Taking counsel: New Measures to Prevent Unauthorized Construction

  • 2006-11-22
  • by Egle Lauraityte
Recent and numerous public scandals over unauthorized construction have triggered a debate in the media and state institutions about prevention measures and builder liability.

According to data provided by the State Territory Planning and Construction Inspectorate of the Republic of Lithuania, there were 578 unauthorized construction projects in 2004, 686 in 2005 and from Jan-Oct. 2006 there were 401. Moreover, 325 unauthorized construction projects were legalized in 2005, and from Jan-Jun., 2006, 175 unauthorized construction projects were legalized. Even if statistics show that the number of unauthorized construction projects has decreased this year, it still occurs quite often. Therefore, new amendments to the Law on Construction were introduced on Oct. 31, 2006 with one of the objectives being to reduce the numbers of unauthorized construction.

What is Unauthorized Construction?
The new amendments to the Law changed the definition of an unauthorized construction project and broadened its meaning. Before the amendments came into force, construction of a building was considered unauthorized only if it was started without the required construction permit. However, since Oct. 31, 2006, unauthorized construction is also considered construction with an invalid or invalidated permit as well as construction projects that have a valid construction permit but are in violation of the main design solutions of construction work.

It is interesting that the new amendments to the Law establish an exhaustive list of what is to be considered the "main design solutions." For example, the location of the building on the plot of land, the purpose of the plot of land, the building and its parts, the permitted height of the building, etc. Therefore, any other deviation from the design solution would not be considered as an unauthorized construction. In such a case the builder may be authorized by the respective officers to make changes in the design of a building according to the requirements or to eliminate other violations of the design documentation, or to remodel the building according to the requirements.

What are the Consequences?
The amendments to the Law made significant changes to the legal consequences of unauthorized construction. As mentioned above, the previous wording of the Law in certain cases allowed the legalization of an unauthorized construction project. The new amendments to the Law revoke the provisions permitting the legalization of buildings that have already been constructed or that are under construction without proper authorization. Thus, currently, in case of an unauthorized construction, the respective institutions or court shall have the right to oblige the builder to either demolish the building or to remodel it to be in accordance with set requirements.

Other Issues
However, certain questions still remain to be answered. One of the major concerns is whether the new requirements of the Law will actually be applied to finished unauthorized construction projects or those that were started before Oct. 31, 2006. The new provisions of the Law take an interesting approach. Administrative decisions, which were adopted before Oct. 31, 2006, shall be executed under the previous wording of the Law. However, by this rationale, an administrative decision adopted after Oct. 31, 2006 that concerns an unauthorized construction project which has been started or finished before this date, would still be executed under the new requirements of the Law. Therefore, certain concerns regarding the legitimate expectations of builders as well as practical issues in regard to demolishing already constructed buildings, which have the possibility of being recognized as an unauthorized construction according to the broadened definition, may arise in the future.

Egle Lauraityte is advocate of Jurevicius, Balciunas & Bartkus, a member of Baltic Legal Solutions, a pan-Baltic integrated legal network of law firms including Teder Glikman & Partnerid in Estonia and Kronbergs & Cukste in Latvia, dedicated to providing a quality 'one-stop shop' approach to clients' needs in the Baltics.