National Contact Point for Renewable Energy Sources

• during a visit to the office
• by mail
• electronically
  • Notification of construction works. You can handle the matter via the e-Budownictwo portal. You will need a Trusted Profile (Profil Zaufany)
  • Notification of construction or reconstruction of a single-family house. You can handle the matter via the e-Budownictwo portal. You will need a Trusted Profile (Profil Zaufany)

Investments that can be carried out upon notification of construction with a building design include:

• free-standing single-family residential buildings, whose impact area is entirely within the plot(s) on which they are designed
• free-standing, no more than two-storey single-family residential buildings with a building footprint of up to 70 m², whose impact area is entirely within the plot(s) on which they are designed, and the construction is carried out to meet the investor’s own housing needs
• networks:
  • power networks with a rated voltage not exceeding 1 kV
  • water supply networks
  • sewage networks
  • heating networks
  • gas networks with an operating pressure not exceeding 0.5 MPa
• free-standing single-storey transformer station buildings and container transformer stations with a building footprint of up to 35 m²
• pole foundations for telecommunication cable lines
• small architectural objects in public spaces
• construction objects located in closed areas designated by an administrative ruling of the Minister of National Defence or the minister competent for internal affairs, excluding residential buildings, collective housing, and public utility buildings

You may also notify the extension, superstructure, or reconstruction of these objects.

Notification with a building design is also required for the installation of gas systems inside and outside an occupied building.

You may notify the construction or reconstruction of free-standing single-family residential buildings if their impact area is entirely within the plot(s) on which they are designed. This area is determined by the designer based on investment process regulations. If the designer determines that the impact area extends beyond the plot boundaries, you must apply for a building permit. Note that the office will assess the impact area during the review of your notification. The impact area of your building may impose restrictions on the development of adjacent land (including construction). The impact may result from vibrations, noise, electrical interference, or pollution of air, water, or soil, or from deprivation or limitation of access to water, sewage, electricity, heating, communication, or daylight. In such cases, the office will reject the construction or reconstruction notification and require you to obtain a building permit.

When is the building permit required instead of a construction notification?

• an environmental impact assessment
• an assessment of impact on the Natura 2000 area
• construction works near a structure listed in the register of monuments

If you are unsure whether the object is listed in the register of monuments, check with the office where you are submitting the notification or with the monument conservator.

The architectural and construction administration authority may, by administrative decision, require a building permit for a specific object or construction works subject to notification if their implementation may violate:

• the provisions of the local spatial development plan
• the decision on land development conditions
• or may cause:
  • a threat to the safety of people or property
  • deterioration of the environment or the condition of monuments
  • deterioration of health and sanitary conditions
  • introduction, perpetuation, or increase of restrictions or nuisances for neighboring areas

Building permit instead of notification

If you prefer, you may submit an application for a building permit instead of a construction notification. You do not need to provide a reason for your decision. Attach the appropriate documents to the building permit application.

• county offices (starostwa powiatowe)
• voivodeship offices
• district offices of the City of Warsaw
• city offices with county rights

Since July 5, 2021, the notification can be submitted electronically via the e-Budownictwo portal.

Submit the notification to the county office or city office with county rights.

1. Submit the notification along with the required attachments

Required documents

Depending on the type of investment, submit a notification of construction or reconstruction of a building or installation.

What to attach to the notification

Depending on the type of investment, submit a notification of construction or reconstruction of a building or installation.

Attach the following documents:

• Three copies of the site or land development plan and the architectural and construction design – either in paper form (three copies) or in electronic form – along with opinions, agreements, permits and other documents required under separate legal acts, or copies of those opinions, agreements, permits and other documents
• Statement of the right to dispose of the property for construction purposes
• Decision on land development and land use conditions, if required under the spatial planning and land development regulations
• Permits for the removal or use of artificial islands, structures and facilities in Polish maritime areas, permit for laying and maintaining cables or pipelines in internal maritime waters and the territorial sea, and permit for laying and maintaining cables or pipelines in the exclusive economic zone – if required
• In the case of mining facilities and facilities located in closed areas, administrative ruling on agreement with the architectural and construction administration authority regarding the proposed solutions for building lines and elevations of buildings facing roads, streets, squares and other public places, as well as the layout and technical characteristics of roads, communication lines and utility networks extending beyond the boundaries of the closed area, sea ports and harbors, and connections of these facilities to public utility networks

For the notification of construction of free-standing, no more than two-storey single-family residential buildings with a building footprint of up to 70 m², whose impact area is entirely within the plot(s) on which they are designed, and the construction is carried out to meet the investor’s own housing needs, you must attach a statement that the planned construction is intended to meet your own housing needs.

