Changes in town-planning legislation

Pepeliaev Group advises that amendments have been adopted to town-planning legislation which, among other things, enable the Russian Government to approve the procedure for adopting draft site design documentation and simplify the extension of a construction permit.

The amendments are provided for by Federal Law No. 305-FZ dated 10 July 2023Federal Law No. 305-FZ dated 10 July 2023 “On amending the Russian Town-Planning Code and individual legislative instruments of the Russian Federation and on repealing individual provisions of legislative instruments of the Russian Federation”.
 that comes into force on 1 September 2023

Let us consider the main amendments.

Redistribution of the powers of public authorities

The Russian Government receives an exclusive power to establish:

• the procedure for drafting and passing a decision to approve, change and cancel site design documentation that is drafted based on decisions of state and municipal authorities (previously, any regulatory instrument could establish this procedure);

• the procedure for drafting and approving site designs with respect to territories of historical settlement (previously such right was also provided to the constituent entities of the Russian Federation).

“One-stop shop” state expert reviews

The Russian Government may establish the procedure for the following expert reviews to be carried out according to the “one-stop shop” principle: (1) the state expert review of design documentation and (2) the state environmental review of design documentation.

Also, the legislature has brought the maximum timeframe for the state environmental review to be carried out into line with a similar timeframe of the state expert review of design documentation. Now both expert reviews can be carried out within not more than 42 business days, which timeframe may be extended in accordance with an application of the customer for a period of not more than 25 business days.  

The digitalisation of the construction sector is also continuing. Now the information about the environmental expert opinion will be posted on the website of the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources (in Russian, abbreviated to ‘Rosprirodnadzor’) on a mandatory basis.

Secondary liability of Self-Regulating Organisations

The law has established secondary liability of self-regulating organisations (SROs) at the expense of monetary funds from the compensation fund with a view to compensating the harm caused directly to the owner of a building or a structure following the capital construction facility being destroyed or damaged, in the event of the insolvency of a member of an SRO.

A moratorium on the extension of a construction permit being denied

A discrepancy has been eliminated whereby it was allowed to deny the extension of a construction permit owing to the town-planning configuration of a land plot being changed and at the same time it was allowed to commission the facility.  

The legislature has balanced these situations: the facility under construction is checked for compliance with the permitted use of the land plot and with the legislative restrictions in force as at the date when the construction permit is issued, rather than as at the date when the decision is made to amend the construction permit. This rule is in force in the period until 1 January 2025 for construction permits issued before 1 January 2023.

What to think about and what to do

The amendments that are provided for may reduce the risk of the extension of the construction permit being denied.

The Russian Government can be expected to approve a new procedure for approving site designs and for expert reviews to be carried out.

We recommend, in any case, performing detailed legal due diligence before construction and before permission documents are obtained.

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