The Shelter Act: Collective protection facilities in Poland
As of 1 January 2026, every new multifamily development will have to allow for operation of an emergency shelter. Civil defence authorities will also have to designate which existing or planned structures can serve as shelters, hiding places, and sites of emergency refuge.
In light of the country’s current geopolitical situation, the parliament has stepped up its efforts on national defence and taken up related legislative initiatives. Initially, an act was introduced to amend certain laws for improving the operations of the Polish Armed Forces, the Police and the Border Guard in the event of a threat to state security. Then work began on the “Shelter Act” (Act on Protection of the Population and Civil Defence), drafted by the Ministry of Interior and Administration. The act was approved by the parliament on 5 December 2024 and signed by the President on 17 December 2024.
According to the explanatory memorandum to the proposal, the Shelter Act aims to ensure the safety of civilians in the event of a military threat, a terrorist threat, or a natural disaster. The act lays out comprehensive rules for civil protection and civil defence, filling a large gap in the Polish legal system. Under Art. 1, the Shelter Act provides for technical conditions, use and record-keeping for collective protection structures.
New obligations for authorities and developers
The obligations under the Shelter Act apply not only to public authorities, but also to the private sector, in particular developers, who will share responsibility for establishment of emergency infrastructure (protective structures or emergency shelter sites) in the country.
The Shelter Act provides for the following categories of collective protection facilities:
- Shelter (schron)—a building or part of a building of closed and airtight construction, equipped with filtering and ventilating devices or regenerative absorbers
- Hiding place (ukrycie)—a structure or part of a structure of non-hermetic construction
- Site for emergency refuge (miejsce doraźnego schronienia)—structure adapted for temporary hiding of people.
In the area of their jurisdiction, the relevant civil protection authorities have the obligation to plan and organise protective infrastructure, including designation of existing or planned facilities as collective protection facilities (shelters, hiding places, and sites for emergency refuge). The authorities may enter into an agreement with the owner or manager of property to recognise a building or part thereof as a protective structure, but they may also recognise a building as a protective structure pursuant to an administrative decision. The authority may issue such a decision at the request of an interested person or at its own initiative.
The Shelter Act also requires that underground infrastructure for transportation purposes (e.g. metro systems) be designed in a manner ensuring the technical and operating conditions for a protective structure.
From the perspective of private investors, Art. 94 of the Shelter Act is of great importance, as it provides that even if no protective structure is foreseen for underground floors in public buildings or multifamily residential buildings and underground garages, such facilities must be designed and built in such a way that emergency shelter spaces can be organised there.
It follows that multifamily buildings and underground garages should generally be dual-function structures, meeting the needs of the owner or manager as well as enabling their use in a crisis. Accordingly, starting 1 January 2026, any new multifamily development under construction will have to meet additional technical conditions enabling its operation as a place of emergency refuge in a crisis.
Under Art. 206 of the Shelter Act, the requirements under Art. 93–95 of the act apply to construction projects with regard to which after 31 December 2025:
- An application for a building permit, an application for a separate decision on approval of a land development project or an architectural and construction project was submitted, or
- A notification of construction or performance of other construction work was made, where a building permit is not required.
Thus, as a rule, projects begun before 1 January 2026 will not need to be brought into compliance with the requirements of the Shelter Act.
During the legislative process, the private sector objected to the tight proposed deadline for implementation of the requirements for multifamily buildings and underground garages of 30 days after the Shelter Act went into effect. This deadline was eventually extended to 1 January 2026.
Grants
Pursuant to Art. 106(1) of the Shelter Act, the civil protection authorities will provide the owner or manager of a building intended to be a protective structure or site of emergency refuge with special-purpose grants for construction, reconstruction or preparation for use of protective structures, as well as organising emergency refuge sites. In the case of adaptation of structures to meet the requirements in Art. 94 of the act, issuing a grant is optional, and may amount to up to 100% of the additional cost of the project due to the need to ensure the function of a protective structure. Detailed rules for obtaining and accounting for these special-purpose grants are included in the Public Finance Act.
Technical conditions
Pursuant to Art. 92 of the act, collective protection structures must meet the conditions set forth in the technical and construction provisions of the Construction Law, including specific technical conditions. Collective security facilities must offer adequate resilience, fire safety, ventilation, escape routes, utility supplies, sewage disposal, and other solutions for the survival of the persons taking refuge in the structure.
By way of regulation, the minister for internal affairs, in consultation with the minister for construction, planning, spatial development and housing and the minister for transport, will establish these specific technical conditions. No such regulation has been issued yet.
Commentators have pointed out a number of negative consequences flowing from the Shelter Act, such as increased costs and time for execution of development projects. But some argue that introducing the obligation to build shelters may also stimulate innovation in the construction industry, leading to development of new technologies and building materials, and the benefits from increasing safety standards may outweigh the costs.
Sylwia Moreu-Żak, attorney-at-law, Gabriela Kuszewska, Real Estate practice, Wardyński & Partners
