1. REPUBLIC OF CROATIA
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, PHYSICAL PLANNING AND
CONSTRUCTION
PHYSICAL PLANNING SYSTEM
Zagreb, August 2006
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2. I. General information
1. Statistical data
Area of the Republic of Croatia:
Inland 56,542 km2
Territorial sea 31,067 km2
Total 87,609 km2
Population: 4,437,460
Population density: 78,4 inhabitants/km2
Urban population: 69,08%
Rural population: 30,92%
Structure of inland development:
a) unbuilt areas:
waters 01,68%
forests 34,92%
agricultural areas 35,22%
other 20,53%
b) built areas:
settlements 03,82%
out of settlements 00,83 %
other 01,34%
c) infrastructure 01,66%
Source: 2001 census
2. Organization of state administration
General features of the administrative organization
The basic organization of administration in the state and in regional and local self-government
units, as well as the territorial division of the state, is regulated in the Law on the State
Administration System, several ordinances issued on the basis of that law, the Law on Local and
Regional Self-government, the Law on Counties, Towns and Municipalities of the Republic of
Croatia, and the Law on the City of Zagreb. State administration is responsible for direct law
enforcement, adopting appropriate operational instruments, administrative supervision and other
administrative and professional work determined by law.
State administration work is carried out by bodies of state administration that are divided into:
central bodies of state administration (ministries and state administrative organizations) with
their regional units in counties, towns and municipalities; and subordinate to them state
administrative offices in counties, with their section offices in towns and municipalities. County
offices of state administration generally perform first instance state administrative work, and
central bodies of state administration second instance work. In the territory of the City of Zagreb,
first instance state administration work is performed by city administration offices (city offices
competent for certain administrative fields). However, it is not unusual for central bodies of state
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3. administration to perform first instance state administration work directly or through their regional
units. Bodies of regional and local self-government and other legal persons that have public
authority may be charged with state administrative work that is regulated by special laws.
The territory of the Republic of Croatia is divided into 21 units of regional self-government (20
counties and the City of Zagreb that functions as a county) and each county is divided into
several units of local self-government (cities and municipalities), within which local committees
are formed. In the Republic of Croatia there are 546 local self-government units, whereof 123
towns and 423 municipalities.
The county is a unit of regional self-government whose area represents a natural, historical,
traffic, economic, social and self-governing entity; it is constituted to perform activities of regional
interest, and especially activities related to: schooling, health, physical and urban planning,
economic development, traffic and traffic infrastructure, planning and developing a network of
educational, health, social welfare and cultural institutions.
A town is a unit of local self-government that is a county seat, and any settlement of over 10,000
inhabitants that is an urban, historical, natural, economic and social entity. A town can
exceptionally be a settlement that does not comply with the foregoing conditions if there is a
special reason for this (historical, economic, position in the traffic network). Suburban
settlements that are economically and socially part of a town and are linked to it by daily
migration and the local needs of the citizens may be considered part of the town as a unit of
local self-government. A municipality is a unit of local self-government. It is usually founded for
an area with several settlements that represent a natural, economic and social entity and that
are linked by mutual interests of the inhabitants. The town and the municipality perform local
self-government activities that directly satisfy the needs of their inhabitants, except activities that
have by the Constitution or law been assigned to state bodies. They especially carry out
activities that relate to: settlement development and housing, physical and urban planning, utility
activities, child care, social welfare, primary health protection, education, culture, physical culture
and sports, consumer protection, environmental protection and development, fire protection and
civil defence. Units of local self-government found local committees to directly involve citizens in
deciding on local activities that immediately affect their everyday life and work. A local committee
is founded for a single settlement, several small settlements or for part of a bigger settlement
that is separate from other settlements and forms a delimited entity.
Units of regional and local self-government are legal persons with representative bodies (county
assembly, City of Zagreb assembly, town council and municipal council) and executive bodies
(county prefect, county government, mayor and town government, and municipal prefect). The
representative bodies pass regulations and other acts within their scope of work. The executive
bodies perform activities in the competence of the self-government unit and activities of state
administration that are delegated to the unit, through administrative bodies (administrative
departments and sections, and central administrative department).
