Interior Ministry joins opposition to new Czech construction law

The Czech Ministry of Interior has joined critics of the proposed new construction law, warning that it will cost the state an extra CZK 29bn. The bill counts on the creation of a centralized construction office, something the Interior Ministry claims would increase state spends on needed staff and real estate. The Ministry of Regional Development, which is sponsoring the bill, rejects the cost increase estimate as wildly overstated, predicting a budgetary hit of less than CZK 3bn. But the bill's new opponent has focused on one of the biggest stumbling blocks for passage of the new construction law, as local politicians fear the loss of influence over projects if jurisdiction over the permitting process were to be centralized. The bill's sponsors say that the number of people the state would have to employ is 13,600 and that they would require 180,000 sqm of office space. It goes on to explain that it counts on most of these people would continue working where they now work and what would change would simply be employed by the state rather than individual municipalities. The primary goal of the new construction law is to reduce the wait for construction permits from five to just one year.