The new Building Act: What will it bring to companies?

The new Building Act has the ambition to significantly speed up permitting processes and save companies both time and costs. It introduces the principle of „one entity, one statement“ in order to avoid duplicate proceedings, and a fiction of consent, which is meant to ensure that authorities will not artificially drag out processes. What advantages and risks does it bring in practice? How to prepare for it? We sought answers to these questions at the APZD professional seminar with experts from Poláček & Partners, who specialise in construction legislation.

The issuance of building permits has long been complicated, lengthy and administratively demanding in Slovakia. The new Building Act, which comes into force on 1 April 2025, is meant to simplify this process. „From the implementation of the new Building Act we expect a fundamental simplification of the individual processes and an acceleration of the permitting processes for individual constructions,“ says APZD vice-president Pavol Kováčik.

The adopted legislation has real potential to shorten the time needed to obtain a building permit, which in practice can save up to half the time compared with the current state. „This will help to considerably accelerate construction investments in Slovakia and thus significantly contribute to the growth of the economy,“ adds Kováčik.

One of the main measures meant to contribute to this is the unification of duplicate proceedings, which will save valuable time. „The principle is being introduced that each entity comments on the project only once,“ he explains.

The readiness of the authorities in question

Another fundamental change is the introduction of the fiction of consent, which is meant to create pressure on the authorities to decide within the set deadlines and not to postpone permitting processes without reason.

„We see a certain risk in the readiness and speed of adaptation of the affected officials of the state and public administration to the new processes and their willingness to fully use the new possibilities of the construction legislation,“ Kováčik points out.

He emphasises that the new Building Act is in line with European standards, as well as in line with environmental standards.

How will the changes affect companies?

Every change in legislation brings new opportunities as well as challenges. Companies need to know how to use the new rules to their advantage, what to watch out for and what may pose a risk. So that our members would not have to seek the answers themselves and would be prepared for the changes in time, we organised a professional seminar with experts on construction legislation from the law firm Poláček & Partners.

Practical advice and a lively discussion

Almost 80 representatives of member companies took part in the seminar. In the discussion full of practical questions and concrete cases from practice, Šimon Hudák and Roland Hogh explained how not to get lost in the legislative changes but to use them to one's advantage.In a human way and to the point. Exactly as companies need it.

More professional seminars coming soon

In addition to construction legislation, we are also preparing seminars on other topics important for companies and their everyday operation. Our goal is to bring current information first-hand and to help you to better orient yourself in the areas that affect your business.

Source: APZD