Special (departmental) laws regulate particular administrative fields and determine the
competence of local self-government units, that is, the activities that the regional or local self-
government unit is obliged to ensure, and the activities that it may perform if it has secured the
necessary prerequisites.
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4. Division of competences in the field of physical planning
National level
The Croatian Parliament (Sabor) adopts strategic physical planning documents (National
Physical Planning Strategy and Programme), a four-year programme of measures for improving
conditions throughout the state. Currently the enforcement of all physical planning documents
(including the ones adopted by units of regional and local self-government) is within the
competence of state administration bodies (Ministry of Environmental Protection, Physical
Planning and Construction for structures of state significance, and county state administration
offices, or the City of Zagreb office, for other developments in space), and is carried out through
the issuance of location permits, excerpts from detailed development plans, decisions on the
establishment of building plots and confirmation of parcelling studies on building land
parcellation. Also granting of approvals to proposals of physical plans, in order to achieve
alignment of physical plans of a narrower area with those of a broader area, is under the
competence of state administration bodies.
Regional level (counties) and local level (towns and municipalities)
In the context of physical planning, representative bodies of regional and local self-government
units adopt regional plans and four-year programme of measures for improving physical
conditions on the territory and at the level covered by the unit. They also give their opinion on
physical planning documents for a wider territory or a higher level. The administrative bodies of
regional and local self-government units monitor the state of the space, prepare documentation
on monitoring of the state of the space, organize the preparation and enactment of physical
plans, and perform other professional work in this connection. County physical planning
institutes, if they fulfil the prescribed requirements, may prepare county physical plans, whereas
the physical planning institute of the City of Zagreb may prepare the Physical Plan of the City of
Zagreb.
Overview of physical planning legislation
The backbone of the legislation on physical planning in the Republic of Croatia consists of the
Physical Planning Act (Official gazette Narodne novine, no. 30/94, 68/98, 61/00, 32/02 and
100/04) - hereinafter: PPA, and the following subordinate regulations for its implementation:
- Regulation on Determining Buildings that are Significant for the Republic
of Croatia (Official gazette Narodne novine, no. 6/00 and 68/03)
- Ordinance on the Conditions to be Satisfied by the County or City Institute for Physical
Planning for the Preparation of Physical Plans (Official gazette Narodne novine, no. 104/98),
- Ordinance on Issuing Consents for Registering Legal Persons Engaged in Professional
Activities of Physical Planning into the Company Registry (Official gazette Narodne
novine, no. 127/99),
- Regulation on Public Debate in the Procedure of Physical Plan Adoption (Official gazette
Narodne novine, no. 101/98),
- Ordinance on the content, criteria for map projections, required spatial indicators and the
standards of physical planning studies (Official gazette Narodne novine, no. 106/98, 39/04,
45/04 and 163/04),
- Ordinance on Determining Developments in Space that do not Require Site Permits (Official
gazette Narodne novine, no. 86/04 and 138/04),
- Ordinance on Spatial Standards, Urban-Planning and Technical Requirements, and
Standards for Preventing Architectural and Urban-Planning Barriers (Official gazette Narodne
novine, no. 47/82),
- Ordinance on Measures of Protection from Natural Disasters and War
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5. Threats in Physical Planning and Development (Official gazette Narodne novine, no. 29/83,
36/85 and 42/86),
- Ordinance on the Official Identity Card of Inspectors of the Urban-Planning Inspection of the
Ministry of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction (Official gazette
Narodne novine, no. 1/05),
- Ordinance on Granting and Withdrawing Approval for Performing Expert Tasks of Physical
Planning (Official gazette Narodne novine, no. 21/06 and 53/06),
- Regulation on Protected Coastal Area Development and Conservation (Official gazette
Narodne novine, no. 128/04),
- Decision on Municipalities Allowed to Adopt Physical Plans for the Development of the
Municipality with Reduced Content (Official gazette Narodne novine, no. 163/04).
