What Process Does a Project Need to Go Through?

A municipal investment project does not begin with selecting a design professional or applying for a building permit. It begins with a precise definition of the need, an understanding of the place, and agreement on what the project is intended to achieve, whom it should serve, and who will be involved in its preparation. Decisions made at the outset fundamentally affect the final quality, cost, preparation time, and future operation.

This guide presents the main steps in preparing municipal buildings, public spaces, and spatial development projects – from the initial concept through the brief, background documents, and selection of a design professional to permitting, implementation, and long-term management. It helps distinguish statutory obligations from recommended practice and highlights the points at which it is worthwhile to involve specialists, the public, asset managers, and future users. The aim is not to add more administration to the process, but to prevent costly changes and create projects that will perform well throughout their service life.

1. Project Concept

Is the project necessary, and what should it achieve?

First, describe the problem, the desired outcome, and the intended users in writing. Check whether the project can be coordinated with other planned initiatives. A coordinated solution for a street, public space, utilities, greenery, and adjacent buildings is usually less expensive and of higher quality than several separate projects.

A short project concept should include in particular:

• the purpose and expected benefits;
• the definition of the site, plots, or affected structures;
• photographs, earlier plans, and known constraints;
• the expected users and capacity;
• a rough estimate of costs, timing, and operational impacts;
• links to other projects, the municipal budget, and funding opportunities.

How much will preparation and implementation cost?

The estimate must be based on current cost indicators and the scope of services. The share of design work in the construction cost is not set by law and varies according to complexity, the extent of reconstruction, surveys, consultation, copyright, and the services required. Allow approximately 10% of the implementation cost for the complete design documentation. The budget becomes more precise with each subsequent phase. Include contingencies, inflation, changes in material prices, and, above all, operating costs over the entire life of the building.

Ask a municipal architect, an authorised design professional, or another specialist to provide a preliminary assessment of the scope of construction, the required surveys, the permitting regime, and a realistic timetable.

What is the role of a municipal architect?

A municipal architect is not a mandatory authority within the building administration and is not a competent authority under the law. They are an expert partner to local government. Their role is to connect the municipality’s strategy, spatial planning, individual investments, the quality of public spaces, and the long-term management of municipal assets.

Their opinion does not replace a decision by the building authority or a binding opinion issued by a competent authority, but it can significantly improve the brief and coordination.

2. Strategic and Spatial Planning Documents

Start with a vision and strategy

Review the strategic plan, the municipal development programme, the medium-term budget outlook, sectoral strategies, and approved investment priorities. These documents are usually not spatial planning documentation, but they help explain why the project is needed and how it fits into long-term development.

How is the spatial planning system structured?

For a specific project, it is necessary to review in particular the Spatial Development Policy and the relevant spatial planning documentation or supporting materials. At different levels, these include municipal spatial plans, regional development principles, regulatory plans, and spatial studies.

A municipal spatial plan sets out the basic development concept for the municipality, its functional and spatial organisation, and the conditions for land use.

The Architecture and Building Culture Policy is an important national strategic document, but it is not superior spatial planning documentation for an individual plot.

Other useful documents

• Master plans and sectoral strategies systematically address one field, such as transport, cycling, blue-green infrastructure, water management, or energy. Their legal effect depends on how they are adopted and incorporated into binding instruments.
• A regulatory plan sets detailed conditions for land use, the location and spatial arrangement of buildings, connections to infrastructure, and the protection of values within the area concerned. Where the statutory conditions are met, it may also identify a project for which a planning agreement or an architectural or urban design competition is a condition for decision-making.
• A spatial study proposes, tests, and assesses possible solutions to issues in an area. It serves as an expert basis for decision-making only where it complies with the spatial planning documentation. To be used, it must be entered in the National Spatial Planning Geoportal. It may be used to examine an area and subsequently as a basis for amending the municipal spatial plan.
• A landscape plan, green infrastructure master plan, settlement greenery system, climate adaptation strategy, or landscape study can provide valuable expert background. However, these do not automatically constitute separate statutory types of spatial planning documentation.
• Manuals for public spaces, advertising, colour schemes, or street furniture are generally methodological documents adopted by a municipality. Their binding effect must always be derived from a specific legal or contractual instrument.
• Generally binding ordinances and municipal regulations are municipal legal instruments, not municipal laws. They must be issued within the limits of statutory authority.

