Architectural projects will now only receive a permit based on the responsibility of the designers and public bodies will be penalized in case of delay in issuing advice, the prime minister announced on Thursday.
At a press conference after the meeting of the Council of Ministers, in Palácio da Ajuda, in Lisbon, António Costa presented the five main lines of a program called Mais Habitação, one of which relates to the simplification of licensing processes.
In this sense, the prime minister explained that architectural projects and specialist projects “are no longer subject to municipal licensing” and that the chambers issue the license based on “the term of responsibility signed by the designers”.
“This degree of responsibility for designers will be accompanied by a very strict sanctions framework, by applying the Order of Engineers and the Order of Architects to all designers who violate the ‘artis legis’ or ‘legis artis’ or who (violate) the building standards”he claimed.
Municipal permits will thus be limited to urban evaluation: whether or not the land is allowed to build and whether it meets standards, clearances and other urban requirements.
“We are confident that we will significantly speed up housing permit procedures, without sacrificing the technical requirements that every designer faces”he claimed.
António Costa acknowledged that the permitting procedures “sometimes require time in municipal services, but also when consulting ‘n’ entities of the central government”, and also announced an “effective financial penalty” for public entities when they fail to meet the deadlines set in the law on issuing opinions.
As soon as the term provided for in the law for issuing an opinion or for taking a decision has expired, the Prime Minister continued, “the default interest will start to accrue, in favor of the public prosecutor”.
The promoter can use this amount to deduct the cost of the license fee and, if higher, to deduct IRS (Individual Income Tax) or IRC (Corporate Income Tax).
“In the national budget for the following year, the central government deducts from the municipality if the municipality is the cause of the delay, or deducts the amount from the current budget of the public body that was overdue, the amount resulting from the tax burden caused by the deduction in IRS or IRC of late interest arising from the delay in issuing the opinion or decision”he explained.
António Costa gave as an example a building near an airport that needs advice from the National Civil Aviation Authority, another building located in an environmentally sensitive area and therefore needs advice from the Portuguese Environmental Agency, or there is also a project at a national monument that requires validation from the Directorate General for Cultural Heritage.
Asked about the sanctions framework referred to in case of non-compliance with deadlines by public entities, the Minister of Housing, Marina Gonçalves, also present at the press conference, said that the government “has not yet adopted the model of administrative offenses and fines”, work which will be performed during the public awarding of the diplomas.
As for the sanctions against designers, the minister referred to appeal decisions, with the prime minister emphasizing that as municipal permitting is replaced by mere communication of the project with a term of responsibility, Promoters become jointly and severally liable with designers for any design flaw or for any violation of construction legal standards”.
The five axes of the Meer Wonen programme, approved on Thursday by the Council of Ministers and open to social discussion for a month, are: increasing the housing supply, simplifying permit processes, increasing the number of homes on the rental market, fighting speculation and protecting families .
After public discussion, some measures will be sent back to the Council of Ministers for final approval and others will be included in the Assembly of the Republic, explains António Costa.
Source: DN
