An overview of the many decrees associated with the Act on Public Works Projects and the Act on Hungarian Architecture
Act LXIX of 2023 on Public Works Projects (hereinafter: PWA), which took effect on 8 November 2023, and Act C of 2023 on Hungarian Architecture (hereinafter: “HAA”), which, for the most part, took effect on 1 October 2024, have brought about major changes and reforms with regard to public works projects and in the way in which the construction industry is regulated.
We addressed the key provisions of both the PWA and the HAA in previous articles on this site. The purpose of this article is to provide a “regulatory map” as a guide to the current status of various decrees that have been authorised by the PWA and the HAA.
1. Decrees adopted pursuant to the authority granted in the HAA
Section 225 of the HAA includes more than a hundred provisions that authorises the government, various Ministers, the President of the National Media and Infocommunications Authority and local governments to adopt the necessary decree No. s and ordinances. These provisions have all taken effect, and 11 new decrees have been adopted on their basis so far.
Some of these decrees took effect on or not long after 1 October 2024, while others on 1 January 2025. There also a few where some of the provisions have yet to take effect. The most important of all is Government Decree No. 280/2024 (IX. 30.) on the fundamental rules of zoning and construction requirements (“TÉKA”); it took effect on 1 October 2024, but the application of its provisions will only be mandatory from 1 July 2025. The decrees that are currently in effect are summarised in Chart 1 below:
Chart 1: New decrees adopted pursuant to the HAA
2. Decrees adopted pursuant to the authority granted in the PWA
The authority to adopt decrees is granted to the government and the competent Ministers in Section 59 of the PWA. To date, seven new decrees have been adopted and all of them have taken effect. These decrees are shown in Chart 2:
Chart 2: New decrees adopted pursuant to the PWA
3. Decrees modified in connection with the HAA
The introduction of the HAA not only resulted in the adoption of new decrees but also in the modification of existing ones. Most of the modifications took effect back on 1 October 2024. The decrees that have been meaningfully modified are shown in Chart 3:
Chart 3: Decrees modified pursuant to the HAA
Authors: András Fenyőházi and Evelin Varga