Furthermore, part of the legislation on physical planning consists of physical
planning documents that are adopted on the grounds of the PPA.
A major part of the legislation consists of special (departmental) laws that regulate specific
administrative areas and subordinate regulations adopted in accordance with those laws.
The Physical Planning Act (1994) regulates the organization of the physical planning system,
monitoring of the state of the space, adoption of physical planning documents, enforcement of
physical planning documents and supervision over the enforcement of this Act.
The Physical Planning Act is structured in the following way:
I. GENERAL PROVISIONS
II. ORGANIZATION OF THE PHYSICAL PLANNING SYSTEM
III. DOCUMENTS OF MONITORING THE STATE OF THE SPACE
(Four-year reports on the state of the space and four-year programmes of measures for
the improvement of the state of the space in the territory of the State, counties (regional
level) and towns and municipalities (local level))
IV. PHYSICAL PLANNING DOCUMENTS
(1. Physical Planning Strategy and Programme of the State; 2. Physical plans: physical
plan of a county and the City of Zagreb, physical plan of an area of special features,
physical plan for the development of a municipality and a town, master urban development
plan, urban development plan, and detailed development plan)
V. ENFORCEMENT OF PHYSICAL PLANNING DOCUMENTS (1. Location permit, 2.
Enforcement measures)
VI. SUPERVISION
VII. PENALTY CLAUSES
VIII. TRANSITIONAL AND CONCLUDING PROVISIONS
II. Content and procedures of physical Planning according to
current legislation
1. Basic features of legislation and physical plans
Basic features
The basic purpose of the physical planning system in the Republic of Croatia is to plan and
develop the territory of the state in order to create conditions for managing, protecting and
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6. administering it as a specially valuable and limited national resource, thus laying the ground for
social and economic development, environmental protection and rational use of
natural resources.
Physical planning is based on the following principles: integral approach to planning, even
economic, social and cultural development of the entire state, while caring for and developing
regional features, sustainable development and rational use and protection of the environment,
protection of integral environmental values and environmental protection and development,
protection of cultural monuments and specially valuable natural areas and features, ensuring
better living conditions, coordinating the interests of the users of an area with priority activities in
the area, harmonizing the environmental development of individual parts of an area, inking state
territory with European environmental organization, openness to the public and free access to
data and documents significant for physical planning, in accordance with these and other special
regulations, establishing a database about the environment, for planning, using and
protecting the environment.
The system of physical planning includes and regulates:
- the organization and obligations of actors in the planning and plan implementation processes,
- monitoring of the state of the space, resulting in a four-year report on the state of the space
and a programme of measures for the improvement of the state of the space, on the State,
regional and local levels,
- preparing and adopting physical planning documents (National Physical Planning Strategy and
Programme, and physical and urban development plans),
- preparing physical and urban development plans and doing other professional work of physical
planning,
- implementing physical planning documents through location permits and detailed development
planning,
- administrative and inspection supervision over PPA implementation.
The physical planning documents are:
− Physical Planning Strategy and Programme of the State;
− Physical plans:
o physical plan of a county and the City of Zagreb;
o physical plan of an area of special features;
o physical plan for the development of a municipality and a town;
o master urban development plan;
o urban development plan; and
o detailed development plan
Physical planning documents have the force and legal nature of subordinate regulations.
Physical plans consist of a textual and a cartographic part, implementation provisions and other
elements of relevance to plan implementation. By the decision on the adoption of a physical plan,
the constituent parts thereof and implementation provisions are determined. The decision is
published in the Official Gazette or the official bulletin of the local self-government and
government unit adopting the physical plan. A physical plan of a closer area shall conform with
the physical plan of a wider area. In case of their non-conformity, the plan of a wider area applies.
The necessary finance for the preparation of physical planning documents are secured by the
state budget, the budget of local self-government and government units and from other sources.
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7. The necessary finance for the preparation of physical planning documents adopted by the
Parliament of the Republic of Croatia are secured by the state budget.
