New building act places heritage sites in danger, warns Czech head of ICOMOS

The newly passed building act places 40,000 listed buildings in the Czech Republic in danger, heritage architect and the President of the Czech ICOMOS National Committee Václav Girsa said on Thursday. The head of the Czech branch of the International Council on Monuments and Sites has urged politicians to add an amendment that would add the protection of cultural heritage to the building act.

Earlier this week, the Chamber of Deputies voted to overrule an earlier Senate veto and pass the building act, legislation prepared by the Ministry for Regional Development which aims to speed up the building process.