The Croatian government on Thursday adopted two draft acts aimed at making the issuance of building permits faster and reducing the administrative burden in the field of construction and architecture.

Construction and Zoning Minister Predrag Stromar ttold the cabinet that draft amendments to the legislation on professions in zoning and construction reduce the administrative barriers.

The amendments refer to the to legislation on chambers of architects and of civil and urban planning engineers and would rescind compulsory membership of the chamber for construction site managers, for which employers have had to pay 1,800 kuna annually so far.

However, the four chambers which may be impacted by the changes disagree with the proposed changes. They insist that the revocation of mandatory membership for construction site managers would make doing business tougher and would also increase costs. In the event of paying no fee to the chamber, construction site managers are left without the benefits which the membership brings, such as the coverage of professional indemnity insurance and free legal aid.

All that can also bring into question the quality of the constructed structures, the chambers say.

The minister reiterated today that that in Croatia some 300 professions and occupations were regulated whereas across the European Union there were 200 regulated professions and occupations on average.