AFTER nine years in preparation, the Slovak government approved the bill on territorial planning and construction, known simply as the construction bill, on March 18. Now the bill is awaiting action by parliament in order to become valid in July 2010, the SITA newswire wrote.
The new legislation simplifies the process of granting construction licenses, thereby reducing the amount of red tape in construction. For example, after the bill becomes effective, construction of housing units or recreational buildings with up to 150 square metres of built-up area will only require notice to the local construction office and not a construction license as it is now. In the case of even simpler constructions, the builder will not even have to notify the office of the intention to build.
The new bill also increases sanctions for illegal constructions, unapproved removal of historical monuments and other unlawful activities and the upper limit of fines for business entities has more than doubled from its current level to €350,000. A novelty is that if a certain illegal activity is repeated within one year, the fine might be doubled.
