Polish Deal – construction of a single-family house up to 70 sqm. with minimum formalities

During the press conference on fundamentals of the Polish Deal programme, the planned changes in legal aspects of single-family construction process were presented. New provisions were inspired by previously introduced solutions concerning construction of a small recreation house and provide construction of a single-family house of a covered area not exceeding 70 sqm. based only on a notification. Building permit, site manager and a construction logbook will not be required any more, which will shorten the whole construction process and limit the investor’s costs. However, it must be remembered that the assumptions of a Polish Deal programme are described in a document with no legal force, which, if accepted, will be translated into acts and ordinances drawn up by the Council of Ministers and their final shape may significantly differ from assumptions already presented.

EXAMPLARY DESIGN OF A SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSE OF A COVERED AREA UP TO 70 SQM

source: extradom.pl

Differences between building permit and a notification

At present, construction of a single-family house based only on notification is legally allowed, but in practice only approx. 1% of all construction investments are conducted that way, as the process of obtaining all administrative agreements is very rigorous and in fact only slightly differ from the process including building permit. Since last year, neither building permit, nor a site manager and a construction logbook is applicable in case of construction of a recreation house or utility building of a covered area not exceeding 35 sqm – it requires only a notification.

The greatest difference in construction under notification compared to construction under building permit relates to the date, when construction works may begin. Building permit is issued within 65 days from the date of the application and then it takes 14 days until the permit becomes final. If the application is incomplete and requires some supplementary documents, the new date is appointed by the permitting authority. Construction under a notification is much faster procedure. If the investor receives no objection within 21 days from the date of submitting a notification, the tacit consent is assumed, which means that the construction works may start immediately.

Construction of a house up to 70 sqm – preliminary assumptions

Construction under a notification does not relieve investor from obligations resulting from the applicable provisions, which include such objectives, as:

• the total usable floor area must not exceed 90 sqm on two storeys;
• one house per every 1000 sqm of a plot;
• the house must be situated 3-4 meters from the plot’s border, depending on whether the wall has or doesn’t have windows and doors and whether there are buildings on the neighbouring plot;
• the investment must be compatible with local spatial plans or development conditions, in accordance with the procedure of a notification with the architectural design.

Simplified procedures will not allow the land use violations by constructing illegal buildings or constructing many buildings on a small plot. Procedure of construction under a notification is planned to be regulated and controlled by the District Construction Supervision Inspectorate (PINB). A notification, compared to building permit, is shorter and less complicated procedure. A notification must be submitted before the date of planned start of construction works. If construction works start with no notification or before the period, when the permitting authority is obliged to process the notification, the building will be considered as illegal and legalization procedure will have to be conducted.

In purpose to simplify the whole procedure, the government plans to provide future investors with the catalogue of free architectural designs of single-family houses of a covered area not exceeding 70 sqm, which will include description of the installations and other necessary facilities.

Changes proposed in the Polish Deal programme may be considered positive by future investors, but they were found alarming by experts, e.g. in terms of proper quality or safety supervision. Houses built under a notification, with no site manager and no construction logbook, will have to comply with certain technical conditions – it will be a responsibility of an investor. The question without answer is also responsibility for consequences of possible defects of workmanship or for construction disaster. Another question refers to information normally included in construction logbook, such as documentation of surveying works, verification of natural ground base for the building’s foundations, confirmation of construction of a safe building, consistent with the architectural design. In experts’ opinion, savings on site manager may result in redundant complications and finally extension of the construction process.

Costs of construction of a house up to 70 sqm

After introducing changes announced in Polish Deal programme, the demand for small single-family houses may increase and therefore construction costs may also increase. At present, cost of finishing the building shell of a house up to 70 sqm ranges from PLN 100 to 2000 thousand. The final cost is obviously influenced by individual preferences of an investor and the complexity of a design. Price of a plot, as well as costs of site connection to the utility networks should also be taken into account. Increases in construction costs related to growing prices of building materials or inflation are already observed. However, despite possible costs increases, construction of a small house may turn out to be an interesting alternative for purchase of a flat in multi-family building, as prices of flats are already very high.

Klaudia Jastrzębska
AMRON III Development Senior Specialist, GIS Analyst