The multi-annual Program for the finalization of the protection and repair works for the buildings of cultural and architectural value in the “Urban Ensemble – The Historic Center of Oradea,” as well as other perimeters deemed a priority.

Summary

The Mayor’s Office of Oradea conceived its rehabilitation strategies for the buildings in the Historic Center in several phases:

The first was structured starting from 2009, when the Mayor’s Office of Oradea contracted the study of all façades of the buildings on the perimeter of the Urban Ensemble – The Historic Center of Oradea, an ensemble on the list of Historical Monuments. This study, carried out in 2010, examined every building, detailing the architectural components and imposing a set of necessary measures for rehabilitation, and for removal of any parasitic supplementary structures, or of any unnecessary or inadequate interventions.

It is also then, between 2010 and 2011, that action was taken through a pilot project for the rehabilitation of an important building on Piața Unirii, nr. 5 (Union Square, no. 5) (the KOVATS House). The Mayor’s Office of Oradea offered financial and administrative support, making available to the owners of the building the technical project, the permits, the building license, as well as technical assistance and consultancy throughout the entirety of the construction works. Due to the fact that the building is of architectural value, the Mayor’s Office of Oradea took all necessary steps for its classification on the list of Historical Monuments. This made reimbursable financing by the Local Council possible, pursuant to the legislation specific to historical monuments.

An important actor in this strategy is the Foundation for the Protection of Historical Monuments in Bihor County, an organization whose founding members are the Local Council of Oradea and the County Council of Bihor, which has been given a substantial role in the rehabilitation of the buildings in the Historic Center, being responsible for the technical projects, the obtainment of permits, and the entire provision of consultancy for the owners, which is a time-consuming and difficult activity, given the diversity of the categories of owners in this perimeter from various points of view, be they social, age- or mentality-related.

In 2012, the Mayor’s Office of Oradea along with the Foundation created a proposal for a Multi-Annual Program for the rehabilitation of the buildings in the Historic Center, pursuant to law no. 422/2001 on historical monuments and H.G. (G.D. – Government Decision) no. 1430/2003 on the financing possibilities for protected built-up areas. This program was approved through H.C.L. (L.C.D. – Local Council Decision) no. 643/2012, and its priority was the ultra-central area of the municipality of Oradea, especially the historical monument buildings.

When law no. 153 of 2011 was passed – on the measures for the improvement of the environmental and architectural quality of buildings, it featured a significant gap, excluding, as subject to its application, the buildings situated in protected built-up areas along with areas containing historical monuments, which is to say those areas that are essential for the application of this strategy for any municipality. The municipality of Oradea issued, in 2011 and 2012, a series of interpellations and initiated interventions at parliamentary and ministerial level in order to have this law changed such that it also covers the abovementioned areas, and these actions proved successful in 2013.

Following these modifications and, also, after the release of the norms for the application of law no. 153/2011, the Mayor’s Office of Oradea expanded the domain of applicability of its Program, aiming to add more phases up until 2024, with the target of rehabilitating the entire Historic Center. Thus, through successive updates of the multi-annual rehabilitation program, determined either by the modification of the applicable legislation (law 153/2011 suffered 2 major modifications), or the adoption of the integrated urban development strategy (SIDU), the final adopted local council decision was H.C.L. no. 710 / August 2017, which provides for the following facilities:

FOR ALL BUILDINGS IN THE HISTORICAL CENTER OF ORADEA URBAN ENSEMBLE, IN THE PROTECTED MONUMENT AREA which are included in THE PROGRAM:

1. a grant – which covers the equivalent value of the technical documentation forming the basis of the performance of the protection and repair works, of the technical assistance services – site supervision, and of the taxes pertaining to the permits necessary for the obtainment of the Building License;
2. building tax exemption for a period of 5 years, given pursuant to the provisions of the Tax Code and the Local Council Decision on local taxes and the Regulation concerning the offering of tax benefits that is in force at the date of the implementation, under the condition that the Regulation for the repair intervention in the priority area of action, provided for in the Annex to this Program, is complied with;
3. exemption from the transfer of a .5% and .1% share, by case, to the State Construction Inspectorate, as well as a .5% rate to the Builders’ Social Fund, from the expenses for the repair works, according to the legislation in force;
4. exemption from the payment of other costs related to accessing financing (notarial fees, enrolment into the Land Register, and so on) in order to establish the real estate security interest for a period of 10 years, in favor of the Municipality of Oradea;
5. consultancy for the contracting of protection and repair works, the monitoring and verification of the manner in which the works are carried out for the entire duration of their performance;
6. consultancy at the acceptance upon completion and the final acceptance after the expiration of the performance bond lasting 5 years from the date of the acceptance to the finalization of the works;

