Jurisdiction for Issuing Construction Permits

This expert text will deal with the authority to issue a construction permit in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Law on Planning and Construction.

 

1. Basic rules on jurisdiction

Article 133 of the Law on Planning and Construction prescribes the basic legal rules on jurisdiction for issuing construction permits. Paragraph 1 of the mentioned article stipulates that the construction permit is issued by the Ministry responsible for construction affairs, unless otherwise specified by this Law. Then, in paragraph 2, sections 1-25 of the aforementioned article, the buildings for the construction of which the Ministry is exclusively competent for issuing construction permits are enumerated.

When prescribing the type of buildings for which the Ministry is exclusively responsible for issuing construction permits, the legislator had in mind the general interest and importance of such buildings, considering the fact that they are buildings such as high dams and reservoirs filled with water, tailings or ash for which prescribed technical inspection of nuclear facilities, facilities for oil and gas processing, facilities of the basic and processing chemical industry, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, seveso plants and seveso complexes, thermal power plants of 10 MW and more, regional water supply and sewage facilities, etc.

Furthermore, some of the facilities for which the Ministry has the exclusive jurisdiction to issue construction permits are also facilities that are important in a cultural sense, such as facilities for sports and other manifestations that receive more than 5,000 spectators, stadiums for 20,000 or more spectators, facilities within the boundaries of immovable cultural assets of exceptional importance or cultural assets registered in the List of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, etc. Exclusive jurisdiction is also prescribed for facilities where hazardous substances or substances that can be harmful to the environment are handled, such as facilities for the treatment of non-hazardous waste by incineration or physical-chemical procedures or facilities for treatment of hazardous waste by incineration or physical-chemical procedures or facilities for the treatment of hazardous waste by incineration, thermal and/or physical, chemical procedures, by storing such waste and the like.

Another type of facilities for which the exclusive competence of the Ministry is prescribed are infrastructural facilities, facilities of importance for road, water and air transport, such as airports intended for public air transport, passenger piers, ports, marinas and piers on waters of the first order, state roads, railway infrastructure, as well as hydro-construction facilities on waterways, waterways and ship locks that are not part of the hydropower system.

The legislator considered that the public interest is large enough to establish the competence of the Ministry in terms of issuing construction permits for electronic communications facilities, i.e. networks, systems or assets that are of international and magisterial importance, as well as those that are built on the territory of two or more units local governments.

The next group of facilities for which the Ministry is responsible for issuing construction permits are regional landfills, i.e. landfills for the disposal of non-hazardous waste for an area inhabited by over 200,000 inhabitants and facilities for the production of energy from renewable energy sources with a capacity of 10 MW and more. This group of facilities is related to environmental protection, and this reflects the reason why the legislator prescribed the exclusive competence of the Ministry.

Some of the facilities for which the Ministry is responsible are facilities within the dedicated industry, which are intended for the production of weapons and military equipment, as well as for the production and storage of explosive materials. Exclusive jurisdiction is also prescribed for health care facilities with an accommodation capacity of over 500 beds, facilities that are built on the territory of two or more local self-government units, facilities for storing state commodity reserves, and scientific research campuses.

With regard to the basic rules on the competence to issue a construction permit, it can be concluded that the Law on Planning and Construction prescribes the competence of the Ministry to issue a construction permit for those facilities that are of importance for the general, public interest and which the legislator considered to be for the satisfaction of such interest, it is necessary to prescribe the exclusive competence of the Ministry responsible for construction affairs.

 

2. Entrusting the issuance of a construction permit - subsidiary jurisdiction

Article 134 of the Law on Planning and Construction prescribes cases when other public entities - territorial units are entrusted with the authority to issue construction permits.

One of the public entities entrusted with the issuance of construction permits, i.e., the authority to issue construction facilities for a certain category of facilities, is the autonomous province, for facilities that are built entirely on the territory of the autonomous province. Competence for issuing construction permits is also entrusted to local self-government units, namely for the construction of buildings that are not specified in Article 133 of the Law on Planning and Construction, i.e. for the construction of buildings for which the exclusive competence of the Ministry is not prescribed.

However, in addition to the competence entrusted in this way, the Ministry can also directly issue acts for the construction of buildings with an area of ​​more than 20,000.00 m2 after entrusting the work, which again reflects the legislator's intention to prescribe the competence of the Ministry to issue acts in cases where the construction is of greater importance. , and there is a stronger general interest that justifies prescribing such jurisdiction.

 

3. Cases of assumption of competence by the competent Ministry

Article 134 paragraph 7 prescribes the possibility of taking over the competence from a local self-government unit or an autonomous province by the competent ministry in cases when the ministry responsible for construction affairs or a local self-government unit (by extensive interpretation and an autonomous province) does not resolve the request for the issuance of location conditions, construction and/or or use permits within the legally prescribed period, i.e. a period of no more than 30 days from the date of submission of the proper request for the issuance of such acts. This provision is prescribed in order to achieve legal certainty and economy of the procedure for issuing construction permits, as well as issuing other documents required for the legal construction of construction facilities.

 

Authors:

Miloš Vučković, Managing Partner, milos.vuckovic@lexquire-ivvk.rs

Matija Ignjatović, Junior Associate, matija.ignjatovic@ivvk.rs

 

*The information in this document does not represent legal advice and is provided for general informational purposes only. **Partner, Senior Associate, Associate and/or Junior Associate refers to Independent Attorney at Law in cooperation with IVVK Lawyers in Cooperation with LexQuire.