Neighbours' objections to a building proposal in Slovakia. Deadlines and procedure

Slovakia’s new Building Act, Act No. 25/2025 Z. z., has been in effect since 1 April 2025. Proceedings on a building proposal replace land-use proceedings, while verification of the construction design replaces building permit proceedings (Section 84(11)). A neighbour who wants a say in development on an adjoining plot has their main opportunity to raise objections during the proceedings on the building proposal. The deadlines are short. The Act also distinguishes between objections the authority can decide and those the neighbour must take to court. The rules below concern Slovak law.

When a neighbour is a party to the proceedings

Alongside the developer and the owner of the land, the owner of a neighbouring building or plot is a party if the decision on the building proposal may directly affect their ownership or other rights (Section 49(1)(c) of Act No. 25/2025 Z. z.). The Act does not specify a distance. What matters is whether the neighbour’s ownership or other rights may be directly affected. Tenants of apartments and non-residential premises are not parties (Section 49(2)).

Before submitting the application, the developer discusses the building proposal with the spatial planning authority, the relevant public authorities and the relevant legal entities (Section 20(1)). The Act does not list neighbours at this stage. A neighbour may challenge the substance of a relevant authority’s binding opinion only through an appeal against the decision on the building proposal (Section 21(15)). Our article on binding opinions on a building proposal explains that procedure.

Notice of the proceedings and the deadline for objections

The authority must notify the parties that proceedings have begun within seven days of the application becoming complete (Section 51(1)). Under an amendment already promulgated, this period will change to seven working days from 1 January 2027 (Section 51(1), wording effective from 1 January 2027). The notice specifies where the supporting documents can be inspected. It also warns that proposals, comments and objections must be submitted no later than the oral hearing and that late submissions will not be considered. If no hearing is held, the deadline in the notice applies.

The original Slovak wording states:

Ak správny orgán nenariadil ústne pojednávanie, lehota na uplatnenie pripomienok a námietok nesmie byť kratšia ako sedem pracovných dní odo dňa doručenia oznámenia.

§ 51 ods. 2 zákona č. 25/2025 Z. z.

Unofficial translation: If the administrative authority has not ordered an oral hearing, the period for submitting comments and objections must not be shorter than seven working days from service of the notice.

Seven working days is the statutory minimum. The actual deadline is set out in the notice. If the proceedings involve more than 20 parties, follow an environmental impact assessment, or the authority does not know a party’s identity or whereabouts, commencement is notified by public notice (Section 51(3)). The document is displayed on the authority’s official noticeboard and also published on its website, if it has one. The final, fifteenth day of display is treated as the date of service (Section 26(2) of Act No. 71/1967 Zb., the Administrative Procedure Act).

What an objection must contain and what the authority will disregard

An objection must identify the person submitting it and the proceedings it concerns. It must also explain how the party considers their rights or legally protected interests to have been infringed or unlawfully restricted (Section 52(4)). The authority must address all objections raised (Section 52(3)) and decide them in its decision on the building proposal (Section 60(1)(b)).

However, it will disregard objections aimed, for example, at harming someone else or causing delays rather than protecting the party’s rights. The same applies to objections that could not be upheld without breaching legislation, the binding part of a spatial plan or the final environmental impact assessment opinion (Section 52(5)). It will also disregard objections that have no bearing on the objector’s rights, do not directly concern the subject of the proceedings, are late or are anonymous. Repeated objections already finally decided in other proceedings whose outcome is binding on the authority are also disregarded, unless the facts or the subject of the decision have changed substantially (Section 52(6)). We therefore recommend describing the specific effect the proposed development would have on your own land or building.

Objections that a court must decide

The position is different if a neighbour claims that the building encroaches on their land or that the developer has no right to use the plot. Where an objection or dispute concerns ownership or other rights to land or a building that the authority cannot decide, it first seeks an agreement or settlement (Section 55(1)).

The original Slovak wording states:

Ak sa nepodarí vyriešiť námietku alebo spor dohodou účastníkov konania ani uzavrieť zmier, správny orgán konanie preruší a vyzve účastníka konania, ktorý námietku uplatnil, aby podal návrh na rozhodnutie o obsahu námietky alebo sporu súdu, a na podanie návrhu určí primeranú lehotu, ktorá nesmie byť dlhšia ako 60 dní.

§ 55 ods. 2 zákona č. 25/2025 Z. z.

Unofficial translation: If the objection or dispute cannot be resolved by agreement between the parties or by settlement, the administrative authority shall suspend the proceedings and direct the party who raised the objection to apply to a court for a decision on the objection or dispute. It shall set a reasonable period for bringing the application, which must not exceed 60 days.

If the party does not prove within that period that they have filed the application, the authority may form its own view of the objection as a preliminary question on the basis of public instruments (Section 55(3)). The initiative therefore rests with the neighbour who raised the objection. The court claim needs to be prepared before the deadline expires.

Appeals and the next stages

The decision on the building proposal is notified in the same way as commencement of the proceedings (Section 61(2)). An appeal must be filed within 15 days of notification of the decision (Section 54(2) of the Administrative Procedure Act). It must be in writing, since it cannot be made orally for the record (Section 82(2) of the Building Act). A timely appeal normally has suspensive effect (Section 55 of the Administrative Procedure Act). However, the appeal body will disregard objections that a party could have raised within the deadline at first instance but did not. An exception applies to a party who was wrongly omitted from the proceedings (Section 52(7)).

If a party files a late appeal because the information on appeal rights was incorrect or missing, the appeal is treated as timely if filed no later than three months after notification of the decision (Section 54(3) of the Administrative Procedure Act). This exception does not replace the ordinary fifteen-day deadline.

The Administrative Procedure Act does not apply to verification of the construction design, which follows the decision on the building proposal (Section 82(1)(b)). We therefore recommend raising objections to the location and design of the building during the proceedings on the building proposal. For works that only require notification under the Act, proceedings on a building proposal are not normally held. If, however, the authority finds when dealing with the notification that third-party rights may be affected, it informs the developer that the works may proceed only on the basis of a decision on the building proposal. An interference arising from a special legal provision does not count as an effect on a third party’s rights for this purpose (Section 63(5)).

If the application was delivered to the building authority by 31 March 2025, the previous legislation applies (Section 84(4)). The old rules also continue to apply to the subsequent proceedings specified by the Act where the development has a land-use decision issued under the previous legislation (Section 84(5)). If no land-use decision was required and the building has a building permit issued under the previous legislation, the old rules apply to changes before completion, early use, temporary use for trial operation, the occupancy decision and changes to that decision (Section 84(6)).

What to do

If you learn about a development in your neighbourhood, we recommend that you:

• monitor correspondence from the building authority and, for larger projects, its official noticeboard,
• inspect the documents as soon as notice is given, especially the building proposal and the report on its consultation,
• submit objections in writing before the deadline, explaining in each case how the development affects your rights,
• if there is a dispute over a boundary or a right to the land, allow for the possibility that, if neither agreement nor settlement resolves it, the authority will direct you to bring the matter before a court within no more than 60 days,
• appeal against the decision within 15 days of its notification.

How we can help

We prepare objections and appeals for neighbours. If the dispute concerns a boundary or a right to land, we bring the matter before a court through our litigation representation and determination of ownership services. We help developers with permitting, including responses to neighbours’ objections, through our construction permitting and coordination service. If someone erected a building on another person’s land without a right entitling them to do so, Section 135c of the Slovak Civil Code governs how the relations between the owners are settled.