SUBJECT: BILL FOR AMENDMENT AND SUPPLEMENT OF THE SPATIAL PLANNING ACT, SUBMITTED BY THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

Subject: Bill for amendment and supplement of the Spatial Planning Act, sign. 002-01-39, submitted by the Council of Ministers

DEAR MR. VESELINOV,

The draft Law for amendment and supplement of the Spatial Planning Act submitted for consideration does not envisage amendment of Art. 143 para 1 item 1 and item 2. According to the current norms:

Art. 143. (1) The investment projects shall be coordinated and approved on the basis of presented:

1. assessment of the conformity of the project documentation with the basic requirements to the construction;

2. positive opinion of the bodies for fire safety and protection of the population for the constructions of first, second and third category;

We pay attention that the provisions of item 1 and item 2 of art. 143 para 1 of the Spatial Development Act are duplicated in practice and contribute not to relief, but to increase the administrative and financial burden, as well as the time for realization of the investment intention of the assignor and / or the investor.

For example, a positive opinion from the fire safety and public protection authorities requires a minimum of 14 days after payment of the required fee and completion of the necessary forms. If discrepancies are noticed in the project documentation, this leads to the issuance of a negative opinion by the bodies of PBZN, elimination of comments, the procedure is repeated with the payment of a new fee of 50% of the initial and require another 14 days for issuing a positive opinion.

In essence, the contracting authority has to pay twice for the same service - once to the bodies of PBZN and the second time to the consultant, according to Article 142, paragraph 6, item 2 of the Spatial Development Act regulations.

The consultant bears financial, administrative and criminal liability for omissions in the preparation of the conformity assessment of the project. He must also have a valid Professional Liability Insurance to cover any damage he has caused to the investor and / or the contracting authority through his actions or omissions.

The fire safety and public protection authorities must be notified by the consultant when opening the construction site and, as a control body, may express at any time during the construction process their recommendations for improving fire safety measures on construction sites, having sufficient administrative levers according to the Law on the Ministry of Interior and the Law on Spatial Planning.

In connection with the above and after consultation with the members of BIA by the National Chamber of Fire Safety in Construction, we propose item 2 of Art. 143, para 1 to be revoked.

The reasons for this are:

• Reduction of the terms for realization of the investment intentions;
• Reduction of the administrative burden for the assignor and / or the investor;
• Reducing the financial burden for the contracting authority and / or the investor, especially when these are small and medium enterprises that want to realize a quick and small amount of investment to expand their activities;
• Reducing the possibility of corrupt practices and / or pressure.

WITH RESPECT,

RADOSVET RADEV

Chairman of the Board of BIA