Construction authorities will begin removing dangerous buildings

Where a building suffers from fundamental defects, the construction authority will require that its owner provide for a remedy. If the owner then fails to act, the authority will have to enforce its decision. Although the enforcement costs are borne by the owner, they often cannot be collected.

The construction authorities have thus long failed to enforce their decisions because they lacked the money required to this end. The unsustainability of this practice was already pointed out by Mr Otakar Motejl (former Defender) in 2004. Even though detailed information was gathered as to the scope of enforcement of these decisions and the reasons for inactivity on the part of the construction authorities, an analysis of the potential risks was carried out and a number of follow-up negotiations and roundtables were held, no suitable solution was found and put into practice.

Eventually, the Government had to interfere at the Defender’s proposal. The Government twice required the Minister for Regional Development to prepare a strategy comprising the rules of providing funds from the State budget to cover the costs of enforcement of these decisions.

In February 2019, the Ministry drew up a strategy titled “Support for Enforcement of Decisions Rendered by Construction Authorities”, aimed to remedy the most striking cases of defective structures (urgent removal of a building, necessary safeguarding work on a building or clearance of a building). Municipalities may apply for the necessary funds with the relevant regional authority.