One of the major changes introduced by the September amendment to the Construction Law was to streamline the regulations regarding the legalization of unauthorized construction. Although the regulations in force until September 18, 2020, provided for two different procedures for the legalization of unauthorized construction, due to their similarity, the legislator decided to standardize these procedures and create a model procedure for the legalization of unauthorized construction, as well as a so-called simplified procedure for the legalization of unauthorized construction, permissible under specific conditions. Today's alert addresses these introductory issues.
It should be noted that the provisions of construction law do not define the concept of "unlawful construction." Therefore, this concept has been defined by legal doctrine and case law. Currently, according to the narrow definition, unlawful construction occurs when work is carried out:
1) without first obtaining a building permit;
2) without submitting a notification;
3) in the event of commencement or continuation of construction despite the building administration authority having lodged an objection to the notification;
Unlawful construction can also occur when work is carried out in a manner inconsistent with the building permit obtained or in a manner other than that specified in the submitted notification. In fact, many cases require individual assessment.
Most often, the problem of illegal construction concerns buildings that have already been built and their construction process took place without conducting the appropriate procedure required by construction law (initiated as a result of an application for a building permit or notification of the intention to carry out construction works).
Of course, the legal consequences are far more burdensome when the nature of the construction work, carried out under unauthorized construction, requires obtaining an administrative decision (such as a building permit) rather than merely notifying the intention to carry it out. Notification is generally reserved for construction works that are inherently less invasive. In most cases, the consequence of conducting construction work in a manner inconsistent with the regulations will be the issuance of a decision by the authority to suspend construction work or a decision ordering the demolition of a building that has already been constructed.
In order to encourage entities to conduct construction work in a manner prescribed by law before commencing construction, the possibility of legalizing unauthorized construction is treated as exceptional and can be accomplished under strict conditions stipulated by the Building Law. Importantly, legalization of unauthorized construction is possible upon payment of a so-called legalization fee, which is determined by the construction administration body during the legalization process.
Therefore, the procedure for legalising illegal construction comes down to the construction administration body carrying out a procedure in the course of which the party's goal is to bring the completed construction works into compliance with the law, so that the body can issue a decision as a result of which the illegally constructed structure will become a legal structure.
We'd like to dedicate our October "Tuesday Mornings for Construction Workers" to addressing the legalization of unauthorized construction. We invite you to follow our alerts, where we'll provide an overview of the legalization process for unauthorized construction, including the simplified legalization of unauthorized construction, the issue of lack of consent from the heritage conservator, and provide practical examples.
This alert is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
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