Trial operation in Slovakia, skúšobná prevádzka, is the temporary use of a finished building. The building authority permits it so that the functional parameters of the structure and its technology can be proven by running it. It is available only where the function cannot be verified any other way. Section 69 of the Building Act caps the permission at 24 months, and at four years with extensions. The protocol that evaluates the period is a mandatory annex to the application for the occupancy certificate, so it is also the document the inspection reads.
What trial operation in Slovakia actually permits
Section 69(1) of Act 25/2025 Z. z., the Building Act in force since 1 April 2025, defines it as temporary use of a structure. The purpose is fixed: to carry out tests and measurements of the functional parameters of the structure and of its technical or technological equipment. The definition also carries its own condition. This route is open only where fitness for use and functionality can be verified by operating the building and in no other way. That test applies to a completed structure, to a part of it capable of separate use, and to a change to a completed structure.
That condition is the whole point of the instrument. A steel frame and a concrete slab can be inspected while standing still. A refrigeration plant, a paint line or an automated store cannot. The only honest test is to switch them on and measure what comes out. The Act therefore creates a legal state in which a finished building may be used without yet being in permanent use.
Three parties may apply for it. They are the owner of the structure, the builder and the contractor. Reserved or designated technical equipment adds a step. Where the structure contains it, official tests and expert inspections have to be done first. Without them the temporary use cannot be permitted at all. Section 69(2) adds the paperwork. The applicant attaches the statements of the affected authorities and legal persons that reserved the point in their binding opinion on the building intention. Those bodies have 30 days to reply and to set their conditions. Under section 69(3) the authority then sets the conditions, including the duration, and decides within 30 days of the application.
How long it can last
Section 69(4) sets the ceiling at 24 months. Where operational reasons require it, the authority may extend the period on the builder’s application. It may do so repeatedly. The total with all extensions may never exceed four years. Three cases sit outside the cap and no others: linear structures, nuclear installations and structures related to a nuclear installation.
The decision ends in one of two ways under section 69(6). Either the permitted time lapses, or the occupancy certificate is issued. There is no third route and no automatic rollover. That matters for anyone planning a programme around it. On the day the period expires without a certificate, the legal basis for using the building is gone.
There is also a faster entry than a standalone application. Section 69(8) covers the case where complex testing of the technology flows without interruption into the trial period. It may then begin with the consent of the building authority, given after agreement with the affected authorities. That consent is issued within 15 days of the application. On a project where commissioning and production ramp-up are continuous, that is the difference between a 15-day and a 30-day gate.
Trial operation against early use
The two instruments are regularly confused because both produce a building in lawful use without a certificate. They answer opposite questions. Section 69 assumes a finished structure whose function is unproven. Section 70, early use, assumes a structure that is not finished at all. It has to have reached a stage at which it satisfies the basic requirements for structures and the general technical requirements for construction. The early use must also not endanger completion.
The periods differ accordingly. Early use may be permitted for at most 12 months, and for a total of no more than five years with repeated extensions. The tested route runs to 24 months and four years. The paperwork differs too. An application under section 70 must carry the written consent of the contractor and of the designer to the recommended conditions. They are the parties who carry the consequences of use during construction.
In an industrial project both can appear on the same site in sequence. A developer takes early use of the office block while the hall is still being finished. The operator later runs the technology inside the completed hall under section 69. They are not alternatives, and neither of them is a substitute for the certificate at the end.
What it does to the occupancy procedure
Section 69(5) obliges the builder or the contractor to draw up a protocol on the course of the tested period and on its evaluation. The same subsection states plainly what the document is for: it is the basis for kolaudacia. Section 66(2)(f) then makes it a mandatory annex to the application for the occupancy certificate wherever the temporary use was permitted. The document is not a formality: it is the evidence on which the authority decides whether the technology works.
That fits what the inspection actually examines. Under section 66(4)(c) the authority establishes whether the building system and the other technical and operational equipment are functional. Section 66(4)(f) adds the second question: whether the operation of reserved technical equipment is smooth and safe. Neither question can be answered from a drawing on a building where the process is the point.
The timetable at the end is short by comparison. Under section 66(3) the authority announces the date of the inspection within seven working days of a complete application. The inspection itself must take place within 30 days of that announcement. Under section 66(7) the certificate follows within 15 days of the inspection, where the structure is found fit for operation. Section 69(7) applies the same procedural rules to the permission for temporary use. Section 66(9) names the parties: the builder, the owner of the structure where that is a different person, and the owner of the land.
What it means in an industrial lease
A building in this state has no occupancy certificate, and that single fact reaches several clauses at once. A lease that ties rent commencement to the certificate ties it to a date that section 69(4) allows to sit up to 24 months away. With extensions the same date can sit four years away. Take a 10,000 square metre unit at the Q2 2026 prime rent of EUR 5.30 per square metre a month. Each month of that gap is EUR 53,000 of rent that nobody is receiving and somebody has financed.
The practical answer is to write the state into the documents rather than around it. Name the moment the tested period begins and who applies for it. Name the party that owns the obligation to produce the evaluation protocol. The Act allocates that duty to the builder or the contractor, and a lease can allocate the cost differently. Decide which of the conditions imposed by the authority the occupier has to observe. They bind the use of the building rather than the person who applied for the permission. And agree what happens if the certificate is refused or the period lapses, which is the only genuinely bad outcome on this road.
None of that is unusual on a built-to-suit project with process technology inside it. What is unusual is discovering the point after practical completion. By then the handover protocol has been signed, and everybody has assumed that a finished building is a usable one. The clearest case is an automated store, where the racking can itself become part of the structure, and we follow that asset through all four desks in our post on automated high-bay warehouses in Slovakia.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a building in this state legally in use?
Yes, but temporarily and on conditions. Section 69(1) describes it as temporary use of the structure, and section 69(3) requires the authority to set the conditions and the duration in the decision. Permanent use begins only with the occupancy certificate under section 66(1).
How long can the period be extended?
The initial permission runs for at most 24 months. Section 69(4) allows the authority to extend it on the builder’s application where operational reasons require it, repeatedly if need be. The total may never exceed four years. Linear structures and nuclear installations are outside the cap.
What is the difference from early use under section 70?
Section 70 covers a structure that is not yet finished but is safe to use in part. It runs for at most 12 months, and five years in total. The application needs the written consent of the contractor and the designer. Section 69 covers a finished structure whose function still has to be demonstrated by running it.
Who has to produce the evaluation protocol?
The builder or the contractor, under section 69(5). The protocol is the basis for kolaudacia and a mandatory annex to the application for the certificate under section 66(2)(f). Which of the two parties bears the cost is a contractual question, not a statutory one.
Can complex testing run straight into it?
Yes. Section 69(8) covers the case where complex testing passes into the tested period without interruption. The period may then begin with the consent of the building authority, after agreement with the affected authorities. The authority gives that consent within 15 days of the application.