If the information about investors or proxies (when there is more than one) does not fit on the notification form for the construction or reconstruction of a single-family residential building, attach supplementary information to the application for a building or demolition permit, and to the notification of construction or reconstruction of a single-family residential building.

If the construction works are to be carried out in an area listed in the register of monuments, attach a permit for construction works in the surroundings of a monument.

If you are represented by a proxy, attach the power of attorney – along with proof of payment of the stamp duty for granting it.

Deadline

Submit the construction notification before starting construction works. If you begin construction without submitting the notification or before the office has reviewed it, it will be considered unauthorized construction. You will then face legalization proceedings in the construction supervision authority or demolition of the building.

2. Administrative review of the notification

Incomplete notification with a building design

Missing stamp duty payment

3. Evaluation of eligibility for construction based on the notification

• Compliance of the building design with the local spatial development plan and other local legal acts. If there is no plan, the office will check compliance with the decision on land development conditions or the decision on the location of a public purpose investment
• Compliance of the design with environmental protection requirements, especially those specified in the environmental decision (if required)
• Compliance of the site or land development plan with applicable regulations, including technical and construction regulations
• Completeness of the building design and inclusion of all required opinions, agreements and verifications, as well as the health and safety information prepared by the designer, due to the specific nature of the designed building
• Certificate issued by the relevant professional self-government chamber confirming the designer’s registration
• Whether the design has been verified by a person (if required) with appropriate construction qualifications. The office will verify the certificate of registration of the verifier in the professional chamber
• Whether the investment on the property, which is part of the Real Estate Resource and has been granted perpetual usufruct or sold through a tender procedure, meets the requirements

When the office will not approve the notified construction

• You do not correct the deficiencies in the notification
• The notified construction or works require a building permit
• The investment is not compliant with:
  • the local spatial development plan
  • the decision on land development conditions
  • the decision on the location of a public purpose investment
  • other local legal acts or applicable regulations

• A threat to the safety of people or property
• Deterioration of the environment or the condition of monuments
• Deterioration of health and sanitary conditions
• Introduction or increase of restrictions or nuisances for neighboring areas (if your investment affects adjacent plots)

How you will receive approval for construction

If your notification meets all requirements, the office will accept the construction notification by tacit approval. In such cases, the office is not required to send you any written confirmation of approval. However, it may, before the 21-day deadline, issue an official certificate of no grounds for objection.

4. The office will issue your building design and construction log

Once your notification is accepted, the office will stamp your building design and issue two stamped copies.

You must apply to the office for a construction log, which is issued only upon the investor’s request.

The construction log must be kept in a way that clearly reflects the sequence of construction works, events, and circumstances occurring during the execution of the works. Entries must be made in chronological order, in a permanent and legible manner. A separate construction log must be kept for each building object that requires a building permit or notification. For linear or network structures, the log must be kept separately for each designated section of construction works.

• the progress of construction works
• events and circumstances occurring during the execution of construction works that are relevant for assessing the technical correctness of the works

• participants in the construction process
• a licensed surveyor performing geodetic activities on the construction site
• authorized employees of construction supervision authorities and other bodies entitled to inspect compliance with regulations on the construction site, as part of control activities

• paper form – you receive a log stamped on each page, with the title page containing: log number, date of issue, number of pages, name or company name of the investor, type and address of the construction, notification number and date
• electronic form – you receive access to the Electronic Construction Log system (EDB)

Note: A paper construction log may be continued in electronic form. However, an electronic construction log may only be continued in electronic form.

Received documents

On subsequent pages of the construction log, entries are made regarding the progress of construction works. Each entry must be dated and signed by the person making the entry, including their name, surname, role, and the name of the organizational unit or authority they represent. In the case of a person performing geodetic activities on the construction site, their license number and scope of professional qualifications must also be provided.

Entries must be made in a permanent and legible manner on both the original and copies of the pages. They must be arranged chronologically and in a way that prevents later additions. If corrections to existing entries are necessary, the incorrect text must be crossed out in a way that allows it to be read, and the correct content must be added with justification. Each entry must be confirmed by the person concerned with a signature and date. If the person refuses to confirm, the person making the entry must note this refusal.

