This week we have prepared for you issues related to the amendment to the Construction Law related to the abolition of the obligation to obtain the consent of the authority before commencing the investment, i.e. both the obligation to obtain a building permit and to submit a notification .
As we have written, the legislator's primary goal was, among other things, to simplify the investment and construction process and ensure greater stability of decisions made within it. To this end, construction works that do not require approval were divided into construction (Article 29, Section 2 of the Building Law, as amended) and four groups of construction works: reconstruction, renovation, installation, and hardening of the ground surface on building plots (Article 29, Section 4 of the Building Law, as amended).
The list of investments exempt from the requirement to obtain a building permit and submit a notification is relatively long, so among those involving construction, we have selected those that our clients most often contact us about :
- shelters with a building area of up to 50 m2 , situated on a plot on which there is a residential building or intended for residential construction, while the total number of these shelters on the plot may not exceed two per 1000 m2 of the plot area;
- detached gazebos with a building area of up to 35 m2 , while the total number of these structures on the plot may not exceed two per 500 m2 of the plot area;
- allotment gazebos and farm buildings located in the areas of family allotment gardens;
- bus stop and platform shelters;
- single-story buildings with a building area of up to 35 m2 , serving as facilities for the ongoing maintenance of railway lines located on land owned by the State Treasury, with the exception of buildings located in Natura 2000 areas;
- parking spaces for passenger cars up to 10 spaces inclusive, except those located in Natura 2000 areas;
- farm buildings with a building area of up to 35 m2 , with a structure span of no more than 4.80 m, as well as ponds and water reservoirs with a surface area of no more than 500 m2 and a depth of no more than 2 m from the natural ground surface, intended exclusively for forest management purposes and located on forest lands of the State Treasury, except for those located in Natura 2000 areas;
- culverts with a diameter of up to 0.85 m2 as well as culverts with a cross-section of the longest diagonal of up to 0.85 m2 ( which has raised doubts so far);
- home swimming pools and ponds with an area of up to 50 m22;
- ramps intended for disabled people;
- telecommunications cable lines;
- measuring devices, together with fences and internal roads, of the state hydrological and meteorological service and the state hydrogeological service (specified in detail in the regulations);
- fences with a height not exceeding 2.20 m;
- facilities intended for temporary use during construction works, located on the construction site and the positioning of barracks used in the performance of construction works, geological research and geodetic measurements (so far dependent on the interpretation of offices);
- temporary buildings constituting solely exhibition exhibits, not performing any functional purpose, situated in areas designated for this purpose;
- geodetic marks and triangulation objects outside the area of national parks and nature reserves;
- charging points for electric vehicles, excluding charging infrastructure for road public transport;
- ATMs, ticket machines, cash deposit machines, vending machines, parcel storage machines or machines used to perform other types of services with a height of up to 3 m (this point includes parcel lockers, which have not been explicitly regulated so far),
- above-ground tanks that are construction objects, used to store class III liquid fuels, for the user's own needs, with a capacity of up to 5 m33;
- ground terraces for homes with a built-up area of up to 35 m22;
- ponds and water reservoirs with a surface area not exceeding 1000 m2 and a depth not exceeding 3 m, located entirely on agricultural land.
Moving on – in the scope of reconstruction, the catalogue of construction works exempt from the obligation to obtain a building permit and notification includes reconstruction of, among others:
- buildings whose construction requires obtaining a building permit and single-family residential buildings, excluding the reconstruction of external partitions and structural elements;
- facilities such as: sewage treatment plants with a capacity of up to 7.50 m3 per day, cable canals, detached garages and shelters, ground terraces adjacent to houses with a built-up area exceeding 35 m2 ; connections: electricity, water, sewage, gas, heat, telecommunications (with reservations) and those indicated in Article 29, Section 2 of the Construction Law;
- construction equipment.
When carrying out construction work related to renovation, a building permit or notification will not be required in the following cases, among others:
- construction works, excluding renovation of (i) buildings whose construction requires a building permit, (ii) buildings whose construction requires a building permit – in the scope of external partitions or structural elements;
- construction equipment.
In turn, the consent of the authorities for construction works consisting in the installation will not be required in the case of, among others, the installation of:
- gratings on buildings, excluding the installation of gratings on multi-family residential buildings, public buildings and collective housing;
- heat pumps, free-standing solar collectors, photovoltaic devices with an installed electrical capacity of not more than 50 kW (subject to agreement regarding fire protection).
Neither a building permit nor a notification will be required for construction works involving hardening the ground surface on building plots.
The amendment seems to have systematized this issue, but in practice there will certainly be doubts, which we are always ready to help clarify.
We invite you to follow our articles regularly: last week we wrote about the impact of COVID-19 on the Construction Law, and next week we will indicate which works – in accordance with the amended Construction Law – will nevertheless require notification.
This material is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
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