Over the past two years, Ukraine has made a number of far-reaching changes to the regulations on the implementation of construction investments. The legislative actions taken were primarily aimed at facilitating business in the construction sector and streamlining and increasing the effectiveness of the administrative bodies responsible for construction and spatial planning. Some of the amendments made were a direct response to the needs resulting from the war-related destruction of infrastructure.
Significant changes concerned, among others, the Law of Ukraine on the regulation of activities related to the development of urban areas of February 17, 2011, No. 3038-VI (Закон України "Про регулювання містобудівної діяльності"), the Law of Ukraine on the Licensing of Business Activities of March 2, 2015, No. 222-VIII (Закон України "Про Censored videos господарської діяльності”), or the Law of Ukraine on the Basics of Town Planning dated November 16, 1992, No. 2780-XII (Закон України “Про основи містобудування”). A number of implementing acts regulating detailed construction issues, including technical conditions to which they should be subject, have also been amended. respond to objects and their location.
The directions of recent changes include in particular:
- continuation reforms of the system of construction supervision authorities – The State Architecture and Urban Planning Inspection of Ukraine (DIAM), which replaced the old DABI system; within the framework of this project, solutions are being implemented to increase the transparency of the activities of administrative bodies, as well as to improve the efficiency of the supervision system over the entire construction process, including control of the legality of construction works;
- far-reaching simplification of procedures for reconstruction and renovation objects; in the current circumstances, it is important to introduce special facilities for entities participating in the reconstruction of objects destroyed critical infrastructure;
– modernization of technical standards – so-called building norms and standards of Ukraine (BSN), which, after approval by the competent central administrative body, which is most often the Minister of Regional Development, Construction and Housing and Municipal Economy of Ukraine, constitute an element of the generally applicable Ukrainian legal order;
– digitalization an increasingly wide range of activities performed by architectural and construction administration bodies, including the progressive digitalisation of administrative proceedings themselves (especially enabling the submission of documents to offices in electronic form), which should significantly streamline and speed up the process of supplementing construction documentation;
– reduction of formal requirements related to the application for issuing construction decisions – for this purpose, among other things, an improvement has been introduced, the so-called urban planning passport, possession of which is necessary to commence construction work; an urban planning passport is an electronic document issued by local authorities, providing information on the conditions and restrictions in the development of a given plot, including in particular the basic architectural requirements; this instrument is a significant convenience for investors, as it means that in many cases it is no longer necessary to prepare extensive design documentation;
- introduction electronic spatial information system, as a result of which spatial development plans in particular have become easily accessible to everyone (until recently, familiarisation with spatial planning acts required a visit to the local office).
The war-accelerated process of introducing fundamental changes to the regulations concerning the implementation of construction investments is rapidly bringing Ukrainian regulations closer to the standards in force in the European Union countries. Enabling electronic communication between parties and architectural and construction administration bodies and digitizing an increasing amount of data, registers and records create a favorable environment for conducting business in the construction sector, and should therefore be an additional incentive for foreign investors as well. Facilitating universal access to public information also leads to increased transparency of the activities of administration bodies.
authors:
Svitlana Nemertsalova – lawyer in Ukraine
Michał Wojtyczek – attorney, head of the Ukrainian Desk department
This entry contains general information on the legal issues discussed. It does not constitute legal advice or a solution to a specific case or legal problem. Due to the unique nature of each factual situation and the variability of the legal status, we recommend that you seek the assistance of a law firm for legal advice.