Central Bohemian construction authorities have been registering a higher number of applications and inquiries in recent days due to the new Construction Act coming into force in July. A large part of them are coming electronically, yet queues formed directly in some buildings on Monday. Some officials have also criticised the lack of staffing or technology.
According to Pavel Šubrt of the Mladá Boleslav municipality, the situation at the construction office has been critical in recent weeks. The number of new applications submitted to the construction office tripled on Monday and Wednesday, and doubled on other official days. “These are mainly applications for additional permits, verification of passports, approvals according to the old building law, the so-called ‘fifties’, where stricter rules have been newly established,” said Šubrt.
He said the office has been overwhelmed with applications for several years due to insufficient staffing. “As the original staffing of the construction office is still not able to be filled, the issue of processing applications until 30 June 2024 and the increase in the volume of work from 1 July 2024 with the transfer of jurisdiction to the construction offices of municipalities with extended jurisdiction under the new construction law is more than alarming,” Šubrt added.
In Rakovník, after the “ball lightning” action, the premises for the construction department will be enlarged at the municipal office. The city’s investment and property management departments will now start using the renovated premises of the former children’s library, which has been moved to a new building since last year. This will free up office space in the town hall on Husovo náměstí. From August, three new officers will join the newly merged Rakovník Department of Construction and Environment. Now all employees in the construction department are fully occupied, according to the spokeswoman of the Rakovník town hall Kateřina Hradilová, they expected the increased workload at the end of June and therefore planned their holidays for later dates. “The agenda is increasing, people are making inquiries, making phone calls, writing, and the number of applications is growing,” Hradilová said.
According to her, officials have the technology necessary for the functioning of the office under the new code ready, but the programme is only available in a demo version, which does not allow them to try out real tasks.
The water administration office in Říčany near Prague, which is a special construction office, has seen the number of applications increase by more than 100 percent, according to the Czech News Agency. Queues are not forming, most applications are coming in electronically. Most of the applications concern wells, where the fee has increased from CZK 300 to CZK 10,000.
The building office in Cologne has also been registering a greater number of applications for the last 14 days, but according to the town hall spokeswoman Šarka Hrubá, queues are not forming, builders and planners are coming in continuously and a large part of the applications are submitted via a data box or by filing at the office.
Source: CTK
Image: Google Maps
