The government says to number the cobblestone in front of the house. A fresh work since 2025 is simply a trap?

The year 2025 will bring revolution for millions of single-family owners in Poland. The government is finalising work on the amendment of the Water Law, which will introduce a seemingly innocent but in practice an highly burdensome obligation: forced inventory of sealed surfaces on all lot. This means that each owner will gotta measurement and study to a special, central registry the surface of his roof, a pavement driveway, a terrace or even paved paths in the garden. Officials explain this by the request to adapt to climate change and to fight the alleged "betonosis", which contributes to local submerge during the violent rain. However, for citizens, it is primarily fresh bureaucracy, possible costs and, worst of all, a spectrum of severe financial penalties for failure to complete the formalities. Experts already inform that the fresh government may be a gateway to introducing a common "rain tax" in the future, and the data collected will service to calculate it precisely. The time for preparation is decreasing, and ignorance can cost thousands of zlotys.

A fresh work in 2025. What is the inventory of sealed surfaces?

New rules to enter into force January 1, 2025, require owners of properties built in single-family houses to make and study alleged retention inventory. In practice, it is about defining precisely what part of our game is impermeable to rainwater. The aim is to make a national retention map to aid plan hydrotechnical investments and prevent the effects of drought and fast precipitation.

In the light of the project, sealed surfaces (persistently ground-related) all elements which prevent the free flooding of the rainwater into the ground shall be considered. These include:

• Roofs of buildings (residentials, garages, farm buildings).
• The driveways, parking lots and parking spaces are made of paving, concrete, asphalt or pavement tiles.
• A terrace, a patia and a paved veranda.
• Hardened pavements and garden paths.

Officials argue that awareness of the country's "conceivement" scale is crucial to public security. For millions of Poles, however, this means that it is essential to capture the measurement and to calculate precisely each square metre of its property, which already raises immense controversy and concerns about the real intentions of the legislator.

Who, in particular, is afraid with the fresh regulation and what data will should be reported?

The inventory work will cover practically all single household owners, as well as owners of another properties on which are sealed surfaces of a full area exceeding 50 m2. In the declaration to be submitted electronically to the fresh Central registry of Retention (CRR), you will request to supply a number of detailed information. It will be much more than just a dry number of square meters.

The notification form will require the following data:

• Total game area in square meters.
• Building area (outline of buildings) in m2.
• Total area of remaining sealed areas, broken down by kind of surface (e.g. 120 m2 of cobblestone, 30 m2 of terrace tiles).
• Information on existing waste water management systems, specified as rainwater reservoirs (with capacity), absorbent wells or rain gardens.
• Photographic documentation or a simple situation sketch of the game with the surfaces applied.

Importantly, the real property owner will be liable for the accuracy of the data submitted. This means that a mismeasurement or deliberate undergrading of the surface may consequence not only in financial penalties but besides in more serious legal consequences.

Step by step: How do you prepare and submit your application to the office?

Although the procedure may seem complicated, it is worth preparing for it in advance to avoid stress and errors. The first deadline for submitting inventory will most likely be December 31, 2025. To prepare the application correctly, follow the following steps:

Step 1: Measurements. The most crucial and labor-intensive stage. All sealed surfaces shall be carefully measured. This can be done with a conventional scoop or usage free online tools (e.g. geoportals with orthophotomap) that let for a reasonably precise measurement of the surface based on satellite images.

Step 2: Documentation. It is worth preparing a simple sketch of the plot, on which we will mark the individual elements (house, driveway, terrace) along with their dimensions. It will besides be a good practice to take respective photographs that may be required as an annex to an electronic application.

Step 3: Electronic call. The application will be submitted only via the net via a platform that will be made available in early 2025. You will most likely request a Trusted Profile or e-proof to log in.

Severe penalties for not reporting. How much could it cost to ignore a duty?

The legislator has provided severe sanctions for those who ignore the fresh work or give false data in the notification. The punishment strategy is to be gradual, but financially severe. First, the municipality will send call for completion of the missing within 30 days.

If the property owner does not respond, a single punishment fee of PLN 500. But this is only the beginning. In the event of further evasion, the Authority may impose a fine by administrative decision, the amount of which may scope up to PLN 5000. Furthermore, the deficiency of data in the CRR may in the future consequence in an automatic charge for reducing the natural retention of land (so-called rain tax) at a maximum flat rate, which can make fixed yearly costs of respective 100 zlotys.

The fresh obligation, although hidden under the slogans of ecology and adaptation to climate change, becomes a real burden for homeowners. It is worth reading the fresh requirements and preparing the essential data to avoid unnecessary problems and advanced penalties in the coming year.