New regulations regarding the conditions of connection to the water and sewage system

Important changes are planned regarding the conditions of connection to the water supply and sewage system. The legislator decided to introduce top-down requirements regarding the rules and deadlines for issuing connection conditions in order to improve the investment process.

To date, issues related to the issue of conditions for connection to the water and sewage network should be regulated by the regulations on water supply and sewage disposal, adopted by the commune council. The Act on Collective Water Supply and Collective Sewage Disposal does not, however, contain guidelines for municipalities in the above-mentioned scope, therefore each commune may regulate the conditions of issuing conditions differently. This situation is not conducive to the predictability of the investment process and is a significant barrier to the efficient implementation of construction investments.

The amendment to the Act on collective water supply and collective sewage disposal provides, among others:

1. determining the deadlines for issuing the conditions of connection to the water supply and sewage system (21 days for single-family residential houses and 45 days for other facilities);
2. introduction of administrative fines for delayed issuing of connection conditions to the water and sewage network by water and sewage companies in the amount of PLN 500 for each day of delay; the authority authorized to impose a penalty will be the director of the regional water management board of the State Water Water Management;
3. prohibition for water and sewage companies charging fees of:

• issuing technical conditions for connecting to the network, updating, changing or transferring to another entity,
• receiving the connection,
• connecting the connection to the water supply and sewage system,
• all other related permits that the company issues;

4. determining the two-year period of validity of the connection conditions issued by the water and sewage enterprise;
5. the prohibition of making the acceptance of water and sewage connections by water and sewage companies conditional upon obtaining a building permit or submitting construction works if they are not required under the provisions of the Act of 7 July 1994 – Construction Law.

Adopted changes in regulations impose on water and sewage companies the obligation to adapt their current practice and the agreements, regulations and tariffs used to comply with new legal regulations, in particular to waive the collection of certain fees and comply with statutory deadlines for issuing connection conditions. On the other hand, the introduced changes should improve the situation of participants in the construction process through greater predictability and acceleration of the process of issuing connection conditions. The amending Act is currently awaiting the signature of the President. The anticipated vacatio legis period is 6 months.

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