3. Participants in the Process

Who is the client?

For a public investment, the municipality is the formal client, but the resulting environment is used by residents, visitors, employees, asset managers, and future generations. Involving the public before the brief is completed helps identify needs that would be difficult and costly to incorporate later.

Participation may take the form of interviews, public meetings, workshops, questionnaires, participatory mapping, or sociological research. Consultative participation in the preparation of a municipal investment differs from the statutory rights of parties to administrative proceedings and from consultation on spatial planning documentation.

Who should be approached at the outset?

• owners and users of affected and neighbouring properties;
• owners and operators of transport and technical infrastructure;
• service providers and institutions in the surrounding area;
• future asset managers, maintenance teams, and operators;
• the municipal architect, landscape architect, and specialist municipal departments;
• people with specific needs, especially children, older people, and people with limited mobility or orientation.

Who comments on the project under the law?

The building authority assesses the project in the project-permitting procedure. Under the Building Act, the municipality in whose territory the project is to be carried out is a party to the proceedings. Other parties include, in particular, the developer, the owner of the affected land or building, and people whose ownership or other rights in rem may be directly affected by the decision.

Competent authorities protect specific public interests, such as fire safety, public health, heritage conservation, nature and water protection, agricultural land, or transport. A municipal architect or mobility coordinator is not a competent authority merely by virtue of their job title.

If an applicant does not attach a required statement or binding opinion, the building authority will request it where the statutory conditions are met. In environmental matters, several administrative acts may be combined in a Unified Environmental Statement.

Practical step: For larger projects, establish a permanent working group. Clearly distinguish advisory opinions, statements by infrastructure owners, binding opinions issued by competent authorities, and the decision-making powers of the building authority.

4. The Brief

What should the brief specify?

A good brief describes what the municipality is to achieve, for whom, in which area, within what budget, and by when. It should not unnecessarily predetermine a single professional solution.

The brief should include:

• the definition of the project area and its links to the surrounding context;
• objectives, mandatory requirements, and measurable outcomes;
• input from the public, owners, asset managers, and specialist departments;
• available surveys and documents;
• the required options and the method for evaluating them;
• the required stages of documentation and additional services;
• the handover format, data standards, and archiving rules;
• a timetable for consultation and decision points;
• the budget, contingencies, and requirements for operating costs;
• licensing arrangements and rules for changes to the brief.

Changing the brief while work is under way may require a change to the contract, price, or deadline. In the case of a public contract, it is also necessary to assess whether the change to the contractual obligation is permissible under public procurement law.

5. Background Information

The design professional will usually need spatial planning documentation, strategic and sectoral strategies, cadastral documents, a geodetic survey, data from the regional Digital Technical Map, statements from infrastructure owners, property-rights information, and an overview of related projects.

Depending on the type of project, hydrogeological, geological, radon, arboricultural, transport, noise, building-technical, building-historical, archaeological, or ecological surveys may also be required. Some background documents take months to obtain; commissioning them early reduces the risk of subsequent changes to the project.

Assess life-cycle costs. The acquisition cost represents only part of total expenditure. Good layouts, detailing, energy solutions, maintenance, and repairability can generate greater long-term savings than a short-term reduction in the cost of project preparation.

6. Selecting an Architect or Design Professional

Do not evaluate price alone

The municipality must proceed in accordance with public procurement law and its own internal rules. Tenders may be evaluated according to economic advantage, including the price-quality ratio.

Qualitative criteria – such as a description of the professional approach, references for similar projects, or a personal interview – should carry greater weight and must relate to the subject matter of the contract, be described in advance, transparent, and verifiable.

