Regulatory plan (regulační plán)

A regulatory plan (regulační plán, RP) is the most detailed Czech zoning document. For a defined area it sets detailed conditions for defining and using plots, for the location and spatial layout of buildings including their connection to transport and utility infrastructure, and for protecting the values and character of the area. It is prepared if the municipal council so decides, and the council also issues it as a measure of a general nature. It is binding for decisions about the territory, and its drawings are usually issued at a scale of 1:1,000.

What it can set

• the street line (the boundary between plots and the public space) and the building line (where the edge of the building must lie),
• distances between buildings and from plot boundaries,
• the footprint, height, volume and shape of buildings,
• basic capacity data and which parts of a plot may be built on,
• conditions for greenery and the territorial system of ecological stability,
• where relevant, public benefit constructions and measures for which land can be expropriated.

Relation to the zoning plan

The zoning plan may, in selected areas such as a large development area, make the issue of a regulatory plan a condition for decisions about the territory. The deadline for this may not exceed 6 years; if it passes without result, the condition lapses. Similarly detailed conditions can also be part of a zoning plan with elements of a regulatory plan. A less binding basis for the same purpose is a planning study.

What changed with the new Building Act

Under Act No. 183/2006 Coll. a regulatory plan could replace a zoning decision and could also be prepared at an investor's request. The new Building Act, fully applicable to spatial planning since 1 July 2024, rules out both, and a regulatory plan can no longer create a pre-emption right. With some exceptions, regulatory plans issued under the previous Act are treated as plans under the new Act and will be brought into line with it at their next amendment. An amendment signed in September 2026 also entrusts the preparation of regulatory plans to the municipality in its own competence from 1 January 2027.

Frequently asked questions

What does a regulatory plan mean for a buyer?

Where one applies, it is set in advance where and how large a building can be built on a plot, and the building authority follows its conditions. Regulatory plans are prepared only for some areas; most municipalities have only a zoning plan.