Building permit in eight days - What does Bill on Land Design and Development bring?

Building permit in eight days, categorization of facilities, project coordinator, chief city planner, land conversion fee at 80 percent of the land value... These are some of the key novelties in the Bill on Land Design and Development that will be a subject of public discussion by December 12th.

So far, investors have critized the permitting process the most for taking too long. Thanks to the new law, investors will only need to go to one place to apply for the permit instead of meeting 20 times with administrative authorities.

- The idea is to make it possible for investors to get all the necessary documentation at one place. Investors will only need to submit a project for which they require a building permit – said Zoran Livaja, the director of the Office of Emergency Response.

Livaja said at a public discussion in the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) that the Office tasked with coordinating legislative activities would officially start operations as soon as the Law on Land Design and Development was put into effect.

It now takes investors 279 days to get a building permit. However, the Bill on Land Design and Development should shorten that time to 30 days.

(public discussion in the American Chamber of Commerce)

- Building permits for facilities classified as family buildings will have to be issued within eight working days, while all applications for building permits for industrial facilities and other facilities managed by the local self-government will need to be processed within maximum 25 working days. When it comes to facilities managed by ministries, such as hydroelectric power stations, the procedure will remain the same as before – Livaja announced.

Djordje Nikolic, a member of the American Chamber of Commerce, said at the public discussion of the Bill that the categorization of facilities was a positive aspect of the Law as it would allow for simpler permitting process for less complex buildings.

When it comes to the price of building permit, the media earlier cited Construction Minister Velimir Ilic as saying that these permits would be issued free of charge. However, this is not really the case.

- All payments will be postponed until after the building permit is issued, meaning that everything will have to be paid prior to the issue of the Certificate of Occupancy – Borislav Tomasevic, director of the design, consulting and engineering company Sable Trading and the author of The Guide for Investors, says to eKapija.

According to the new law, if the local self-government fails to issue a building permit within one month although all requirements for it to be issued are met, Construction Minister Velimir Ilic will have a right to issue that document and sanction those responsible for the delay.

Conversion of the right to use into the ownership right is one of the key changes in this Bill. All news on this issue can be found HERE.

The new Law on Planning and Construction, which is a more popular name for the Bill on Land Design and Development, should be forwarded to MP's for adoption by the year's end. It has also bee announced that the law will become effective 60 to 90 days upon its adoption.

Suzana Obradovic