Legal Q&A · 12

Construction & Development — questions and answers.

30 answered questions on a subject we work on. Find related services in the catalogue: Construction & Development.

Answered by , Czech and Slovak attorney, admitted to the Slovak and Czech Bars (SAK 300422 · ČAK 19654).

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Questions about Construction & Development

  1. My grandfather built an old house that is not registered in the Land Register. Can I have it registered directly in my name? Not directly. For old buildings, the Land Register records the person identified as the builder in the municipality’s notification, and the municipality should name the actual builder, not the heir. According to ÚGKK’s interpretation, an heir can be registered if they provide a document establishing that they inherited the house. A solemn declaration is not sufficient. If the house was omitted from the inheritance proceedings, the court will, on application, deal with it in supplementary inheritance proceedings.
  2. We started building our house before the wedding and finished it afterwards. Does it form part of our marital community property? It depends on the stage construction had reached on the wedding date. If the building already existed as a separate object of property rights, it belongs to the person who was building it, and joint investments are accounted for in the settlement of marital community property (BSM). If only the foundations were in place, the house came into existence during the marriage and generally forms part of BSM. Registration in the cadastre does not resolve this dispute, although, according to ÚGKK, the cadastre examines whom to register where the documents conflict.
  3. Our house extension has been approved for use. Must we also have it recorded in the cadastre? Yes, if the extension changed the outline of the house or its purpose changed, because the cadastre records these details and the owner must ensure that they reflect the actual position. The owner does not change and the building registration number remains the same. An extension does not create a new building. According to ÚGKK, the application must be accompanied by the approval-for-use document and the survey plan number, if a plan was prepared. Building alterations that do not change the dimensions or purpose of use are not subject to approval for use and generally do not change the cadastral data.
  4. Can you buy your own bicycle space in an apartment building and register it in the Land Register? Not as a separate item of real estate. The Apartment Ownership Act does not recognise bicycle spaces or bicycle storage facilities, and according to ÚGKK they are not recorded in the Land Register. The right to exclusive use of a garage parking space or storage unit, which may also be used for bicycles, is entered in the Land Register. Another option is a right to exclusive use of part of the building’s common areas or appurtenances, for example where this is specified in the first agreement transferring ownership of an apartment.
  5. The building authority has not decided on our application for building approval for months. What can we do? First, check whether the time limit for a decision has actually expired. It starts running only once the application is complete, and if the authority has suspended the proceedings on a lawful ground, this does not constitute a failure to act. If the authority fails to act without a lawful reason, you can complain to the regional office. For proceedings under the new Act, where the failure to act has lasted at least 90 days, you can ask the Office for Spatial Planning and Construction to designate another building authority. After an unsuccessful complaint or referral to the public prosecution service, you can bring an action for failure to act.
  6. Our architect prepared our house plans before 1. 4. 2025. Can we use them to apply for approval under the new Act? Generally, not in their original form. Proceedings under the new Building Act require a building proposal and, subsequently, a building design containing the information prescribed by Decree No. 60/2025 Z. z., and the Office for Spatial Planning and Construction takes the view that documentation prepared under the previous legislation cannot be used. The position is different if your application was delivered by 31 March 2025 or you have a valid planning decision under the old Act. Who pays for the revisions is determined primarily by your contract with the architect.
  7. We built our house slightly differently from the verified design. Will we receive an occupancy certificate? As long as the building does not conform to the verified design, you will not receive an occupancy certificate because the authority will discontinue the occupancy approval process. Departures that do not conflict with the decision on the building proposal or the conditions imposed by the relevant authorities can be recorded in the design at a special inspection before the work concerned is carried out. Otherwise, a design amendment must be verified or new proceedings on the building proposal must be conducted. For a house permitted under the old Act, occupancy approval is governed by that Act and may be combined with proceedings to alter the building if the construction does not depart substantially from the documentation.
  8. The heritage authority objects to our proposed alterations. How can we challenge this? The procedure depends on what the regional heritage authority has issued. You may appeal a decision on proposed restoration or alterations to a property within 15 days of notification, and the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic will decide the appeal. If the regional authority has issued a binding opinion on a building proposal in its capacity as a consulted authority, the developer may challenge its content before the superior authority within 15 days of receipt. If you are unsuccessful, an appeal against the building authority’s decision and an administrative court action remain available.
  9. The construction company asked me to sign a contract to build my house “under the Commercial Code”. Am I bound by its deadlines for notifying defects? Only if they are no less favourable to you than those under the Civil Code. If you are building a house for yourself, outside the course of business, you are a consumer and the Civil Code takes priority in governing the contract, even if the parties referred to the Commercial Code in it. Terms that restrict your rights in respect of defects, such as a shorter warranty or the loss of a defect claim after a short deadline, are invalid. The warranty period for the construction of a building is 3 years from the day on which you were due to take over the building, and any longer warranty agreed in the contract remains valid.
