By Dr Robert Lewandowski, attorney at law (radca prawny) at Derra, Meyer & Partners in Warsaw
On 1st January 2017 new amendments were introduced to Polish Construction Law and went into force enhancing the legal status of investors within the construction process. The new laws focus on reduction of administrative duties, clarification of issues causing interpretation difficulties and doubts as well as introducing new measures designated to developing and facilitating the construction process. According to the new law, the construction of some facilities will be easier and faster as some construction work will not be subject to any building permits and required notifications. This should apply especially to the following:
(i) building of some facilities in connection with agricultural production and supplementing smallholding sites within existing habitant plot,
(ii) building of a single carport with a maximum area of 35 m²,
(iii) building of exits off national roads and parking bays on these roads – only notification of the planned facilities here will still be required,
(iv) building of exits off county and municipal roads and parking bays on them,
(v) building of home swimming pools with a maximum area of 50m²,
(vi) building of air conditioning installations,
(vii) reconstruction/renovation of buildings whose construction was previously subject to a building permit will be free of any further permits and notification with the exemption of reconstruction/renovation of internal partitions and structural elements.
In addition, the new law also implements regulations with regard to significant deviation from the approved construction design. Alterations as to the change of height, width or length of a construction facility not being linear will no longer be deemed a significant deviation if the deviation does not exceed 2% of the dimensions provided in the construction design and satisfies other conditions (for instance does not increase the scope of the impact area of the construction facility, is not within the range of deviations specified in the building law and does not violate other technical and building statutory provisions). The deviations described above from the approved construction design or any other building permit conditions will no longer require any change to a building permit.
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