The Physical Planning Act determines a protected coastal area consisting of all islands
and a 1,000-m wide mainland and a 300-m wide marine belt measured from the coastline
and representing an area of special interest to the Republic of Croatia. By the Regulation
on Protected Coastal Area Development and Conservation special conditions are laid
down for the planning, development and utilization of the protected coastal area for the
purpose of its conservation. All physical plans within the protected coastal area and plans
whose parts are within this area are adopted upon obtaining approval from the Ministry of
Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction.
Planning at the national level
The Physical Planning Strategy and Programme of the State set out long-term objectives of
spatial development and physical planning in conformity with the overall economic, social and
cultural development. The Strategy contains the essential elements for harmonization and
orientation of the spatial development, spatial organization of the State, priority development
activities and planning entities of common spatial and development features for which physical
plans or other physical planning documents will be adopted. The Physical Planning Programme
of the State lays down measures and activities needed for implementation of the Physical
Planning Strategy of the State. The Programme contains basic objectives of the development in
the space, criteria and guidelines for the development of spatial and other entities and proposed
priorities in the accomplishment of physical planning objectives. Based on natural, economic,
social and cultural starting points, the Programme provides a base for organization, protection,
use and purpose of the space, environmental protection and improvement, the system of central
settlements and the development infrastructure system of the State. The Physical Planning
Strategy and Programme of the State are adopted by the Parliament of the Republic of Croatia.
Planning at the regional level
The county or City of Zagreb physical plan contains the spatial and economic structure of the
county and the City of Zagreb respectively, the system of central settlements of regional
importance, the regional infrastructure development system, starting points for the development
and protection of the space, criteria and guidelines for economic development, for preservation
and improvement of natural, cultural, historical and landscape values, environmental
improvement and protection measures, including other elements of relevance to the county and
the City of Zagreb respectively. These physical plans are adopted by the county and the City
assembly respectively upon obtaining the approval of the Ministry confirming the conformity of the
plan with the Physical Planning Strategy and Programme of the State and with the provisions of
the PPA. A common physical plan may be prepared for the area of two or more counties.
The physical plan of an area of special features is prepared for areas of common natural, cultural
or other features and shall be obligatorily adopted for the area of a national and nature park and
for areas for which this has been made obligatory by the Physical Planning Programme of the
State or the county physical plan. The physical plan of areas of special features is adopted by the
county and the City assembly respectively. Physical plans of a national and nature park and for
areas for which this has been made obligatory by the Physical Planning Programme of the State
are adopted by the Parliament of the Republic of Croatia.
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8. Planning at the local level
The physical plan for the development of a municipality or a town lays down the conditions for the
development of a municipal and urban area and determines the appropriate use, purpose,
shaping, rehabilitation and restoration of the building and other land, environmental protection
and protection of cultural monuments and specially valuable parts of nature of a municipality and
a town respectively. The physical plan includes essential elements for the development in space,
physical planning objectives, intended use of the space, criteria, guidelines, measures and
conditions for the use, protection and development of the space, as well as other elements of
relevance to the area of the municipality and the town respectively. The physical plan may impose
the obligation to prepare detailed space development plans for narrower areas in the territory of
the municipality and the town respectively. The physical plan for the development of a
municipality or a town is adopted by the municipal and the town council respectively upon
obtainment of the approval of the county institute confirming the conformity of the plan with the
county physical plan. For islands with several local self-government units a unique physical plan
is prepared.
The master development plan sets forth the basic organization of the space, the protection of
natural, cultural and historical values and the use and purpose of the land, proposing priorities in
the development thereof. The master plan includes the method and forms of protection and use,
conditions and guidelines for the development and protection of the space, measures for
environmental improvement and protection, areas of special spatial and other features and other
elements of relevance to the respective area. The master plan may also impose the obligation to
prepare detailed space development plans for narrower areas within the range covered by the
plan. A master development plan is adopted for settlements with a registered seat of county
bodies, for the City of Zagreb and other settlements with more than 15,000 inhabitants. The
boundaries of areas covered by the master plan are determined by the physical plan for the
development of a municipality or a town, or by the physical plan of the City of Zagreb. The master
plan is adopted by the municipal or the town council or the City assembly.