  10. How do defect liability and warranties work under a construction contract? A construction contract between businesses is governed by the Commercial Code. The contractor is liable for defects present at handover. The employer must notify defects without undue delay after discovering them or when they should have been discovered, and within five years of handover for buildings. If a quality warranty is agreed, the warranty period replaces this period. Late notification does not, however, automatically extinguish the rights: the court considers the contractor’s objection, and the Act provides an exception where the contractor knew the cause of the defect.
  11. Can a contractor charge more than the budget for additional works? It depends on how the price is agreed. If it is fixed or set by a budget, more demanding work does not itself change the price. If the contract states that the budget does not guarantee completeness, the contractor may seek a reasonable increase for unforeseeable activities, but must notify them without undue delay or lose the claim. An increase exceeding 10 % allows the employer to withdraw from the contract.
  12. Why are handover and a handover record important on a building project? Handover is important for performance of the works and generally also for the entitlement to payment. The transfer of ownership and risk of damage, however, depends on the contract and the regime under § 542 and § 554 of the Commercial Code; the employer may already own the works during construction. A warranty period is relevant if the contractor has assumed a quality warranty. At either party’s request, a written handover record must be made, recording identified defects and reservations.
  13. How does an agreement to enter into a purchase contract work for flats in a development? In an agreement to enter into a future contract, the parties undertake in writing to conclude a purchase contract by an agreed date and must already agree its essential terms, especially the property and price. If one party fails to conclude it, the other may seek a court decision substituting for that party’s declaration of intent within one year, and also has a right to damages. In development projects, a reservation agreement usually comes first.
  14. As a developer, do I own the copyright in the design documentation? Design documentation is protected by copyright if it constitutes a unique result of creative intellectual activity. A technical document or its designation as design documentation does not in itself attract protection. For a protected design, the author is the designer or architect who created it through their own creative activity. Commissioning a design gives you a licence to use it for the purpose arising from the contract, not unlimited rights. Other uses, particularly building the same design again or having another designer alter it, require a specific agreement; moreover, the author’s economic rights cannot be transferred.
  15. What must a contract transferring a newly built flat contain? A contract transferring ownership of a flat must be written. Under the Flat Ownership Act, it must include in particular a description of the flat and its appurtenances, the co-ownership share in the building’s common parts and facilities and the land, arrangements for land rights, and the acquirer’s declaration of accession to building management. Ownership is acquired only through constitutive registration in the Land Register.
  16. We built a building but the Land Register has not recorded it. What usually went wrong? A document error must be distinguished from a documented change of ownership. Under § 46, the Land Register records the person named in the relevant document unless another public or other document proves a different owner. A difference between the person undertaking the building named in the permit and the current owner therefore does not automatically require correction of the old permit. If the documents contain an actual error or fail to prove ownership, however, they must be corrected or supplemented; disputed ownership may require court proceedings.
  17. The bank requires a building under construction to be registered. How does this work? A building under construction is recorded in connection with the creation, change or termination of a right to it, typically for bank security or a transfer. Under § 46(3), the expert report must clearly establish the structural and functional layout of the first above-ground storey. The relevant permitting document under the new or transitional building-law regime must also be submitted. The building’s initial entry must be distinguished from constitutive registration of a contractual mortgage; waiting for occupancy approval is not itself a prerequisite.
  18. The municipality assigned a building number to a shelter. Does that mean the Land Register will record it? No. Municipalities assign building numbers under their own rules, while the Land Register records buildings under the Cadastral Act; the categories do not coincide. It records buildings attached to the ground by solid foundations, with or without a building number; buildings under construction in connection with the creation, change or termination of rights; and underground structures where they intersect the ground surface. If eligibility is disputed, the Slovak Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Authority decides.
  19. We are converting a hotel into flats. How is this reflected in the Land Register? Changing the building type updates cadastral data and does not itself change the owner. The initial division of a building into flats and non-residential premises must be distinguished from their sale: if the owner remains unchanged, an owner’s declaration and the relevant building and technical documents may provide the basis for declaratory registration. Acquisition under a construction, internal-construction or extension agreement and the subsequent transfer of a flat, which is entered by constitutive registration, follow a different regime. The number and order of submissions must be determined from the particular documents; there is no general prohibition on submitting the supporting materials together.