If, during the construction works, there is a change of site manager, works manager, investor’s supervision inspector, or designer exercising author supervision, an entry must be made in the log describing the status and security of the construction, demolition, or assembly being handed over. This entry must be confirmed with the date and signatures of both the outgoing and incoming responsible persons.

Protocols related to the construction or prepared during the execution of construction works must be attached to the construction log.

Important: A paper construction log must be kept permanently on the construction site and be accessible to authorized persons.

5. Rozpocznij budowę

• 21 days after submitting the notification, provided that the office has not issued an objection within that period
• after receiving a certificate of no grounds for objection

If the office has not issued such a certificate automatically – and you wish to obtain confirmation of acceptance of the construction notification with a building design – submit an application for a certificate confirming this fact. The application should be submitted to the office where you filed the notification.

The office may issue a decision of objection within 21 days from the date of submitting a complete notification. If it does so after this deadline, you may consider it as no objection.

Before starting construction, notify the construction supervision authority of the intended start date of the construction works.

• 1 PLN per m² of non-residential usable area, but no more than 539 PLN – for the notification of construction of a free-standing single-family residential building
• 0.5 PLN per m² of non-residential usable area, but no more than 269.50 PLN – for the notification of reconstruction of a free-standing single-family residential building
• 2,143 PLN – for the notification of construction of networks: electrical (rated voltage not exceeding 1 kV), gas (operating pressure not exceeding 0.5 MPa), water supply, sewage, heating, telecommunication – with a length over 1 km
• 105 PLN – for the notification of construction of the above-mentioned networks with a length up to 1 km

• construction or reconstruction of a single-family residential building with only residential usable area (including a garage, if not used for business purposes)
• construction or reconstruction of a single-family residential building damaged or destroyed due to mining activity or natural disasters
• construction of free-standing single-storey transformer station buildings and container transformer stations with a building footprint up to 35 m²

Stamp duty is also not payable by investors who are budgetary or local government units, and by persons who present a certificate of receiving social assistance due to poverty.

Stamp duty for a power of attorney (optional): 17 PLN

If you submit a power of attorney to the office, you must pay the stamp duty. You do not pay for a power of attorney granted to a spouse, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling.

Where to pay:
Pay the stamp duty for the power of attorney to the account of the city or municipal office competent for the location of the office where you submit the power of attorney (you can find the account number on the website of the city or municipal office).
For example, if you submit the power of attorney to the Poznań City Office, pay the fee to the account of the Poznań City Office.

You may begin construction 21 days after submitting the notification, but only if the office does not issue a decision of objection. The 21-day period is counted from the date of submitting a complete notification. Therefore, if the notification was supplemented, the period is counted from the date of the supplement or from the expiry of the deadline specified in the administrative ruling requesting the supplement.

Before the 21-day deadline, the office may issue a certificate of no grounds for objection to the submitted construction notification with a building design. Once such a certificate is issued, the office can no longer object. Therefore, once you receive the certificate, you may begin construction.

Important: The office is not required to deliver the decision of objection within the 21-day period. It is sufficient for the office to send the decision by post or enter it into the IT system used to deliver electronic decisions. After the deadline, it is best to contact the office to confirm whether your notification has been accepted.

You may appeal only against a decision of objection to the construction works included in the notification with a building design. Submit the appeal via the office that issued the decision. You have 14 days to do so – counting from the date of receiving the decision.

Your appeal will be handled by:

• the Voivodeship Office – if you submitted the notification to the County Office or a City Office with county rights
• the Main Office of Building Control (GUNB) – if you submitted the notification to the Voivodeship Office

What types of construction do not require a permit or notification?

