ELECTRONIC IDENTITY OF A BUILDING OR INDEPENDENTLY DIVIDED OWNERSHIP

From the 1st of February, based on Law 4759/2020 published in the Government Newspaper issue A 245/9-12-2020, the obligatory registration of Electronic Building Identity is activated. The purpose is to capture the current condition of the building or the independent divided property, including their permits and their respective changes over time. The EBI aims, as required by law, at the simplification and the faster process of preparation of urban plans of each level, depending on the building regulations framework. The law 4495/2017 art. 52-63 «Control and Protection of the built environment» refers in detail to the Electronic Identity of a building or independently divided ownership, the new law 4759/2020 replaces and completes certain provisions of the previous one and with the publication of the Ministerial Decision Ministry of Environment and Energy//117828/1338 Government Newspaper issue 5447/Β/9-12-2020 the Electronic Register of Building Identity is implemented with the information system «Building Identity» and is put into official obligatory application.

It is therefore important to interpret key points of the provisions of the above legislation, which will be able to enlighten the reader about the new data and how to apply them.

The Electronic Building Identity includes the details of the building including the National Code Number of Land Registry, if this exists. The first is the registration of the plot and the second is the registration of the property, while the same applies to the Electronic Identity of an independent divided property. The Electronic Register is the register where the data of the Electronic Identity of the building or of the independent divided property respectively are kept while at the same time it keeps the data of the project owners, the authorized engineers, the control certificates and the certificate of completeness.

The Certificate of Completeness is issued by the authorized engineer, who with a written statement confirms the details of the building. Each Certificate has a unique number. (L.4759 / 2020 article 63). It should be noted at this point that each file is real, which is created and changed by the authorized engineer containing all the data of the building while the electronic identity is intended for digitization, serving the provisions of article 1 of law 4759 / 2020, but maintaining its true nature, as the file is kept by property owners. The electronic form of the file is kept at the Structured Environment Observatory. New buildings or subdivided properties for which new building permits are issued must retain EBI. As for the old ones, they proceed to the Electronic Identity at the time of their transfer, while at the same time, through the EBI, the declaration of the arbitrary properties is made obligatory, something that leads to their final settlement as it was a state burden for years.

The buildings that are not to be transferred and fall into the «Category I» which indicatively concern the following: buildings that belong to the State, to local authorities or Public Entities, assembly buildings, gas stations, tourist accommodation over 300 sq.m., educational buildings, health and welfare as well as penitentiary centers are gradually obliged with a deadline of five (5) years to proceed and complete the issuance of the Electronic Building Identity.

With the collection of the necessary supporting documents, each owner can proceed to the process of submitting (see article 64 of law 4759/2020) the Electronic Identity of a building or shared independent property and the publish of a Certificate of Completeness of Identity of a building or shared independent ownership. The database containing the data of the Identities is connected with the Public Electricity Company, the land registry and the Ministry of Finance, thus entering into a more supervisory regime in general. At the same time, for the information of each owner in order to follow all the legally necessary actions for the issuance of the Electronic Identity, it is worth mentioning that the Structured Environment Observatory annually carries out sample checks on 3% of the buildings that receive electronic identity. In the case where the completion of false data is found, then criminal sanctions and a fine from 2,000 to 20,000 are faced, depending on the area that has not been imprinted in the Electronic Identity, as stated in the provision 60 of law 4495/2017.

Therefore, with the Electronic Identity of a building, any legal action concerning real estate, such as leases, transfers, will have as a prerequisite the existence or obligatory issuance of the identity card. The new regulations therefore aim to prevent delinquent behavior in relation to real estate declarations with the aim of transparency in all procedures concerning real estate.

For more information, clarifications or guidance on the subject you can contact our office.