needs, energy efficiency, fire safety, photovoltaic systems and energy storage systems, and also regulates the rules for the use of residential buildings. Below, we present selected directions and areas of the new regulations introduced by the Draft that appear to be particularly significant.

Application of new requirements primarily to the altered part of a building

The provisions of the current Regulation provide for specific solutions in respect of vertical extensions, horizontal extensions, reconstruction and change of use of existing structures, including the possibility of meeting requirements in an alternative manner on the basis of a duly agreed technical expert opinion.

The Draft establishes that, in such cases of alteration to existing structures, the new technical conditions will in principle apply only to those parts of such structures covered by the planned investment. This is a welcome clarification, which should eliminate the risk of authorities demanding that the entire existing building be brought into compliance with the new technical requirements when only a limited alteration is being carried out.

At the same time, the Draft abandons the existing mechanism of alternative compliance with requirements on the basis of an expert opinion. In the case of challenging building adaptations, this may significantly reduce design flexibility and increase the importance of applying the formal derogation from technical construction regulations under Article 9 of the Construction Law. For investors, this may potentially mean longer procedures and greater administrative risk, particularly in the case of existing structures with an unusual design or function.

Accessibility of buildings for persons with special needs

The Draft significantly expands the accessibility requirements for buildings for persons with special needs (people with disabilities). It provides, among other things, for mandatory lifts in newly designed public utility buildings and collective residential buildings with at least two storeys. It also introduces a minimum proportion of residential dwellings accessible to people with disabilities in multi-family buildings with more than four dwellings.

Accessible dwellings are to meet additional requirements relating to, among other things, manoeuvring areas, thresholds, passage widths and bathroom fittings.

New dwellings are therefore to be more accessible, including for older persons and persons with special needs. From a developer’s perspective, however, this will mean a restriction on the freedom to design floor plans, a likely reduction in the net saleable area of buildings, and the need to coordinate architectural, structural and installation decisions at an earlier stage.

In smaller public utility buildings, the obligation to install lifts will be particularly significant in terms of cost. The associated costs will encompass not only the purchase of passenger lifts themselves, but also the construction of lift shafts, their power supply, technical supervision and servicing.

Fire safety: greater flexibility in solutions

The Draft comprehensively updates the fire safety conditions, also in respect of façades, roofs, photovoltaic installations and energy storage systems. The direction of the regulation is justified by the growing scale of use of electrical devices and new energy technologies, which is resulting – alongside other factors – in a growing number of fires in recent times.

Some of the new requirements have, however, been framed functionally, through an obligation to limit the spread of fire, without a closed catalogue of permissible solutions. This allows technologies suited to the needs of a given structure to be applied, but may give rise to disputes between investors, designers, fire safety experts, authorities and contractors as to the adequacy of a specific solution.

Investors should therefore engage a fire safety expert at an early stage of design and document the basis for the fire safety solutions adopted. A late change to fire safety assumptions may result in costly revisions to the structure, installations, the division of the building into fire compartments, or the location of evacuation routes within the building.

Sunlight exposure and playgrounds

The provisions of the Draft on required sunlight exposure maintain specific solutions for inner-city development, while also clarifying the derogation relating to single-room dwellings. The absence of the required sunlight exposure period is to be permissible in the case of a single-room dwelling with a floor area of less than 35 m², provided that the window area is increased. Outside inner-city development areas, the proportion of such dwellings may not exceed 10% of the total number of dwellings in the building.

The above change may significantly affect the configuration of dwellings and the massing of the building. It is intended to limit the design of larger dwellings that are formally classified as single-room units, which could be divided after sale into rooms that do not meet sunlight requirements.

The Draft includes new requirements for playgrounds, specifying their minimum area depending on the number of dwellings, and also regulates the conditions for the location, division, enclosure, fittings, sunlight exposure and provision of shade at playgrounds and recreational areas. This will increase the safety and comfort of use, including during periods of extreme heat; however, on intensively built-up plots it may reduce the area available for buildings, circulation routes and the commercial parts of the development.

