It's the first Tuesday of the month, so traditionally we invite you to a summary of changes in the law.
1. The draft amendment to the Construction Law has been submitted to the Sejm
On June 1, the draft act on the Construction Law, whose introduction was announced as early as December 2022, was submitted to the Sejm. Therefore, its proceedings in Parliament have begun, and the bill itself has already been referred for first reading in the Infrastructure Committee.
The proposed act includes changes including the introduction of a single, nationwide system for comprehensive management of the investment and construction process: the System for Handling Administrative Proceedings in Construction (SOPAB). We wrote more about the system in articles #140 and #141 .
The proposed law also introduces changes regarding the construction of single-family buildings with a built-up area exceeding 70 m² . According to the proposed amendment, a building permit will not be required, but a notification will be required for detached, two-story single-family residential buildings with a built-up area exceeding 70 m² , whose impact area is entirely within the plot or plots on which they were designed, and the construction will be carried out to meet the investor's own housing needs.
The Act also envisages changes to construction completion notifications and occupancy permit decisions. We will discuss this topic in more detail once the changes are adopted by the Sejm.
2. End of the epidemic threat
Pursuant to the regulation of the Minister of Health, the state of epidemic threat caused by COVID-19 was lifted in Poland on July 1, 2023. Lifting the state of epidemic threat has many consequences in various aspects, including tax ( link ), for employers ( link ) and debtors ( link ), but also in Construction Law.
The end of the state of epidemic threat results in the end of Article 31zy(1) of the Act of 2 March 2020 on special solutions related to the prevention, counteraction and combating of COVID-19, other infectious diseases and crisis situations caused by them, according to which during the period of an epidemic threat or state of epidemic declared due to COVID-19, the provisions of Article 55 paragraph 1 points 1 and 3 of the Building Law do not apply , and applications for occupancy permits submitted before the date of entry into force of the COVID Act are treated as notification of completion of construction. However, changes in this respect are already being processed in the Sejm, as mentioned above.
3. Changes to the Development Act – prohibition of assignment
On July 16, 2023, amendments to the Act of May 20, 2021, on the protection of the rights of purchasers of residential premises or single-family houses and on the Developer Guarantee Fund ("Developer Act") will enter into force.
On that date, regulations will come into force stipulating that receivables arising from a reservation agreement , and that such a transfer is invalid—that is, regulations prohibiting the assignment of agreements. This does not apply if the reserving party transfers receivables arising from a reservation agreement to a person classified in tax group I or II under the Inheritance and Gift Tax Act.
There will also be changes to the ability to assign development agreements . A buyer who is a party to a development agreement referred to in Art. 2, Section 1, Points 2, 3, or 5 of the Development Act will be able to transfer receivables arising from that agreement to a third party if: (i) the agreement covers more than one residential unit or a single-family home, together with the land on which it is or is to be built, (ii) within the three years preceding the transfer of these receivables, the buyer has not transferred receivables arising from another development agreement or an agreement referred to in Art. 2, Section 1, Points 2, 3, and 5 of the Development Act. The above rules will not apply if the buyer is making an assignment to a person classified in tax group I or II within the meaning of the Inheritance and Gift Tax Act.
Transferring receivables under a development agreement to a third party in violation of the above conditions will not constitute grounds for invalidating such transfer. In the assignment agreement, the transferor of receivables under the development agreement will be obligated to submit a declaration of compliance with the condition of not assigning another development agreement in the three years preceding the conclusion of the agreement, under penalty of criminal liability for making a false declaration.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Legal status as of July 3, 2023
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