To introduce a unified registration process for both starting construction and registering a building, as well as for establishing property rights to a building, the Saeima on Thursday, 13 November, adopted in the final reading the urgent amendments to the Construction Law.

“A single building registration process will significantly simplify existing administrative procedures for people, as they will no longer need to visit several institutions. Everything will be possible with just one application — it will be more convenient and also cheaper,” previously emphasized Oļegs Burovs, Chair of the Public Administration and Local Government Committee responsible for steering the amendments in the Saeima.

The amendments establish a unified digital process whereby data entered into the Construction Information System (BIS) will be automatically transferred for further registration in other institutions. This also means that cadastral surveying of buildings will no longer be required, the authors of the amendments at the Ministry of Economics have stressed.

Until now, a person initiating construction had to submit three separate applications to three different institutions: to BIS for commissioning the building; to the State Land Service for registering data in the cadastre; and to the Land Register to establish property rights.

The unified registration process will apply to the construction of buildings and engineering structures carried out by a landowner on their own land, including renovation and restoration. The authors of the amendments also highlight that these changes will significantly reduce the bureaucratic burden in real estate development, allow faster commissioning of buildings and structures, and reduce costs.

Today, the Saeima also approved in the final reading the related amendments to the Land Register Law and the Law “On Recording Immovable Property in the Land Register”.

The new procedure will enter into force next year and will also apply to all construction intentions submitted to BIS by the end of this year. With regard to new buildings, the rules will apply from April next year.