FOR THE INDIVIDUALLY CLASSIFIED HISTORICAL MONUMENT BUILDINGS included in the PROGRAM:

1. additional grant – of 20% of the value of the repair and protection works – under the form of a non-reimbursable financial contribution awarded by the financing public authority.
2. 80% of the value of the repair and protection works – under the form of a reimbursable financial contribution awarded by the financing public authority. The sums shall be returned by the owners for the undivided share that they own of the property, in monthly instalments for a period of 5 years after acceptance upon completion.

FOR THE NON-HISTORICAL MONUMENT BUILDINGS situated in the protected built-up areas included in the PROGRAM:

1. 50% – of the value of the repair and protection works – under the form of a reimbursable financial contribution awarded by the financing public authority. The sums shall be returned by the owners for the undivided share that they own of the property, in monthly instalments for a period of 5 years after acceptance upon completion.
2. 50% – of the value of the repair and protection works paid to the constructor – on the condition of the existence of a rehabilitation fund for this purpose, and of the payment for the works until the acceptance upon completion. The sum covering the share of the owners shall be retrieved from the rehabilitation funds made available to the local public authority, and the payments shall be made as the payments to the constructor are made, on the basis of the approved completion reports of the works, until the acceptance upon completion.

The conditions for the granting of financing according to the Multi-Annual Program are: signing the 10-year financing and mortgage agreement or, by case, the subsequent works performance agreement with the 100% payment of the rehabilitation works until the acceptance upon completion for those who refuse to sign the mortgage agreements.

In situations where the sums forwarded by the Municipality of Oradea are NOT returned at the set deadlines, the Commission shall propose via Local Council Decision, to each owner, respectively each individual building / unit, the institution of a tax for the improvement of the environmental and architectural quality of the buildings, established under Law no. 153/2011 with the amendments and additions provided by Law 166/2016 on the measures for the improvement of the environmental and architectural quality of buildings.

We hereby mention that the short-term objective of this program is that, by May 2019, all buildings in the ultra-central squares of the city (Piața Unirii (Union Square) and Piața Ferdinand (Ferdinand Square)) and the main walkway arteries (Republicii (Republic) St. and Vasile Alecsandri St.) are rehabilitated.

Another means to approach the rehabilitation strategy of the buildings in the Historic Center was the conclusion of partnership agreements with all of the cult representatives. Oradea is a city of diverse ethnicities and religious beliefs, and so, through the conclusion of these partnerships between the Local Council and the Orthodox Bishopric, the Roman-Catholic Bishopric, the Reformed Bishopric and the Greek-Catholic Bishopric, multiple buildings owned by these institutions were rehabilitated. The principle for the financing was that all of the costs of the rehabilitation would be compensated with the sums allocated to said cult by the Local Council for a period of several years.

Another step taken by the Mayor’s Office of Oradea was made possible through the modification of the Tax Code in the fall of 2015, which allowed for both the possibility of imposing supplementary taxes for buildings that are not properly maintained, as well as the possibility to award building tax exemption benefits for buildings that are not classified as historical monuments. Given this situation, the Mayor’s Office of Oradea acted swiftly, adopting, in November and December 2015, 2 local council decisions that work in complementarity, thus strengthening the domain of the rehabilitation of buildings with architectural and historical value.

In short, the subject of these decisions is as follows: The owners who rehabilitate their buildings in compliance with the legislation concerning the authorization of construction works and quality standards benefit from a building tax exemption for a period of 5 years, while those who own buildings that exhibit deterioration, as established through an assessment carried out by specialized commissions representing the Mayor’s Office, shall be obligated to pay a supplementary tax (which, in Oradea, amounts to 500% for the year 2018) until the commencement of the authorized rehabilitation works.

All of these combined measures and the efforts of the commission that is specially assigned the application of this program (comprising specialists from the entire spectrum of domains involved – including the Office of the Chief Architect, the Foundation for the Protection of Historical Monument, the Economic Directorate, the Juridical Directorate, the Directorate of Real Estate Heritage, the Local Police) have so far contributed to the success of this program.