Clampdown on Illegal Buildings Planned

02. 04. 2013

Clampdown on Illegal Buildings Planned


Recent revelations about rampant illegal construction, in particular on the coast, have led to calls for a clampdown on the practice and better oversight. The Surveying and Mapping Authority (GURS) thinks it has a solution.

 

A large part of the problem in detection of illegally-built houses would be to set up a system that links up data on plots to data on building permits, GURS director Aleš Seliškar has told the STA.

 

"When these records are up and running, it will be clear for each building whether it has a building permit," he said.

The system is currently being tested in the Postojna administrative unit and is scheduled for nation-wide rollout next year.

 

Media coverage of illegal buildings has also cast the spotlight on inspection services, in particular in the case of the boss of grid operator Eles, Vitoslav Türk.

 

 

Türk's family illegally built a 380 m2 villa on the coast. The inspection authority was informed about the building in 2007 but no action has been taken since.

 

The transport, energy and spatial planning inspectorate, which is in charge of building inspectors, says that inspection procedures are too long and complex.

 

Moreover, the 73 building inspectors are simply inundated with work, having for example received over 4,000 new cases last year alone.

 

Given the number of cases and the number of inspectors, it is "impossible to complete all procedures in the statutory time frame," the inspection service told the STA.

 

The inspectorate believes the legislation needs to change and new inspectors have to be hired.

 

Source: Slovenia times

 

Clampdown on Illegal Buildings Planned