The urban development plan is adopted for settlements or parts of settlements with registered
seat of towns, for settlements or parts of settlements that are registered as historical urban
entities, and for settlements as determined by a county physical plan or the physical plan of the
City of Zagreb, or by the Programme of measures respectively.
By this plan the essential conditions are determined for the use and purpose of public and other
areas for the settlement or part of settlement, the transport or street and utility network, and
depending on specific spatial features, guidelines for shaping, utilisation and development of the
space. The urban plan contains the modes and forms for the use and development of public and
other areas, the modes for the development of the transport or street and utility network, as well
as other elements depending on the coverage area. The urban plan may also impose the
obligation to prepare detailed development plans for narrower areas within the range covered by
the plan. The boundaries of areas covered by the urban development plan are determined by
the physical plan for the development of a municipality or a town, or by the physical plan of the
City of Zagreb or the master urban plan of the City of Zagreb. The urban development plan is
adopted by the municipal or the town council or the assembly of the City of Zagreb..
The detailed development plan sets forth the detailed purpose of the land, land development
modes, the method of providing the land with the utility, transport and telecommunication
infrastructure, conditions for building construction works and performance of other activities in the
space, including other elements of relevance to the area covered by the plan. The obligation of
preparation and the procedure and method of adopting a detailed development plan are defined
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9. by a physical plan of a wider area, by other physical planning documents or a programme of
measures for the improvement of the state of space respectively. The detailed development plan
is adopted by the municipal or the town council or a town assembly responsible for the area in
which the settlement covered by the plan is situated.
2. Obligations of parties involved in physical planning
In order to implement the physical planning policy, the Croatian Parliament and representative
bodies of regional and local self-government units have the obligation to adopt physical planning
documents, each for its own territory and level. In accordance with the above, the state, the
counties and the City of Zagreb, and the towns and municipalities commission physical planning
documents.
National level
Physical planning documents enacted by the Croatian Parliament are prepared (or their
preparation is taken care of) by the Institute for Physical Planning, which is part of the Ministry of
Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction.
Regional level
The county physical
plans, and the physical plan for the City of Zagreb, are prepared by the County or City Physical
Planning Institute if they fulfil certain prescribed conditions. These institutes, which act as a
county or City of Zagreb administrative body, may also prepare municipal and town plans and
master urban development plans, if the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning
and Construction, or the county or City of Zagreb governments, charge them to do so. This,
however, happens very rarely.
All physical and detailed plans are prepared by specialized legal persons that are given such
authority by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning. These legal persons
may also prepare county regional plans for counties whose institutes do not comply with the
prescribed requirements for plan preparation. Detailed development plans can also be prepared
by a physical person who is a “certified architect” independently performing professional tasks of
physical planning from his or her own office, subject to approval obtained from the Ministry.
Local level
At the local level, administrative departments are operating that provide for the preparation and
adoption of physical plans and other physical planning affairs, however they do not prepare
physical plans.
3. Environmental impact assessment in the planning process
The obligation to assess the environmental impact of an individual development in the space,
modelled on the American standard, was introduced into the Croatian physical planning system
by the Law on Physical Planning and Regional Development of 1980 (that went out of force
in1994). It was not until the Rule Book on Preparation of an Environmental Impact Study of 1984
became legally effective that these assessments of environmental impact started to be made on
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10. the basis of that law. According to the mentioned law and rule book, environmental impact
assessment was a specific procedure within the framework of implementing physical plans
(laying down area development conditions in order to determine environmental protection
measures for certain categories of predetermined facilities “whose building, use or work
technology may damage the values of the human environment or which may have an adverse
effect on the development of other activities, or human health”). This assessment was made on
the basis of an environmental impact study made by a professional and technically qualified
legal person. An expert commission appointed by the municipal executive council evaluated the
study after a public discussion.
