In today's article from the series "Tuesday Mornings for the Construction Industry," we present an article about planned changes to the Act of 7 July 1994 – Building Law (" Building Law "). The draft was proposed by the Ministry of Development and Technology in the draft act amending the Building Law and certain other acts (number UD22, hereinafter referred to as the " Draft ") back in February 2024, but in recent days, a version was presented following changes resulting from public consultations. The proposed changes are intended to simplify and accelerate the investment and construction process and reduce the burden on both investors, architectural and construction administration bodies, and construction supervision authorities. This draft also includes regulations regarding the construction of home shelters and temporary shelters, as well as clarification of regulations related to the construction of single-family residential buildings with a building area of up to 70 m².
The most important changes presented in the Project:
1. Regulations regarding the construction of home shelters and temporary shelters:
Enabling the construction of home shelters and temporary hiding places with a usable area of up to 35 m², intended to protect residents of single-family residential buildings in the event of, for example, an armed attack or extreme weather events.
2. Clarification of the regulations regarding the construction of single-family residential buildings with a building area of up to 70 m²:
Explanation of the scope of verification of the notification submitted by the investor and the procedure for handling the notification if it is incomplete or its content does not clearly indicate that it concerns the construction of a single-family residential building with a building area of up to 70 m².
3. Changes in statutory definitions:
It is proposed to introduce, among others, definitions of a multi-family residential building, an outbuilding, a public utility building, a collective housing building and an individual recreation building.
4. Concerning proceedings concerning the commencement and conduct of construction works in violation of the Act
a. Section 6 has been added to Article 50 to extend the scope of application of the so-called simplified legalization procedure referred to in Articles 49f–49i of the Construction Law to significant construction deviations. The primary justification for this change is to introduce an incentive to more quickly adapt existing facilities to a condition that guarantees their safe use, and to eliminate unjustified unequal treatment of property owners in similar situations.
b. Introducing new powers for the construction supervision authority in the form of a warning from the construction supervision authority to the investor, requesting that the investor take appropriate action required by the Construction Law in the event of significant deviations from the design documentation without initiating administrative proceedings in this regard. Currently, such action requires the construction supervision authority to initiate administrative proceedings, which are burdensome for the investor, while the proposed mechanism is intended to enable the investor to correct the irregularities (eliminate the significant deviation) before initiating administrative proceedings against the investor.
Regardless of the applicant’s intentions, the Project presented by the Ministry of Development and Technology largely concerns individual investors planning to start building their own single-family home or developers conducting business activities in the field of single-family construction.
Link to the project: https://legislatka.rcl.gov.pl/projekt/12382501
On April 24, 2025, the Sejm passed an act amending the act on the protection of the rights of purchasers of residential premises or single-family homes and on the Developer Guarantee Fund (the "Amendment"). This amendment requires developers to publish on their websites the general part of their information prospectuses, along with information on: (i) the price per square meter of usable area of each offered residential premises or single-family homes, and the entire property or part thereof, being the subject of the sale; (ii) the price of the accompanying rooms, if not included in the price of the premises; and (iii) other monetary obligations that the purchaser is obligated to provide to the developer under the agreement transferring ownership. Violation of these obligations constitutes a practice that violates the collective interests of consumers and may be the subject of proceedings before the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.
The amendment was submitted to the Senate, which scheduled its consideration at a session on May 14 and 15, 2025.
We would also like to inform you that on April 16, 2025, the President of the Republic of Poland signed the Act of April 4, 2025, amending the Act on Spatial Planning and Development and certain other acts. This is important information for all investors and municipalities, considering, among other things, the postponement of the entry into force of the planning reform by six months. We wrote about the details of the changes in our articles: #243 and #247 .
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Legal status as of May 6, 2025
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