Restrictions on building emissions

The current provisions base the energy assessment of buildings primarily on the thermal performance of the building envelope and the maximum non-renewable primary energy demand indicator (EP). The new provisions of the Draft develop this system by introducing a zero-emission building standard, CO₂ emission limits, EP values tightened from 1 January 2030, and requirements regarding energy sources used, building automation systems and overheating mitigation.

The practical effect of the new provisions will be the need to select the energy model for the building at an earlier stage. The availability of a district heating network, the possibility of using Renewable Energy Sources (RES), heat pumps, photovoltaic systems, energy storage systems and control systems will all need to be analysed at the concept and budget stage of the investment.

As a result, upfront costs will increase and the design process will become dependent on the availability of energy and installation infrastructure; prices are consequently likely to rise, while end users should benefit from lower operating costs and greater resilience of new buildings to the anticipated changes in climatic conditions.

Energy storage systems

The current Regulation does not contain comprehensive provisions for energy storage systems. The Draft, by contrast, introduces detailed requirements for Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) with a capacity exceeding 2 kWh. These requirements depend on the capacity of the given BESS and cover, among other things, a battery management system (BMS), an emergency cut-off switch, location, ventilation, gas detection, fire separation and access for emergency services.

The total capacity of energy storage systems in a single fire compartment of a building not designated exclusively for BESS shall in principle not exceed 600 kWh. More stringent safeguards are provided for storage systems exceeding successive capacity thresholds.

The new provisions should increase safety and reduce the current inconsistency in practice regarding energy storage systems, albeit probably at greater cost.

Rules for the use of residential buildings

A novelty is the inclusion within the same regulation of not only the technical conditions for buildings and their location, but also the technical conditions for the use of residential buildings. The new regulations concern, among other things, common areas, evacuation routes, technical rooms and the use of ventilation, water, gas, electrical, lightning protection and telecommunications installations.

For investors, this will result in the need to prepare operational documentation before the building is handed over for use. For residents’ associations, owners and building managers, the new provisions may constitute a more direct basis for inspections, recommendations and liability for improper use.

Transitional provisions

Furthermore, after the new regulation enters into force, the existing provisions will apply to construction projects in respect of which, before the date of its entry into force:

1. an application for a building permit, an application for a separate decision approving the site development plan or the architectural and construction design, or an application for an amendment to a building permit has been submitted;
2. a decision granting a building permit or a separate decision approving the site development plan or the architectural and construction design has been issued;
3. a construction notification or a notification of other works has been made in cases where a building permit is not required;
4. an application for the regularization of unauthorized construction has been submitted or an order for the suspension of construction works has been issued under Article 50, paragraph 1 of the C.L.; or
5. a regularization decision has been issued pursuant to Article 49, paragraph 4 of the C.L., or decisions pursuant to Article 51, paragraph 4 of the C.L.

In such cases, it will, however, be permissible to apply the new provisions if the investor submits a request to the authority conducting the proceedings for their application. An exception applies in respect of the new provisions on residential dwellings adapted for people with disabilities, which will not apply only to those buildings for which, before the date of entry into force of the new regulation, a building permit has been issued or a construction notification has been submitted to which the authority has not raised an objection; consequently, the mere prior submission of an application or construction notification will not be sufficient in this regard.

Summary

The new technical conditions should improve accessibility for persons with special needs, fire safety and the energy performance of buildings, as well as bringing order to the application of new technologies. The cost will, however, be a wider scope of necessary analyses, higher design and construction costs, and the need to make technical decisions at an earlier stage.

The greatest impact on the market will be made by the new accessibility requirements – including the obligation to install lifts and the rules on sunlight exposure and the location of recreational areas, which together affect the development capacity of building plots and the net saleable area of buildings – the zero-emission standard and the expanded fire safety conditions, which also translate into specific investment costs, as well as the abandonment of the simplified expert opinion mechanism for existing buildings. For the success of an investment, proper legal and technical coordination at the concept stage – rather than only at the advanced design and building permit stage – will be essential.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Status of legislative work as of 4 August 2026.