At the beginning of this year, an amendment to the Building Act came into force, which, among other things, mitigates the conditions for building self-help. While it has so far been possible to construct self-help only with a building whose built-up area did not exceed 150 square meters, this restriction is now completely out of the question. Those interested in building their own house now need to arrange only a territorial decision or a territorial consent to the location of the building and also report everything to the building office. Compared to building permits, administrative fees are subject to lower administrative fees. The only condition that remains the same is the number of floors. If there were to be five or more floors in the planned building, the building contractor must be its supplier.
According to experts, thanks to the new legislation, interest in building self-help could increase in the future. "As the amendment to the Building Act somewhat simplifies the conditions for the realization of simple buildings and family houses, it can be assumed that the number of buildings built by self-help will increase," said Miloslav Mašek, General Manager of the Union of Building Entrepreneurs. Lubomir Valenta from Lomax also agrees. "Self-help building is tempting for a lot of people, primarily because of financial savings: in this way you can save up to half of the cost compared to the realization by the developer. If there is no need for building permits, it is expected that the number of buildings will increase in the coming years, " he said.
According to the Svépomocí.cz initiative, which associates people interested in individual construction on the Czech market, 59 percent of builders prefer bungalows to self-build, 37 percent prefer a one-storey house. Just in the bungalow, because of its layout much more often exceeds the previously valid boundary of 150 square meters of built-up area. "The current legislation will allow many people who want to build a bungalow with a large built-up area to carry it out by self-help. Previously it was not possible and people had to hire companies for this job, " said Pavel Tesárek, director of the initiative. According to Mašek, however, the growth of self-help buildings in the Czech environment can not be expected to be too great. "Because construction buildings, such as family houses, have to submit the same documentation and the statements of the authorities concerned as for building permits, there is no expectation of a significant increase," he added.
The statistics of the initiative also show that self-help is most often of interest to men aged 25-34. Most of them come from Prague, Jihomoravský, Středočeský or Moravskoslezský region. Not only for those interested, however, despite these changes, they have to ensure the professional leadership of the building manager during the construction of the family house. For simple buildings it can be an authorized architect, for others, for example, an authorized engineer or technician. At the same time, experts have warned that this oversight may not be sufficient for some parts of the building, and therefore recommend that they turn to specialized firms. For example, a garage door with a relatively specific construction, which is characterized not only by its long service life but also by the maximum functionality at the front with thermal insulation properties, requires professional installation. Incorrect installation may cause permanent damage to products or materials, therefore the manufacturer's full warranty is usually conditional upon professional fitting.
Source: tz, edited editorially
