Infrastructure Ministry to revolutionize construction law

The Ministry of Infrastructure is working on new regulations concerning Poland's construction and spatial planning law which are meant to revolutionize the investment process. According to daily Rzeczpospolita, ministry officials intend to radically modify the current law, which is vague and contains numerous loopholes. Work on the proposed modifications are said to be at an advanced stage, with a package of amendments due to be revealed later this month.

One of the most significant changes in the construction law will be the abolition of building permits. According to the new regulations, developers building on plots covered by local spatial development plans will only have to submit an application for their project's registration, an architectural design and a declaration concerning their rights to the land. The relevant officials would then check whether the application and the attached documents meet legal requirements.

"In this way, the complicated and prolonged administrative proceedings that investors currently have to go through will be avoided," Olgierd Dziekoński, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure said.

The Ministry of Infrastructure hopes that the registration process will take no longer than 30 days. Currently, the process of granting a building permit theoretically lasts 65 days, although in practice it may drag on for years. In the ministry's vision, should authorities unduly prolong the registration process, the money from the resulting fine would go directly to the investor.

The streamlining of the permit-granting procedures, however, will be offset by stricter requirements concerning the construction process itself. The new regulations will call for each building site to have its own manager as well as an investment supervision officer.