By the Environmental Protection Act of 1994 and subordinate regulations adopted under this
Act, the implementation of environmental impact assessment has become mandatory for an
enlarged number of building works and environmental impact assessment has become the
subject of a separate administrative procedure which has been singled out from the physical
planning department and is concluded by a special decision (administrative decision) granting or
withholding consent for the planned development in the environment. When consent to a
development is granted, environmental protection measures and a programme for monitoring
the state of the environment are laid down that pursuant to the Physical Planning Act (through
location permits and detailed development plans) are mandatory in the implementation of the
development in space, both for the investor or owner, and their implementation is supervised by
a special environmental inspection. The methodology applied for the development of the
environmental impact study is in conformity with the generally accepted methods on which the
EU Directive on Environmental Impact Assessment is based. Amendments of EU regulations, in
this specific case amendments to the EU Directive on EIA, aimed at the improvement of the
procedure, i.e., of the evaluation and decision-making, were mostly followed also by Croatian
regulations. The Republic of Croatia is currently preparing amendments to the national
legislation in order to fully harmonize it with the respective EU regulation on EIA.
As physical planning is based on principles of sustainable development and rational use and
protection of the space, protection and improvement of the environment, and bearing in mind
that when preparing and adopting physical plans the sensitivity of the environment has
particularly to be taken into account, it may be concluded that elements of strategic
environmental assessment are already taken into account in the procedure of physical plan
preparation.
In order to introduce the strategic environmental assessment procedure and to approximate the
environmental impact assessment procedure with EU regulations, Croatia is currently using
CARDS projects. Strategic environmental assessment shall apply to plans and programmes of
sectors as prescribed by the EU Directive on Strategic Environmental Assessment, whereas its
mandatory implementation will be regulated by the new Environmental Protection Act, whose
preparation is underway.
4. Cooperation between different departments and public participation
All the departments whose activities are related to the environment in any way should and have
the duty to work together, and with the public at large, in the procedure of creating and adopting
physical planning documents. This stems from the very principles that underpin physical
planning, and especially from the principle of an integral approach to planning and the principle
of coordinating the interests of the users of an area with the priority activities in the area.
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11. These principles are implemented in two ways. The first are prescribed by the PPA and consist
of the obligations of state administration bodies (certain departments) and legal persons with
public authority. They must provide data for physical planning documents, participate in the
procedure of creating the documents, and, in accordance with the Decree on Public Discussion
in the Procedure of Adopting Physical Plans, they must organize a public discussion for each
proposal of a physical and town plan. Any interested physical and legal person may participate
in this public discussion by giving their remarks, proposals and ideas, regardless of whether they
have a personal interest, and everyone has the right to an explanation of the reasons why these
remarks, proposals and ideas were rejected. The second group of methods is contained in, or
stems from, a majority of special (department) laws. It mainly consists of prescribing certain
criteria and expert foundations (department plans, strategies and similar) which represent a
starting point, or which need to be considered, while creating the physical planning document; of
the obligation of a particular body of state administration to participate in the preparation of a
particular physical planning document; and of the obligation to secure the opinion or (rarely) the
consent of such a body about the proposed physical planning document before it is adopted.
It is important to note that the cooperation of different departments and the public does not end
with the procedure of creating and adopting the physical plan. It continues during its
implementation, by determining special conditions or giving opinions by the bodies of state
administration and legal persons with public authority, in the procedure of issuing site permits,
and through approving the main project which is a necessary precondition for issuing a building
permit. The breadth of public involvement in this phase is significantly smaller and is as a rule
reduced only to immediate neighbours, but their rights are greater, including the right to a
suspensive appeal. Court protection is provided in the case of dissatisfaction with the decision
on the appeal.
