Foreign persons performing building activities in the Republic of Croatia

Commencement of construction activities for foreign legal persons

A. Foreign legal person established in an EEA State

A.1 Temporary or occasional performance of construction activities

A foreign legal person that is established in an EEA State and performs in that state construction activities may perform in the Republic of Croatia, on a temporary or occasional basis, those tasks which it is certified to perform pursuant to the legislation of the country in which it is established, after it submits a written statement to that effect to the Ministry. Click here for the statement form.

The statement must be accompanied by:

a document proving that the foreign person has the right to perform its activities, with potential limitations, in the country of its establishment, or that there are no limitations in that regard (certificate of the competent authority of the country of establishment on performance of activities, and registration) or a valid licence or document regulating this right,
proof that the foreign person is insured against liability for damages it may incur to the investor or other persons while performing its activities (proof is an insurance contract or policy signed by both parties, the policy owner and the insurance provider; the provisions shall be valid in the territory of the Republic of Croatia; the provision shall be contained on mandatory validity period extension upon policy/contract expiry),
power of attorney for the party's representative, plenipotentiary or plenipotentiary for receiving writs in the Republic of Croatia pursuant to Art. 32, 36 and 37 of the General Administrative Procedure Act (Official Gazette 47/09).

Note: The above proof shall be accompanied by translation into Croatian. The Ministry may request the applicant to provide additional explanations.

The statement form with enclosures shall be sent by mail to the Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets, Ulica Republike Austrije 14, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia, or delivered in person to the Ministry's Registry Office at the adress Vinogradska cesta 25 in Zagreb, on working days from 8:30 to 13:30 hrs. In electronic format, it can be submitted to the e-mail: strani.izvodaci@mpgi.hr

Note: With regard to the performance of construction manager tasks, performance manager tasks for which it is prescribed that a certified natural persons from an EEA State, employed with a foreign person, shall be entitled to temporarily or occasionally perform the said tasks in the capacity of a responsible person under the professional title the persons certified to perform these tasks have in the Republic of Croatia, if prior to the commencement of the first task they inform thereof the relevant chamber by submitting a statement to that effect in writing or in electronic form.

The chamber shall verify, in accordance with the provisions of a special law governing the recognition of foreign professional qualifications and other special regulations, whether the applicant meets the prescribed conditions for the temporary or occasional performance of construction manager tasks, performance manager tasks in the capacity of a responsible person, and shall issue a certificate thereof.

A.2 Permanent performance of construction activities

A foreign legal person that is established in an EEA State and performs construction activities, may perform the activities in the Republic of Croatia on a permanent basis under the same conditions as apply to a legal person established in the Republic of Croatia in accordance with the Act on Physical Planning and Building Tasks and Activities (Official Gazette 78/15, 118/18, 110/19), meaning that it shall be registered for performing construction activities in the Republic of Croatia, or for the execution of individual works respectively, and that in performing construction activities it shall have in its employment an authorised construction manager and/or an authorised works performance manager.

B. Foreign legal persons established in a third country

B.1 Temporary or occasional performance of construction activities

B.1.1 The country is a member state of the World Trade Organisation

A foreign legal person that is established in a third country and performs construction activities in the third country shall be entitled to perform these activities in the Republic of Croatia on a temporary or occasional basis, upon having notified thereof the Ministry by a written statement, in accordance with the Act on Physical Planning and Building Tasks and Activities (Official Gazette 78/15, 118/18, 110/19) and other special regulations (it shall hold a document proving that it has the right to perform its activities in the foreign person's country of establishment or a valid licence or document regulating this right of performance of activity, it shall be insured against liability for damages it may incur to the investor or other persons while performing its activities, it must have in its employment a construction/performance manager who has passed the procedure for the recognition of foreign professional qualifications before the appropriate chamber).

B.1.2 The country is not a member state of the World Trade Organisation

A foreign legal person that is established in a third country and performs construction activities in the third country shall be entitled, under the assumption of reciprocity, to perform these activities in the Republic of Croatia on a temporary or occasional basis, upon having notified thereof the Ministry by a written statement, in accordance with the Act on Physical Planning and Building Tasks and Activities (Official Gazette 78/15, 118/18, 110/19) and other special regulations (it shall hold a document proving that it has the right to perform its activities in the foreign person's country of establishment or a valid licence or document regulating this right of performance of activity, it shall be insured against liability for damages it may incur to the investor or other persons while performing its activities, it must have in its employment a construction/performance manager who has passed the procedure for the recognition of foreign professional qualifications before the appropriate chamber).

Proof shall be provided of the assumption of reciprocity under bilateral international agreements of the Republic of Croatia and the state of establishment of the foreign legal person. Foreign legal persons may perform construction activities in the territory of the Republic of Croatia under the assumption of reciprocity, i.e., under those conditions under which domestic natural and legal persons may perform construction activities in the state whose national wishes to perform these activities in the Republic of Croatia. This is the significance of the term reciprocity, as, in fact, reciprocity implies that the proceeding of one state towards nationals of another state is made dependent on the proceeding of the latter state towards nationals of the former state.

Note: A natural person employed with a legal person established in a third country who in that country has the right to perform construction manager and performance manager tasks shall have the right, under the assumption of reciprocity, to perform these tasks in the Republic of Croatia, on a permanent basis, in the capacity of a certified person, under the same conditions as apply to a certified construction manager or certified performance manager, if he/she has the professional qualifications required for the performance of these tasks in accordance with a special law governing the recognition of foreign professional qualifications and other special regulations.

The procedure for the recognition of foreign professional qualifications for performing construction manager tasks and performance manager tasks, for persons of the architectural, civil engineering, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering professions, shall be conducted and a decision thereon made by the appropriate chamber in the manner prescribed by a special law governing the recognition of foreign professional qualifications and by other special regulations. (link to specific chambers)

B.2 Permanent performance of construction activities

A foreign legal person that is established in a third country and performs construction activities in the third country shall be entitled to perform these activities in the Republic of Croatia on a permanent basis, under the same conditions as apply to legal person established in the Republic of Croatia, in accordance with the Act on Physical Planning and Building Tasks and Activities (Official Gazette 78/15, 118/18, 110/19), meaning that it shall be registered for performing construction activities in the Republic of Croatia, or for the execution of individual works respectively, and that in performing construction activities it shall have in its employment an authorised construction manager and/or an authorised works performance manager.

Note: The Ministry does not issue certificates to nor keeps record of foreign legal persons that are established in an EEA State and perform construction activities, on a permanent basis, in the Republic of Croatia, and of legal persons established in a third country that meet the said conditions.

For further information please contact us, on Wednesdays from 09:00 to 15:00 hrs, at phone no.: +385 1 3782 444