Farmland protection class (I-V)
Czech farmland is ranked in five classes by quality (I most valuable, V least). The class decides how hard it is to take the land for building.
The Czech Act on the protection of the agricultural land fund divides farmland by quality into five protection classes. The actual assignment is set by Decree No. 48/2011 Coll. according to the BPEJ code: each of the 2,995 codes belongs to one class. Class I covers the most valuable soils, class V the soils least important for farming.
How to read the classes
- Class I: the most valuable soils, typically deep chernozems, brown earths on loess and medium-textured alluvial soils on flat land. Only 108 BPEJ codes fall into it.
- Class II: very good soils, such as chernozems and brown earths in less favourable positions or part of the alluvial soils; protected as strictly as class I (231 codes).
- Classes III and IV: soils whose quality is reduced by slope, shallower depth or waterlogging, as with most gleyed soils and stagnosols (501 and 852 codes).
- Class V: the soils least important for farming, such as shallow and stony soils, slopes over 12°, gullies or permanently waterlogged gleysols. It is the largest group (1,303 codes).
What it means for building
When land is removed from the agricultural land fund, the Act requires lower-quality land to be used first. Class I and II land may be removed, or designated for another use in a zoning plan, only where another public interest clearly outweighs protection of the agricultural land fund. Since 1 January 2025 it cannot be removed for retail or warehouse projects over 1 ha or for solar power plants, except agrivoltaics and other statutory exceptions and transitional rules.
The class also affects the levy paid for removal. Since 1 July 2024 the base rate is multiplied by a coefficient of 11 for class I, 8 for class II, 5 for class III and 4 for classes IV and V.
Watch out for
The strict rule for classes I and II does not apply at the permit stage to a project on an area that the zoning plan has already designated for non-agricultural use. Consent to removal and a levy are, however, usually still required. Protection classes apply only to farmland; the parcel under a house has no class.
Where can I find the class?
The annex to Decree No. 48/2011 Coll. and the VÚMOP BPEJ e-catalogue give the class for each BPEJ code. The BPEJ code of a specific parcel is recorded in the land register.
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The explanation is general and informative, not legal advice. Binding are the land register, the zoning plan and other official sources.