5. Coordination of physical planning documents
Provisions of the PPA lay down the obligation to vertically coordinate physical planning
documents with one another. This means that a physical planning document of a smaller area
must be coordinated with the physical planning document of the wider area. The above rule, and
simultaneous control of the horizontal harmonization of physical planning documents and their
legality, is implemented and supervised through the opinions and consent of specific bodies
about the proposed physical planning documents, which must be secured before the plan can be
adopted. This means that the county, or the City of Zagreb, cannot adopt their physical plan
without securing the necessary approval of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Physical
Planning and Construction that the plan complies with the provisions of the PPA, the National
Physical Planning Strategy and Program and the physical plans of neighbouring counties, or the
City of Zagreb, and without securing the opinion of the representative bodies of municipalities
and towns in the county area. The physical plan for the development of municipalities and towns,
master urban development plan and detailed development plan can be adopted only after
obtaining the approval of the state administration office in the county, or the City of Zagreb,
authorized for physical planning activities, that the plan is in harmony with the plan of the
immediately broader area. This approval is given after obtaining the opinion of the county, or
City, physical planning institute. Pursuant to a special Regulation, for areas within the protected
coastal area, approval to all physical plans covering partly or entirely this protected area is
issued by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction.
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12. 6. Supervision of physical planning documents
The legality of physical planning documents is supervised through several different procedures
in the formal sense, but only the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia can repeal a
physical planning document against the will of the representative body that adopted it, if it
contravenes the Constitution and Law.
The first, most common and most qualified supervision of the legality of physical planning
documents is carried out by the urban planning inspection, which is part of the Ministry of
Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction; its inspector is authorized to
order the local or regional self-government unit by decision to remove, within an appropriate time
limit, irregularities and/or illegalities in the physical planning document (physical plan), in the
procedure of its preparation and adoption, as established during inspection control.
If the local or regional self-government unit fails to proceed in accordance with the indicated
decision, the urban planning inspector is authorized to request the Minister competent for
physical planning, i.e. the person authorised by him/her, to issue a decision suspending the
further implementation of the physical planning document. When such a decision is adopted, the
Ministry competent for physical planning shall without delay propose to the Government of the
Republic of Croatia to institute the procedure of review of the constitutionality and legality of the
document before the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia. If the Government of the
Republic of Croatia fails to institute the procedure of review of the constitutionality and legality
within 30 days from receipt of the respective proposal, the suspension of the implementation of
the physical planning document will cease. Otherwise, if the procedure is instituted, the
suspension will be maintained until the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia adopts a
ruling on the Government’s proposal.
Furthermore, the head of the county state administration office is bound to supervise the legality
of the physical plan, and where he/she deems that the planning document is contrary to the
Constitution and law, he is bound to pass within 15 days a decision on the suspension of plan
implementation and to inform thereof without delay the Ministry responsible for physical planning
for legality assessment and implementation of the prescribed procedure. The procedure
implemented by the Ministry when it receives such a decision on plan suspension, if it assesses
such a decision to be justified, is the same as when such decision is passed by the Ministry
itself.
Also the municipal prefect, mayor and county prefect may issue a decision on the suspension of
the implementation of the physical planning document, for the unit of regional or local self-
government which they head, if they find it in breach of a law or some other regulation, and they
have the right to request the representative body to remove the detected flaws within fifteen
days. If the flaws are not removed by the representative body, the obligation is prescribed to
inform the head of the state administration office in the county and of the Minister responsible for
physical planning affairs in order the institute the above procedure.
Finally, it needs to be pointed out that in accordance with the Constitutional Act on the
Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, anyone may propose the institution of
proceedings to review the constitutionality and legality of any regulation, and therefore also of
physical planning documents.
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13. 7. Entry into force and validity of physical planning documents
All physical planning documents, except the National Physical Planning Strategy, enter force on
the date given in the decision of the representative body that enacted them, and this is usually
on the eighth day after the date of their publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of
Croatia (Narodne Novine), if they are passed by the Croatian Parliament, or from the date of
publication in the Official gazette of the regional, or local self-government body, if they are
passed by the representative body of that unit. The physical planning document has no legal
force unless the decision on adopting it is published and contains provisions for its
implementation.
