The government is reintroducing the building permit as the primary approval from the state or municipality for construction, replacing the “construction notification” system used over the past seven years. Applicants must now receive a response to their building permit request within a maximum of 30 days, reports Vijesti.
These are the main changes proposed in the Law on the Construction of Buildings, which has been submitted to parliamentary procedure. In addition, municipalities will regain the authority to issue building permits for structures up to 3,000 square meters, procedures for constructing individual family homes will be simplified, and the licensing of professionals, technical standards, and participation of EU citizens in design and supervision will be aligned with EU standards and directives.
The proposed Law on Spatial Planning has also been submitted to parliament. The most significant change is that the government will establish a state-level company to prepare planning documents, while one or more municipalities may establish companies to prepare local planning documents within their territories. This partially restores the authority of local governments over spatial planning, which was centralized at the national level seven years ago. Previously, investors often requested plan amendments and financed their preparation, while private firms drew up the construction plans.
The Ministry believes that the areas of spatial planning and building construction need significant reform and constant improvement, in order to create conditions that encourage entrepreneurial initiatives, attract both foreign and domestic investment, ensure quality construction and proper land use, and ultimately support the comprehensive development of the country.
“The existing legal solutions have not provided the expected contribution to ease of doing business, efficiency, or simplicity of administrative procedures,” the Ministry’s explanatory note emphasizes, according to Vijesti.
The building permit will return as the main requirement for construction and will be issued within 30 days as an administrative act, subject to administrative and judicial protection. For hotels, tourist resorts, public-interest buildings, and projects over 3,000 square meters, the permit will be issued by the Ministry, while for all other buildings it will be issued by local municipalities. The building permit will only be issued based on the main project, and a technical inspection will be mandatory for all buildings except single-family homes. For family residential buildings, the procedure will be simplified: a revision of technical documentation, expert supervision, and technical inspection will no longer be mandatory, replaced by a statement from the designer that the project complies with the law and professional standards, along with a statement from the builder confirming that the construction was carried out according to the building permit, main project, and is suitable for use.
They believe that the areas of spatial planning and building construction need significant reform and continuous improvement, in order to create conditions that encourage entrepreneurial initiatives, attract both foreign and domestic investment, ensure quality construction and proper land use, and ultimately promote the comprehensive development of the country.
“The existing legal solutions have not provided the expected contribution to ease of doing business, efficiency, or simplicity of administrative procedures,” the explanatory note states, according to Vijesti.
The building permit will return as the main requirement for construction and will be issued within 30 days as an administrative act, subject to administrative and judicial protection. For hotels and tourist resorts, public-interest buildings, and projects over 3,000 square meters, the building permit will be issued by the Ministry, while for all other buildings it will be issued by local municipalities. The permit will be issued only based on the main project, and a technical inspection will be mandatory for all buildings except single-family homes. For family residential buildings, the procedure will be simplified: a revision of technical documentation, expert supervision, and technical inspection will no longer be mandatory, and it will suffice for the designer to issue a statement that the project has been prepared in accordance with the law and professional standards, together with a statement from the builder confirming that the building was constructed in accordance with the building permit, the main project, and is suitable for use.
In the explanatory note of the proposed Law on Spatial Planning, the Ministry states that previous solutions have led to the degradation of space, while the new proposals are aligned with European directives.
“Numerous changes that have occurred in the overall development of Montenegro have been accompanied by consequences that directly affected space, bringing with them many very complex problems and conflicts, thereby creating difficult or even restrictive conditions for the country’s further development. Despite the fact that this activity has a special social and state interest, in practice it does not; there are still tendencies to treat its outputs entirely as commodities, which, among other things, has led to its current degradation,” the explanatory note states.
The solution to these problems and the introduction of European standards are planned through decentralization of spatial planning tasks, institutionalization of the preparation of planning documents (through state and municipal enterprises), reduction of administrative procedures in implementing planning documents (through the creation of a Geoportal for urban-technical conditions), and the establishment of higher-quality inspection oversight…
Public consultations will be longer and more transparent
A significant novelty in the proposed Law on Spatial Planning is that the institute of public consultation on planning documents will now be elevated, giving the public much greater rights.
Public consultations will now last at least 30 days, instead of the previous 15.
“The drafter is obliged, depending on the scope and complexity of the planning document, to organize one or more public presentations of the draft planning document, in order to explain the proposed planning solutions to the interested public. During these presentations, the drafter must provide preliminary answers to questions, opinions, proposals, and suggestions submitted by the public,” the law states.
The report on the public consultation must be completed within 30 days. The drafter must also provide this report to the plan’s reviewer for approval. The report must contain detailed responses to all submitted comments.
Previously, it often happened that after the public consultation, the drafter almost completely changed the plan compared to the version presented publicly. Now, it is stipulated that if the revised draft planning document differs significantly from the version presented during the public consultation, a new public consultation must be organized.
