In response to many inquiries, in today's article from the series entitled "Tuesday Mornings for the Construction Industry" we would like to summarize for you the latest amendment to the Act of 20 May 2021 on the protection of the rights of purchasers of residential premises or single-family houses and on the Developer Guarantee Fund ("Amendment" ).
First of all, we would like to remind you that the Amendment will enter into force on 13 February 2026. It will also apply to development projects or investment projects in progress, which means that from that date all reservation, development, commitment and sales agreements will have to be concluded in accordance with the new regulations.
Pursuant to the transitional provisions, the amended provisions do not apply to contracts concluded before 12 February 2026.
As we have already indicated, in accordance with the new Article 5a of the Development Act, in contracts regulated by this Act, including development contracts, sales contracts and reservation contracts, the price of a residential unit or single-family house will have to be determined as the product of the usable area (expressed in m²) and the price per 1 m² of this area .
However, the literal interpretation of the provision is problematic, as it states that usable floor area should be determined in accordance with the Polish Standard for the determination and calculation of surface and cubic capacity indicators in construction, in force on the date of submitting a building permit application or notification of construction for a given premises or house. This stems from the fact that, in practice, the Polish Standard is not applied in isolation from the provisions of construction law, including, in particular, the Regulation of the Minister of Development of September 11, 2020, on the detailed scope and form of a construction design , which in § 20 specifies the principles for calculating the floor area of a building, including premises. Only in areas not regulated by the regulation should the Polish Standard be applied. Therefore, a literal interpretation of the provision leads to the result that, for example, balconies and loggias should be included in the usable floor area of a premises .
However, this was not the intention of the drafters, who wanted to standardize the rules for calculating the standard, not complicate them . Considering the purpose for which the Amendment was passed, it would be advisable to strive to standardize the provisions regarding the usable floor area of residential premises and houses.
The question therefore remains what interpretation principle to adopt and how to implement these regulations so that, on the one hand, they do not violate the law, but on the other, they are clear and transparent for buyers of apartments or single-family homes. If you have any doubts in this regard, please contact us and we will be happy to help you implement changes to the sales documents you currently use.
In summary , although the Amendment consists of only three articles, it has far-reaching consequences for all residential developers, not just those who previously offered space under partition walls. All applicable contract templates should be analyzed, verified, and amended: reservation, development, commitment, and sales agreements, as well as information brochures and apartment cards.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Legal status as of February 2, 2026.
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