Suitable procedures

1. A contract for design services using qualitative evaluation criteria. The evaluation may consider the quality of the project team, methodology, approach to the commission, or other criteria permitted by law.
2. An architectural competition – a design contest. This is suitable for architectural, urban design, and landscape solutions. Proposals are evaluated by a jury according to rules established in advance; subsequent services may, subject to statutory conditions, be awarded through a negotiated procedure without prior publication.
3. Another lawful procurement procedure appropriate to the estimated value and nature of the services. Direct award is not a general exception for a “small project”; it must fall within the statutory regime and respect the principles of transparency, proportionality, equal treatment, and non-discrimination.

The composition of an evaluation committee or jury is governed by the selected procedure, the law, and the competition conditions. Requirements for independence and a professional majority that apply to an architectural competition cannot automatically be transferred to every public contract.

7. Planning, Design, and Permitting

Recommended phases of project preparation

Contractual service phases are not identical to the statutory types of documentation. For a municipal project, the following practical phases can be distinguished:

1. project preparation and collaborative refinement of the brief;
2. surveys and an architectural or urban design study;
3. documentation for project permitting and related permitting services;
4. construction documentation, where mandatory or required by the municipality;
5. a bill of quantities for works, supplies, and services, procurement of the construction contract, and preparation of a control budget;
6. implementation, technical supervision on behalf of the client and the designer’s supervision;
7. occupancy approval, handover, trial operation, warranty care, and evaluation.

The contract and copyright

Before work begins, conclude a written contract for services. In particular, specify the scope of services, price, deadlines, responsibilities, cooperation, data management, change control, insurance, licences, the possibility of modifying the work, the handover of source files, and follow-on services.

An architectural design may be a copyright-protected work. Its author has moral and economic rights under copyright law. The client requires an appropriate licence for use, completion, modifications, and subsequent development. The scope of the licence and the fee must be agreed with regard to the nature of the work and the law.

8. Construction, Supervision, Maintenance, and New Uses

How should implementation be monitored?

High-quality implementation depends on construction documentation, a clear bill of quantities, careful selection of the contractor, a clear contract, change control, and continuous monitoring.

For construction financed from public funds and carried out by a construction company as contractor, the developer must ensure technical supervision by an individual authorised under the Professional Authorisation Act. If the design documentation was prepared by a design professional, the developer must also ensure supervision by the designer; utility infrastructure projects are exempt. Designer supervision is always mandatory for designated structures.

Designer supervision under the Building Act, the developer’s technical supervision, and copyright-related supervision are not the same activities. Define their scope and responsibilities in the relevant contracts.

The contractor and changes during construction

References may be used within the rules for qualification and the evaluation of public contracts. The contract must address, in particular, material control, sample approval, subcontractors, the timetable, defects, additional and omitted work, the handover of as-built documentation, warranty conditions, and penalties.

Changes to contractual obligations during implementation must not only be technically and economically justified, but also permissible under public procurement law.

Life cycle and circularity

Prefer structures that can be repaired, altered, and disassembled. During design, assess:

• service life and maintenance requirements;
• the availability of replacement parts;
• the potential for a change of use;
• energy and water consumption;
• the reuse of components;
• the separability and recyclability of materials;
• the cost of removing the building.

The Aim Is a High-Quality Building

A high-quality municipal project is not the result of a single decision or the work of one specialist. It grows from a well-formulated concept, reliable background information, a clear brief, an appropriate method for selecting the design professional, and continuous cooperation among local government, specialists, asset managers, the public, and future users.

Operation, maintenance, repairability, and the potential for future change deserve the same attention as design and construction.

The lowest acquisition cost does not in itself guarantee value for money. The true value of a public investment becomes apparent only over time – in the quality of the environment, operating costs, the lifespan of the solutions used, and the building’s ability to respond to new needs.

A well-managed preparation process is therefore not a delay, but an investment in predictability and quality. The more precisely objectives, responsibilities, and decision-making rules are defined at the outset, the lower the risk of conflict, additional work, and costly repairs during construction and subsequent use.