Issue of building permits at one place within 40 days - Parliament to discuss new Law on Planning and Construction in autumn

Instead of having 20 meetings with administrative authorities, investors will go to only one window. Instead of 279 days, the permitting process will take maximum 40 days to complete. We will find out this autumn if these are only empty promises or the state will really do something to solve this big problem. Namely, Construction Minister Velimir Ilic has announced that a new Law on Planning and Construction will be adopted this fall.

- The new Law on Planning and Construction is ready. The only thing left for us to do is to agree on the issues of conversion and restitution with other members of the ruling coalition. We expect the Serbian parliament to adopt this law at its autumn session - Ilic said at an event where the US Agency for International Development (USAID) presented a draft of the Concept of the Reform of Construction Permitting Process in Serbia.

The minister noted that the new law provided the faster issue of building permits at a single window.

- We`ve accepted all the advice from the USAID, businessmen, expert organizations. The initial permit will be free of charge, which is opposed by local self-governments. It is necessary to get support from the cities and municipalities that should reform their obsolete administration – Ilic pointed out and added that legalization was covered by an act other than the Law on Planning and Construction.

Primary obstacles to an efficient issue of building permits are unresolved property relations, a lack or low quality of planning documentation, a poor state of the register of available infrastructure, and the fact that big authorizations are given to a series of poorly controlled public companies and other public agencies lacking interest in making the construction permitting process more efficient.

At aforementioned event, Milos Zivkovic, docent at the Belgrade Faculty of Law and a consultant to the USAID Business Enabling Project, presented a guide to the simplification of the construction permitting process in Serbia.

(Milos Zivkovic, Velimir Ilic, Michael Kirby)

He pointed out that it was necessary to transfer technical tasks and processes from administrative authorities and public utility companies to licensed engineers who would have to be insured against professional liability.

- It is necessary to use information technology to ensure the transparency and control of activities in the public sector as well as to make communication between investors and administration easier - Zivkovic stressed.

US Ambassador Michael Kirby pointed to the need for easier issuing of building permits in Serbia.

As he said, the more steps in the construction permitting process, the bigger the chances that those involved in the process will ask for a bribe.

According to the World Bank's Doing Business study, Serbia ranks 175th out of the 183 countries in construction permitting efficiency. Velimir Ilic expects our country to jump 100 places after the announced reform.

For an integral version of the draft of the Concept of the Reform of Construction Permitting Process,