• Farm buildings related to agricultural production and complementary to farmstead development on an existing homestead plot:
  • single-storey utility buildings with a building footprint up to 35 m² and structural span not exceeding 4.80 m
  • container dryers with a building footprint up to 21 m²
• Sheds with a building footprint up to 50 m², located on a plot with a residential building or designated for residential development, provided that the total number of such sheds does not exceed two per 1,000 m² of plot area
• Free-standing gazebos with a building footprint up to 35 m², with a limit of two such structures per 500 m² of plot area
• Allotment gazebos and utility buildings
• Bus stop and platform shelters
• Single-storey buildings with a building footprint up to 35 m², serving as facilities for the maintenance of railway lines, located on land owned by the State Treasury, excluding buildings located in Natura 2000 areas
• Parking spaces for up to 10 passenger cars, excluding those located in Natura 2000 areas
• Utility buildings with a building footprint up to 35 m² and structural span not exceeding 4.80 m, and ponds or water reservoirs with an area not exceeding 500 m² and depth not exceeding 2 m, intended solely for forest management and located on State Treasury forest land, excluding Natura 2000 areas
• Free-standing telephone booths, cabinets, and telecommunication posts
• Parking meters with independent power supply
• Driveways from county and municipal roads and parking bays on those roads
• Culverts with an internal cross-section up to 0.85 m²
• Private swimming pools and garden ponds with an area up to 50 m²
• Construction objects that are water drainage devices
• Bank reinforcements and other artificial, surface or linear reinforcements of riverbanks, mountain streams, and sea coasts, excluding retaining structures
• Ramps for persons with disabilities
• Telecommunication cable lines
• Measurement devices, including fencing and internal roads, of the national hydrological-meteorological and hydrogeological services:
  • water gauge, meteorological, rainfall, and groundwater stations
  • observation points for groundwater levels and water quality monitoring
  • observation piezometers and protected springs
• Small architectural objects, excluding those located in public spaces
• Fences not exceeding 2.20 m in height
• Temporary construction objects intended for use during construction works, located on the construction site, and trailers used during construction, geological surveys, and geodetic measurements
• Temporary construction objects that are exhibition exhibits only, with no functional use, located in designated exhibition areas
• Geodetic markers and triangulation structures, outside national parks and nature reserves
• Military training structures, including defensive positions, crossings, earthworks, fortifications, temporary installations, and container structures, located in closed areas designated by the Minister of National Defence for military exercises using field camps and terrain fortifications for simulated combat
• Enclosures of groundwater intakes
• Charging points
• Devices located in the road lane of public roads, including foundations, support structures, and associated equipment:
  • for road management, including intelligent transport systems
  • for traffic management, including road safety devices
• ATMs, ticket machines, deposit machines, vending machines, parcel lockers, or other service machines up to 3 m in height
• Container structures with installations and connections, and associated networks:
  • electrical
  • water supply
  • sanitary sewage
  • heating

• Above-ground tanks that are construction objects, used for storing Class III liquid fuels for the user’s own needs, with a capacity up to 5 m³
• Ground-level terraces with a building footprint up to 35 m²
• Ponds and water reservoirs with an area not exceeding 1,000 m² and depth not exceeding 3 m, located entirely on agricultural land

What construction works do not require either a permit or a notification

Reconstruction of:

• buildings that require a building permit, including single-family residential buildings, excluding reconstruction of external partitions and structural elements
• certain structures that do not require a building permit but do require authorization
• buildings involving thermal insulation, provided the building does not exceed 12 m in height
• construction equipment

Renovation of:

• construction objects, excluding renovation of structures that require a building permit
• buildings that require a building permit – limited to external partitions or structural elements
• construction equipment

Installation of:

• equipment on construction objects, whether or not they form a complete technical and functional unit, including antenna support structures and radiocommunication installations, as well as related accessories and power supply devices, not exceeding 3 m in height
• grilles on construction objects, excluding installation of grilles on multi-family residential buildings, public utility buildings, and collective housing
• heat pumps, free-standing solar collectors, photovoltaic devices with an installed electrical capacity not exceeding 50 kW, provided that for photovoltaic devices with a capacity exceeding 6.5 kW, the design must be:
  • reviewed by a fire safety expert for compliance with fire protection requirements ("fire safety review")
  • submitted to the State Fire Service
• installations inside and outside an occupied building, excluding gas installations

Other works:

• hardening of ground surfaces on building plots

How to change the site or land development plan and the architectural and construction design

Where to find information about accepted notifications with a site or land development plan and architectural and construction design

On the website of the Main Office of Building Control (GUNB), you will find the Register of Applications, Decisions, and Notifications in construction matters. The register includes data on, among others, notifications of construction with a building design. It contains only decisions issued by the competent authority in the first instance.

Additionally, offices handling construction notifications with a building design publish information in their Public Information Bulletin (BIP) regarding:

• submission of the notification – including the investor’s name, address, and the address and description of the planned object
• issuance of a decision of objection – including the date of the objection
• expiry of the objection period – including confirmation that no objection was issued