On March 3 this year The president signed the act of February 13, 2020 amending the act – Construction Law and some other acts.
Article 5 of the amendment concerns amendments to the Energy Law, primarily in terms of connection conditions for the electricity, gas and heating networks. Currently, in accordance with art. 7 item 8g of the Energy Law Act, there are two time limits for the issue of connection conditions – 30 days for connection to a network with a rated voltage of up to 1 kV and 150 days for connection to a network with a voltage higher than 1kV. The amendment makes the deadlines dependent on energy groups introduced pursuant to the Regulation of the Minister of Economy of 4 May 2007 on the detailed conditions for the functioning of the power system.
Pursuant to the amendment, the deadlines for the issue of connection conditions are counted from the date of submission of the application, or in the case of producers connected to the network above 1 kV from the date of the advance payment.
- for customers connected to the network with a voltage not higher than 1 kV from group V (up to 40 kW) or VI (temporary connection) – 21 days
- in the case of applications from group IV (power above 40 kW connected to the network with voltage not higher than 1 kV) – 30 days
- in the case of applicants, connection to a network with voltage above 1 kV from groups III or IV (devices above 40kW) not equipped with sources – 60 days
- for applicants from groups III or IV equipped with sources – 120 days
- in the case of group I or II (connection to the 110 kV network and above) – 150 days.
In addition, the amendment modifies the provisions regarding the performance of works involving the installation of photovoltaic devices (Article 29 (4) (3) (c):
It does not require a building permit or notification for construction works involving the installation of:
c) heat pumps, free-standing solar collectors, photovoltaic devices with an installed electrical capacity of not more than 50 kW, with the proviso that for photovoltaic devices with an installed electrical capacity of more than 6.5 kW, the obligation to agree on compliance with the requirements of fire protection design applies of these devices and notifications of the State Fire Service authorities referred to in art. 56 section 1a of this Act;
Despite the resignation from the construction design, reference to art. 56 section 1a of the Act – Construction Law, which deals with the reconciliation of construction projects and, as a consequence, carries the risk of imposing administrative burdens associated with them, such as the need to attach comprehensive documentation appropriate for buildings.