On 19.07.2024, a draft law was submitted to the National Assembly, which concerns the amendment and addition of the Spatial development Act (SDA). At the moment, the draft law has not been finally voted on.
The current news represents part two of the report on “Digitalizing activities in urban planning and investment design” (following part one).
Other more important changes in the SDA are the following:
Regarding the Investment Project
The application for approval of an Investment project is submitted in accordance with the Electronic Governance Act by the contracting authority either personally or through an authorized representative. The application for approval of an investment project will now require the submission of a certified electronic copy of a declaration from the contracting authority, containing the cryptographic identifier of the summary electronic document, in cases where the contracting authority has not signed the necessary documents with an electronic signature.
A change is introduced in the text of the Act, which specifies that technical or working investment projects are coordinated and approved by the chief architect of the municipality (district); the regional governor; the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works; and the Minister of Defense, respectively, the Minister of the Interior, the Chairman of the State Agency for National Security, the Chairman of the State Agency for Intelligence, or the Chairman of the State Agency for Technical Operations. The change involves the removal of the coordination requirement for the above bodies, meaning that the aforementioned bodies will only approve the technical or working investment projects.
This change will also affect the existing text of Article 145, Paragraph 2 SDA, which should acquire the following read: “The authority under Paragraph 1 approves the investment project after verifying its compliance with the detailed urban plan and the rules and regulations for the placement of buildings and urban parameters.” A provision will be introduced stipulating that the approved investment project will be delivered to the applicant according to the procedure for serving electronic documents.
Regarding the construction permit
It is also envisaged that the construction permit will be issued as an electronic document.
The authority issuing the construction permit, will notify the bodies of the National Construction Control Directorate about the publication of the issued construction permit as part of an internal electronic administrative service. The notification will include the orders for supplementing the construction permit, along with the approved investment projects, when such are required, and the associated documentation will be included in the Unified Public Register.
Regarding the renewal of the Construction Permit, it is stipulated that the renewal is an administrative service, with the renewal act issued as an electronic document, notified to the concerned parties, and published in the Unified Public Register on territorial development for the construction permit.
Regarding Amendments to the Approved Investment Project After the Issuance of the Construction Permit
It is foreseen that after the issuance of the construction permit, changes to the approved investment project, concerning significant deviations, may be made at the request of the contracting authority, accompanied by notarized consent from the interested parties, based on the approved investment project tied to the issued construction permit. These changes will be reflected in an order to supplement the issued construction permit and must be authorized before their implementation. The supplementary order will be issued as an electronic document, notified to the interested parties, and published in the Unified Public Register related to the construction permit. The supplementary order does not extend the deadline for starting or completing the construction.
Other previsions
It is stipulated that the original construction permit will be stored indefinitely, and the provision specifying that the original must be kept in the archive of the municipal (district) administration will be removed.
The provision in Article 155, Paragraph 2 of the SDA, which states that for technical infrastructure projects, the original construction permit is stored by the authority that issued it, and copies are sent for observance and storage in the respective municipal (district) administration, will be removed. Paragraph 3 of the same provision will be amended to the following: “The approved investment project is published in the Unified Public Register linked to the construction permit.”
