Stellos Brief · Rules

Poland's Shelter Act, Explained: What Buildings and Garages Must Do from 2026

The 2024 act on population protection and civil defence is long and lawyerly, but the parts that touch property owners are not complicated. Let me translate the essentials: the categories of protective space, who carries the duty, and the date that matters most.

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Three kinds of protective space

The law distinguishes between purpose-built shelters (the hardened, blast-rated structures), shelter places adapted from existing space, and the lighter new category, the temporary shelter point (miejsce doraźnego schronienia, MDS), space that can be organised quickly to protect people for a limited time. The MDS category is the pragmatic engine of the rollout: you cannot pour blast bunkers fast enough for a whole country, but you can designate and prepare a great deal of suitable existing space.

The 1 January 2026 design rule

The provision property professionals need to know: from 1 January 2026, new multi-family residential buildings, public buildings and their underground garages must be designed and built so that a temporary shelter point can be organised in them. It is a design-stage obligation, baked into how projects are planned and permitted, not an afterthought. If you are commissioning or designing a building with underground parking, this now shapes the brief.

Who carries the duty, and who oversees it

Responsibility is shared across the state, local government and, increasingly, private owners, with the Ministry of the Interior (MSWiA) steering and the State Fire Service handling the inventory and guidance. The state has signalled it wants to simplify procedures and work with the private sector rather than build everything itself. For an owner that is the headline: this is meant to be a public-private effort, which is also where the funding and the opportunity come in.

What this does not tell you

An act sets duties and categories; it does not hand you the bolt-by-bolt technical spec or the grant form. Those live in implementing regulations and guidance that are still settling, and they differ by building and location. So treat this as orientation, then go to the source. This is general information, not legal or engineering advice. Shelter rules, technical specifications and funding amounts change and vary by location. Verify the current requirements with the relevant authorities (in Poland: MSWiA and the State Fire Service; in Switzerland: BABS) and a qualified planner before acting. For the practical fit-out side, see what makes a garage or basement a shelter point, and for the money, financing and grants.