For some construction technical standards, there will likely be new fees

Prague - For some technical standards in construction, new fees will likely be introduced. This was approved by lawmakers when they removed a provision from the construction law that stated that certain standards must be freely accessible to the public. According to Minister of Industry Jan Mládek (ČSSD), this is due to the protection of copyright. However, some opposition lawmakers criticized this move.

According to Mládek, the main reason for this change is that the Czech Republic risks being excluded from international standardization organizations. These organizations reportedly want to confirm that the Czech side has established sufficient copyright protection for technical standards. Exclusion from these organizations would have serious consequences, he warned.

Lawmakers were approving an amendment to the law on technical requirements for products. This amendment is related to the newly approved law on conformity assessment for specified products and intends to clarify some provisions or remove duplicative provisions.

However, the Economic Committee accepted an amendment concerning the construction law. This amendment removed a provision stating that if the construction law or implementing regulations refer to a technical standard, that standard must be freely accessible to the public.

This was criticized by, for example, the chairman of the TOP 09 and Mayors club František Laudát. He accused the government of a policy aimed at destroying small and medium-sized enterprises. According to him, people will pay tens of thousands of crowns annually for standards. Karel Fiedler (Dawn - National Coalition) described the fees as obstacles being thrown in the way.

Mládek also argued that most other technical standards are subject to fees. Therefore, he does not believe that construction should be prioritized, for example, over engineering.