No physical planning document has a predetermined date of expiry, and all are valid until they
are put out of force, which can be done by a separate decision or by adopting a new
corresponding document. Of course, a physical planning document may also be put out of force
if so determined by law, or if the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia repeals it.
8. Legal force of physical planning documents
In the legal sense, physical planning documents have the character and relevance of a
subordinate regulation that is equally binding on all legal subjects and government bodies, and
which they must abide by and apply. While implementing physical planning documents, bodies
of state administration cannot refuse to apply them even if they are contrary to the law. However,
in the case of disharmony between the physical planning document of a narrow area and the
physical planning document of a wider area, the body of state administration shall apply the
physical planning document of the wider area. Courts shall not apply physical planning
documents that are contrary to the law and Constitution.
9. Compensation for damage caused by plan-generated restrictions
The legal system of the Republic of Croatia does not recognize the institute of compensation to
landowners for damage deriving from plan-generated restrictions, in the sense that they prohibit
building on a particular land, decrease the value of the land by restricting construction, or modify
the purpose of the land. In view of the indicated, the Republic of Croatia is considering models
as applied worldwide, PARTICULARLY IN EU MEMBER STATES, for the compensation of
damage deriving from plan-generated restrictions and the possibility to integrate the institute of
compensation into the provisions of the new Physical Planning Act that is currently under
preparation.
10. The obligation to amend physical planning documents
Physical planning documents on all three levels (state, regional and local) have to be amended.
For this purpose the Physical Planning Institute in the Ministry of Environmental Protection,
county institutes or the City of Zagreb Physical Planning Institute, and administrative bodies of
towns and municipalities continuously monitor the state of the space. Based on the results of
such monitoring, a report is submitted every two years about the state of the space in the State,
county, City of Zagreb, town or municipality. The report contains an analysis of the
implementation of physical planning documents and other documents, an assessment of the
implemented measures and their impact on purposeful spatial management, on area and
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14. environmental protection, and other elements of significance for the area the document refers to.
On the basis of this report the Croatian Parliament, or representative bodies of units of regional
and local self-government, adopt a four-year program of measures for improving environmental
conditions. The programme is used to assess the need to prepare new documents or amend
existing physical planning documents, the need to collect data and professional foundations for
their preparation, and the need to take other measures important for the preparation and
enactment of those documents. We should also mention that this programme may determine the
necessity, scope, financing sources, the deadline for land development etc.
11. Building right in rural areas
The Croatian Physical Planning Act differentiates construction in settlements (building area of
settlements) and construction in areas outside of building areas of settlements, regardless
whether this refers to urban or rural settlements; however, for the purpose of spatial
development in a settlement of urban character, including also construction in such space, in
principle the obligation of adoption of more physical plans is prescribed as compared to spatial
development or construction in a rural settlement.
1. In settlements
The basic rule is that settlements can be built only on building areas determined by a physical
plan for the development of a town and municipality, or the physical plan of the City of Zagreb.
This is done to separate the built areas of those settlements and areas in which their
development is foreseen, from other areas intended for developing agriculture, forestry and
other activities that may take place outside the building area.
2. Outside of settlements
Facilities that can be developed outside the building area are infrastructure (transport, power
and utility facilities, etc.), health and recreation facilities, defence facilities, facilities for research
and exploitation of mineral raw materials, as well as residential and commercial buildings for
personal needs and the needs of village tourism, which are used for purposes of agriculture.
Physical planning, that is, construction outside the building area is carried out according to the
guidelines and criteria of the physical plans for municipalities and towns, or the physical plan of
the City of Zagreb.
III. Conditions and problems in physical planning
In view of all the previously indicated, and since in the part of the legislation governing physical
and urban planning and the implementation of physical plans certain problems have been
identified and their causes considered, the preparation of the previously mentioned new Physical
Planning Act has been initiated; this Act is to regulate in a different way the types of physical and
urban plans, the issuance of appropriate permits for construction (location and building permits)
and to resolve urban land reallocation.
Prepared by:
Ministry of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction
For further information see web site:
http://www.mzopu.hr
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