The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia has adopted several laws and amendments to the construction/real estate laws in the past six months, including the Amendments to the Law on Planning and Construction, the Amendments to the Law on Building Legalization, the Law on Construction Products, and the Law on the Registration Procedure with the Real Estate Cadaster.

As for the Amendments to the Law on Planning and Construction, the major amendments are the provisions concerning mandatory licensing of companies/ entrepreneurs involved in construction/design works. The existing entities engaged in providing these services are required to obtain license not later than by 6 November 2019. The Ministry for Construction, Transportation and Infrastructure is in charge of the licensing.

Amendments to the Law on Building Legalization specify the buildings with respect to which the legalization procedure shall be conducted. Additionally, there is an express prohibition of legalization of buildings constructed after 27 November 2015. The final deadline for legalization of illegally constructed buildings is 6 November 2023 – any request for legalization submitted after this date shall be denied. These Amendments also impose an express prohibition of disposal of illegally constructed buildings – such prohibition shall be inscribed in the Real Estate Cadaster.

The Law on Construction Products defines the term construction product and the fundamental conditions such products needs to meet to be placed on the market. The Law also regulates other duties of manufactures , the procedure for Product testing, setting up regulatory authorities and regulating the status of foreign seals of compatibility.

The main reasons behind the Law on the Registration Procedure with the Real Estate and Waterway Cadasters are the establishment of an E-Cadaster and speeding up the process of registration.

Some key points are:

• The Law sets-up an E-Cadaster and sets as a general rule that all future requests have to be submitted via the E- Cadaster.
• There is now an obligation of the courts, public notaries, public bailiffs and others, who’s acts are used as basis of any right to be recorded with the Cadaster to send the documents directly to the Cadaster.
• The process is made faster by giving a shorter deadline to the above mention organizations for dispatching the documents to the Cadaster.

There is a possibility of submitting a request in a paper form directly to the Cadaster but only until 31 December 2020.

For more information, please visit https://pricapartners.com/latest/amendments-to-the-law-on-planning-and-construction/, or contact us at office@pricapartners.com.