A protective zone (ochranné pásmo) is the strip of land around a power line, cable, substation or gas pipeline in which the Slovak Energy Act 251/2012 bans or restricts building. Its width is fixed by law, from 1 m for a low-pressure gas pipe in a village to 35 m on each side of a line above 400 kV. It binds the land from the day the installation exists, without any contract or cadastral entry, and building inside it needs the network operator’s consent.
What a protective zone is
Section 43(1) of the Energy Act 251/2012, which we read in the text in force since 1 July 2026, defines the term for electricity. A protective zone is the space in the immediate vicinity of a grid installation that, together with the space below and above it, serves the reliable and continuous operation of the grid and the protection of life, health and property. Section 79 creates the same instrument for gas installations and direct pipelines. The version that takes effect on 1 January 2027 leaves sections 43, 79 and 80 unchanged.
The defining feature is that the zone comes from the statute, not from an agreement. The distances are written into the Act and apply as soon as the line, cable or pipe is in place. That separates it from an easement, which is a right in rem agreed or imposed for a particular plot and usually entered on the ownership sheet. A plot can show no burden at all in the cadastre and still lose a strip to a zone. In practice both often exist side by side, because the operator holds an easement for access while the zone limits what the owner may build.
Distances around power lines, cables and substations
For an overhead line, section 43(2) draws vertical planes on both sides, measured horizontally from the outer conductor. Between 1 kV and 35 kV the distance is 10 m for bare conductors, 4 m for conductors with basic insulation and 1 m for suspended cable, with 7 m and 2 m in continuous forest cuttings. From 35 kV to 110 kV it is 15 m, up to 220 kV 20 m, up to 400 kV 25 m and above 400 kV 35 m. Suspended cable from 35 kV to 110 kV takes 2 m (section 43(3)).
Underground cables take 1 m on each side up to 110 kV and 3 m above (section 43(7)). An outdoor substation at 110 kV or more is surrounded by a zone of 30 m from its fence, one below 110 kV by 10 m, and an indoor substation only by its own fence line (section 43(9)). The owner of land under an overhead line must also let the operator reach the line and keep a cleared strip of 4 m on both sides (section 43(6)). For a logistics plot, the overhead line is almost always the expensive case, because its zone runs at full width across the land.
Distances around gas pipelines, and the safety zone
Section 79(2) measures the gas zone from the axis of the pipeline on each side: 4 m for a nominal diameter up to 200 mm, 8 m from 201 to 500 mm, 12 m from 501 to 700 mm and 50 m above 700 mm. A distribution pipe below 0.4 MPa in the built-up area of a municipality takes 1 m. Technological objects, which section 79(3) lists as regulating and filter stations, valve nodes, corrosion protection, line heaters and telecommunication equipment, take 8 m. Probes take 150 m.
Gas adds a second, wider ring. Section 80 creates a bezpečnostné pásmo, a safety zone, meant to prevent accidents and limit their effects. It reaches 10 m for low-pressure pipes in open land, 20 m or 50 m between 0.4 and 4 MPa depending on diameter, and between 50 m and 200 m above 4 MPa. Regulating stations take 50 m. The safety zone does not ban building outright, but under section 80(4) any structure inside it again needs the operator’s consent. Around a transit pipeline the two rings together can decide whether a plot is buildable at all.
Consent and the binding opinion
Inside the electricity zone, section 43(4) bans structures, changes and removals of buildings, construction works, storage, flammable or explosive goods, trees above 3 m and any activity that endangers people or the line. The only route through the ban is section 43(14): building, changing or removing a structure, or connecting it to the grid, is possible with the consent of the grid operator. For a structure that needs a permit, the operator gives that consent as a binding opinion of an affected legal entity in the permit procedure.
Gas follows the same logic. Building in the gas zone or the safety zone needs the network operator’s consent (sections 79(5) and 80(4)), and any other activity in the gas zone needs consent and must follow the operator’s conditions (section 79(6)). Anyone who builds near an electricity zone, or works in a way that may approach the installation, must notify the transmission or distribution operator in advance and follow its conditions (section 43(11)). In our experience the consent is rarely refused outright. It comes with distances, materials and supervision conditions that shape the design.
Removal, cadastral notes and site checks
A structure built without consent carries the consequences with it. Under section 43(15), whoever built, planted or stored something in an electricity zone without consent must remove it at their own cost. If that person does not, or is unknown, the operator may remove it and recover the cost from the owner. For gas, the licence holder may ask the cadastre to enter a note that a structure stands in the zone or the safety zone without consent (sections 79(5) and 80(4)). The operator is also not liable for damage from its operation where the injured party had no consent (section 79(8)).
For due diligence this means three checks. Ask the power and gas operators for a statement of the installations on and next to the parcels, with voltages, pressures and diameters. Draw every zone on the site plan before calculating the buildable area and the price. For an existing building, ask for the operator consents behind it, because a buyer or tenant steps into the position of whoever built it. Our blog explains how protective zones shrink an industrial plot and who pays for moving a line. Read it here: the lines that shrink a plot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a protective zone appear in the cadastre?
Not as such. It arises from the Energy Act once the installation exists. An easement for the operator may be entered on the ownership sheet, and for gas a note can record a structure built without consent, but the zone binds the land either way.
Can a hall be built inside the zone?
Only with the operator’s consent under section 43(14) for electricity or section 79(5) for gas, given as a binding opinion in the permit procedure. Without it, the structure may have to be removed at the builder’s cost.
Is the safety zone the same thing?
No. The safety zone exists only for gas under section 80 and is wider, up to 200 m for large high-pressure pipelines. It also requires consent for building, but it does not carry the outright bans that apply around power lines.
Who pays to move a line out of the way?
The Act does not set a price. A relocation runs through the operator and is usually paid by whoever asks for it, so a sale or development contract should say whether the seller or the buyer carries that cost.
Looking at a Slovak plot with a line or a pipeline across it? Send us the parcel numbers, and we will map the zones with you before the price is agreed.