Bulgarian Cabinet passed on March 26 a draft bill which was set to amend the Spatial Planning Act. The amendments were formulated by the Directorate for National Building Control and the Regional Development and Public Works Ministry, and envisaged stronger regulation for new construction in cities across Bulgaria.

Proposed amendments would alter the categorisation of buildings, which regulated the maximum allowed height of buildings in relation to the attractiveness of the territory in which they are located, Stroitelstvo Gradut reports.

Future building designs would be approved by chief architect Petar Dikov, the regional governor and the Regional Development Minister.

Consultant companies would be registered by the state directorate instead of the current practice of licensing by the Regional Development Ministry.

This is where confusion would begin. Dams would be designated as category one and apartment blocks would no longer be designated as category four. Houses and apartment blocks would no longer fall in one category.

Third category buildings would be structures of up to 30m in height and with at least 5000 sq m in gross floor area.  Second category buildings could exceed 30m in height and they would have no limitations in gross floor area.

Furthermore, the chief architect, regional governors and the minister of regional development would only regulate the construction of new buildings after a design conformity assessment would have been formulated by a supervisory consultant. Administrative officials would have to investigate if the design was within criteria of zoning plans, the specific building code, as well as any specific regulation for the relevant area.

For a building that would rise above 45 m in height, the local municipal council would control design and approval. The construction would be subject to a special procedure approved by the municipal council. For such buildings, a special permit would be issued for investment planning and design.