A single permit for major development projects

Where this article fits in our series on the amendment

In our main article Accelerated Permitting of Development Projects: The Amendment to the Building Act is Signed, we summarized the overall picture of the reform — the state of the legislative process, the new system of authorities, and the timeline for 2026–2028.

In the follow-up article Building Permits for Large Development Projects 2026: How the Amendment Will Speed Up Building Permits, we analyzed in detail which projects will fall under the regime of reserved buildings — the 10,000 m² threshold read word for word, the exclusion of appeals (rozklad), and narrowed judicial review.

Here, we build on both with what was not in the previous parts: a practical walkthrough of the procedure from the first contact with the authority to the final building approval (kolaudace). One warning in advance: the amendment has been signed, but as of October 7, 2026, it had not been promulgated in the Collection of Laws, so the described rules are based on the approved wording (parliamentary press 67) — details may still change.

Step 1: Preliminary Information — Find Out the Rules of the Game in Advance

The amendment significantly expands the concept of preliminary information. Developers will now be able to ask the authority in advance not only about land-use conditions, but also, for example, about the circle of participants in the proceedings, the scope of required documentation, or requirements that do not apply to their project. Municipalities will also be able to comment on the project's compliance with the zoning plan via preliminary information. For a project worth hundreds of millions, this is an inexpensive tool to verify with whom and about what the proceedings will be conducted before purchasing land or finalizing the design — and to get it confirmed in writing.

Step 2: Documentation and Supporting Materials — The Core of the Entire Process

In the joint proceedings, a simple equation applies: what used to be resolved by twenty opinions sequentially is now resolved by one proceeding all at once — and any defect in the supporting documents delays everything. Therefore, preparing the application ceases to be a mere administrative step and becomes a legal-engineering project: complete documentation, affected land plots and rights to them, and resolved infrastructure connections.

Three new features of the approved wording help: utility network administrators' statements get a fixed deadline, designers have digital technical map data at their disposal — and the developer can attach their own draft of the decision's operative part to the application, which the authority will assess for compliance with the law. A well-prepared draft of the operative part effectively does the authority's work in advance — and is precisely the type of document that a lawyer should write together with the designer.

For projects currently under preparation, it is crucial that the binding opinions and decisions of the affected authorities issued before the establishment of the new authorities will retain their effects under transitional provisions — if the developer submits them, the authority will not re-assess the interests protected by them. Thus, investments in the documentation of ongoing preparations will not be lost.

Step 3: Environmental aspects of project preparation following the abolition of the unified environmental statement

Large residential projects are often subject to environmental impact assessment (EIA) under Act No. 100/2001 Coll. under Czech legislation. The amendment simplifies the architecture of environmental assessment: the unified environmental opinion (JES) under Act No. 148/2023 Coll. is abolished. Its agenda is not transferred to a single new process; instead, most of it moves directly into the decision-making of the building authority, and only selected steps are integrated into the EIA opinion where an environmental impact assessment is carried out. Moreover, this integration does not apply to all buildings at once — for the standard agenda, the existing regime will continue to apply throughout 2027. For the schedule, this means that the EIA remains the critical path of a large project, and its quality preparation chronologically precedes everything else.

Step 4: Course of the Joint Proceedings — One Authority, Closed Issues, Substantiated Objections

For large residential projects, the proceedings themselves will be conducted by the Spatial Development Office; it largely ensures the protection of public interests itself, and the remaining binding opinions have strict boundaries — review within 30 days with a fiction of approval and a prohibition on considering parts of statements outside the authority's competence. The principle of closed issues is fundamental: what was resolved in the zoning documentation is not reopened in the proceedings, and in buildable areas, a project compliant with the zoning plan benefits from a rebuttable presumption of admissibility. Objections from participants must be substantiated and specific, otherwise they will not be considered.

In practice, this shifts the focus of legal work: instead of putting out fires during the proceedings, decisions are made in advance — in the zoning phase (where the main space for municipalities and the public remains) and in the quality of the submission. A developer who has legally argued compliance with the zoning plan at the time of submission benefits from the presumption of admissibility; a developer who leaves it to the authority risks that a single proceeding will be as long as three used to be.

Step 5: Decision — One Stamp and Rapid Legal Force

The result of the proceedings is a single decision on the project's permit — the "one stamp". For reserved buildings, an appeal (rozklad) is not admissible, so it becomes legally binding without an appeal phase; the defense for affected persons (and the developer against rejection) is an administrative lawsuit with a one-month deadline. We analyzed the mechanism, its advantages, and risks — including the expected constitutional test — in detail in the article on building permits for large projects; here, let us just recall the practical consequence: after the decision is delivered, short deadlines run for everyone — and the developer's internal process must be able to react within days, not weeks.

Step 6: Construction, Changes, and Final Approval — The End of Proceedings Is Not the End of Rules

The amendment also addresses the phase that is talked about least during debates on acceleration. It precisely defines an insignificant deviation from the verified documentation, so minor changes during implementation will not require further permitting. It allows early use of the building before complete completion — crucial for the developer due to clients' mortgages, land registry entries, and handing over units. And the final building approval (kolaudace) decision can now also be issued by an authorized inspector, which opens up a private route through the final phase, which often gets stuck in today's overloaded authorities. For underground lines, the passport can be replaced by a geodetic survey.

Who Will Conduct the Proceedings and from When

For large residential projects, the proceedings will be conducted by the Spatial Development Office, which, according to the approved wording, is to start operating by January 1, 2027; other projects will continue to be permitted by existing building authorities during the transitional period before they are gradually replaced by regional spatial development offices with 205 local branches (from 2028).

The complete timeline, including the dissolution of the DESÚ and the risks of staffing the new authorities, can be found in the main article of the series Accelerated Permitting of Development Projects: The Amendment to the Building Act Has Been Signed; the current state of implementation is published by the Ministry of Regional Development on the website novystavebnizakon.gov.cz. The question of whether to submit an application under the old regime or wait for the new one is analyzed in the article In-progress Development Project After the Amendment: Submit the Application Now or Wait for the New Regime?.

How to Manage the New Proceedings: The Core of the Work Is Before Submission

The new regime has a simple logic — and your preparation should have the same logic. Take advantage of the expanded preliminary information and find out the rules of the game before you finalize the design. Have your documentation, contractual relationships to the land, and arguments for compliance with the zoning plan ready by the date of submission, not during the proceedings — including the draft of the decision's operative part, which does the authority's work in advance. Coordinate the EIA as the critical path of the schedule. And keep in mind that the work does not end with the proceedings: after the decision is delivered, short deadlines run, deviations during construction must be continuously classified legally, and final approval can now also be accelerated via an authorized inspector.

We encounter all of this daily in construction practice. Are you planning a project that will go through the new proceedings? Write to our Prague-based Czech legal team at consultation@arws.cz — we will review your documentation readiness, align your schedule with the reform timeline, and set up the submission so that one stamp is truly just one.