  20. We demolished a building. How do we remove it from the title sheet if it is mortgaged? It is not removed automatically. Removing a building is a change to cadastral data made at the owner’s request and supported by evidence, usually a municipal confirmation of demolition and a survey plan. A mortgage terminates when all the assets it covers cease to exist, but its entry is not deleted automatically either. If the loan remains outstanding, the bank will usually require replacement security, so speak to it before demolition, not afterwards.
  21. We want to extend our flat into the loft. Is consent at the owners’ meeting enough? No. If alterations change the size of a flat, non-residential premises or appurtenances at the expense of common parts or facilities, the person carrying out the project must define reciprocal rights and obligations in a contract with the other owners of flats and non-residential premises in the building. The contract and its amendments are registered in the Land Register, supported by documentation showing the area and location of the premises.
  22. An old house has no occupancy approval and is absent from the Land Register. How do I register it? It depends on when it was built. Since 1 April 2024, the law treats a house built before 1 October 1976 as lawful without further requirements. For houses from 1976 to 1989, continuous use for their intended purpose and the owner’s ownership or other right to the land on 1 April 2024 are required. Registration is not automatic: apply with a municipal notice, a survey plan and, for the later buildings, evidence of land rights. For a house built before 1976, the Cadastral Act assumes that it had an occupancy decision or a use permit; if it had neither, the registration route should be checked in advance.
  23. We built without a building permit in the 1990s. Can the building still be legalised? Usually yes. On the owner’s application, the building authority reviews a building erected and used without permission between 1 January 1990 and 31 March 2025 and, if statutory conditions are met, issues a decision with the effects of occupancy approval. Applications are possible only until 31 March 2029, and the conditions are substantive: if they are not proved, the authority orders demolition. It is therefore worth assessing prospects before approaching the authority.
  24. The authority returned our minor-building notification. Can we challenge this? Yes. Returning a notification is not a decision, so an ordinary appeal is unavailable. However, Act No. 25/2025 Z. z. allows the applicant to request a review of the administrative authority’s procedure. The request must reach the appellate authority within 10 working days of delivery of the returned notification and include the notification as originally submitted. If the procedure was incorrect, the notification is returned to the authority with instructions to process it.
  25. We bought a house in a heritage zone. What can we do without involving the heritage authority? Less than people expect, depending on the regime. For a house in a heritage area, a regional heritage authority decision approving the proposed alteration is needed before new construction or alterations, even if the house itself is not a monument. In a buffer zone, a binding opinion is required instead; for a cultural monument, a decision on the restoration proposal is required. The common rule is: obtain the decision on the proposal first, then commission the design.
  26. We built exactly to the employer’s design and the works are defective. Are we liable? Yes, if you failed to warn that the design or instructions were unsuitable although professional care would have revealed this. The defence “we followed the design” is not enough: the Commercial Code exempts a contractor only where it warned the employer, who then insisted in writing on using the items or instructions. Work must be suspended as necessary until the employer decides. A provable warning and the employer’s written insistence are therefore crucial; the site diary is the natural place to record them.
  27. Do we have to arrange supervision by the designer during construction? And what about the architect’s author’s supervision? Yes. The Building Act obliges the builder to arrange design supervision by the designer while the building is being constructed, and continuous supervision in the case of reserved buildings. Alongside it, the author of the architectural work has its own entitlement to carry out author’s supervision, even where the building design is prepared by another designer. The Act does not, however, say to what extent and for what fee the supervision is carried out; that must be set out in the contract with the designer and with the architect.
  28. The architect has delivered a study that does not match our brief. Do we have to pay for it? It depends on whether there is a defect within the meaning of the Act. A study is defective if it does not match the result specified in the contract, for example the capacity, the intended use or the number of variants in the brief. In that case you have remedies for defects and the defects must be notified without undue delay. If the architect kept to the brief and you simply dislike the solution, that is no defect and as a rule you must pay the price.
  29. Who is to arrange the surveying, the ground surveys and the network statements for the design: we, or the designer? Unless the contract provides otherwise, they are arranged by the builder. The Building Act requires it to arrange the surveying data, engineering-geological and other surveys, statements of the consulted legal persons and cooperation with the designer. The designer is, however, responsible for determining the scope of the surveys and measurements that the design requires. The contract with the designer should therefore say expressly who procures what, who pays for it and how this affects the deadlines.
  30. Our designer is in delay with the documentation. Can we withdraw from the contract and have the design finished by someone else? Yes, but the procedure depends on whether the delay amounts to a material breach of contract. On a material breach you may withdraw without undue delay; otherwise only after an additional reasonable period has expired in vain. Where documentation is delivered in stages, withdrawal as a rule concerns only the stage in delay. Before withdrawing, check whether you will retain the licence to the parts already delivered, because withdrawal extinguishes the rights and obligations under the contract.

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