The New Year brings new challenges, of which there will certainly be no shortage in legal matters. Therefore, at the beginning of this year, we want to remind you and present the most important changes related to the construction process that await us in 2021.
We're starting with a change to the regulations from the turn of 2020 and 2021. We'd like to remind you that new rules on building energy efficiency, known as the WT2021 standards, came into effect on December 31, 2020. A regulation introducing transitional provisions was published on Christmas Eve, so we should avoid interpretation issues related to applications submitted by December 30 but not yet processed. In this regard, it's important to remember that buildings will now have to meet more stringent energy efficiency standards. This measure aims to increase the use of environmentally friendly solutions and renewable energy in construction. We discussed the new requirements in more detail in our September .
The digitization of the construction process will undoubtedly continue to advance . New provisions of the Building Law, amended by the Act of December 10, 2020, amending certain acts supporting housing development, will likely come into force in February. This Act was signed by the President on December 18, 2020, but as of the date of this alert's publication, it is still awaiting publication in the Journal of Laws*. This will introduce solutions that provide a legal basis for submitting applications during the construction process electronically. A list of applications that can be submitted electronically can be found in our alert here .
The Act introduces, among other things, a catalog of applications that can be submitted electronically. Some of them can be formally submitted as early as 30 days after the Act's publication. The remaining applications, including building permit applications and construction designs, can be submitted electronically starting July 1, 2021.
Remaining on the topic of the construction design, we would like to remind you that only until September 19, 2021, the investor will be able to submit, together with the application for a building permit, a construction design prepared in accordance with the rules in force before the amendment.
Starting in September of this year, a construction design will consist of three parts : (i) a plot or land development design, (ii) an architectural and construction design, and (iii) a technical design. The number of copies of the construction design required to accompany a building permit application will also be reduced from four to three. A more detailed discussion of the new construction design can be found in our alerts " Construction design after changes " and regarding the technical design .
It's worth remembering this, especially when signing contracts for design work. If you intend to submit an application under the current rules, it must be completed and submitted by September 19, 2021 (and since this day falls on a Sunday, it's best to remember the date: Friday, September 17).
Let's now turn to the planned changes, which have not yet gone through the legislative process. In December 2020, the Sejm passed an act on the settlement of the price of premises or buildings in the price of properties sold from municipal real estate resources, commonly known as the "premises for land" act , as we wrote about in our alert . This act will introduce the possibility of settling the price of real estate purchased by an investor from municipal real estate resources by transferring premises or entire buildings to the municipality. The act will include tools to support investment and meet housing needs through cooperation between local governments and investors. The act has now been submitted to the Senate and is scheduled for consideration at the meeting of the Senate's Local Government and State Administration Committee and the Infrastructure Committee on January 4, 2021. According to the draft, this act is expected to enter into force on April 1, 2021.
We also reviewed projects currently in the legalization process, which can be found on the Government Legislation Center website. At this point, it's worth noting the Ministry of Development, Labor, and Technology's proposed amendments to the Real Estate Management Act . The project's justification states that these amendments are intended to streamline public real estate management mechanisms.
The most important changes proposed in the draft act are: (i) increasing the voivode's oversight of the district governor's management of real estate belonging to the State Treasury's real estate holdings (and) (ii) introducing an additional ground for revocation of a donation of real estate for public purposes, as well as a donation made between the State Treasury and a local government unit, as well as between these units. The draft act plans to add a ground for revocation of a donation, namely the use of real estate for a purpose other than the purpose for which it was donated, particularly in the case of a donation of real estate constituting the real estate holdings of the State Treasury, the voivodeship, or the district, designated in local plans for housing development and for the implementation of related technical infrastructure facilities, transferred to the municipality at its request.
These are certainly not the only regulatory changes that will impact the investment and construction process in 2021. We will be monitoring them and keeping you updated on any new developments.
Meanwhile, we'll be devoting our January alerts to issues not specifically covered by the Building Law but directly impacting the implementation of construction projects. Specifically, we'll address issues related to local development plans. Next week, we'll begin by discussing the place of local plans in legal sources and their relationship to statutes and regulations.
* the Act was published on January 4, 2021.
This alert is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
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