WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE PROJECT "Geospatial Infrastructure and Valuation Enhancement"

GENERAL INFORMATION:

The Federal Administration for Geodetic and Real Property Affairs (FGA) is currently implementing the project "Geospatial Infrastructure and Valuation Enhancement" (GIVE), which is based on the following formal foundations:

• Declaration of Effectiveness of the World Bank Loan No. 96760-BA - March 27, 2025;
• Decision on the Ratification of the Loan Agreement No. 96760-BA, published in the Official Gazette of BiH – International Agreements No. 1/25, January 23, 2025, adopted by the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina on December 12, 2024;
• Project Agreement between the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, signed on February 25, 2025;
• Subsidiary Agreement between Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), signed on March 4, 2025.

The GIVE project is financed through a World Bank’s loan – International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) in the amount of EUR 23.1 million, with a planned implementation period until January 31, 2030.

INSTITUTIONAL AND IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS

The Federal Administration for Geodetic and Real Property Affairs is responsible for the GIVE project implementation in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Project Implementation Unit has been established and operates within the Sector for management of public investment program projects. The Unit consists of civil servants and engaged experts with appropriate professional and technical qualifications necessary for successful project implementation, providing the Sector with daily operational and technical support in the implementation of project activities.

PROJECT DEVELOPMENT GOAL

The project development goal is to improve the accuracy and availability of information on land administration in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The GIVE project will contribute to the modernization of the land administration through digitization, harmonization and standardization of data, ensuring better services for citizens and the business community.

How will the achievement of the Project Development Goal be monitored?

• By the number of developed and adopted methodologies for mass valuation in accordance with best international practices;
• Expressed as a percentage; key geospatial data sets harmonized with adopted data standards, available through the digital platform of the Spatial Data Infrastructure
• Expressed as a percentage; local self-government units with established Building Register data.

KEY PROJECT COMPONENTS

The GIVE project will be implemented through four main activity components:

Component A: Support for the Establishment of the Spatial Data Infrastructure

This component aims to modernize the way spatial data is collected, processed, and shared in the FBiH. Through the digitization of analog records, standardization of data formats, and the establishment of interoperable systems, the accessibility and accuracy of geospatial data will be improved. This will enable the integration of key registers (land registry, cadastre, building register, and others) and improves the delivery of e-services for citizens and institutions.

Component B: Establishment of the Building Register

This component includes activities related to the establishment, expansion, and maintenance of a modern register of buildings and their parts (apartments and business premises) for the entire territory of FBiH, through the development of a methodology for data collection and processing, field data collection and processing, the establishment of an IT system for managing the building register, and the scaling of register to 40 local government units.

Component C: Real Estate Valuation

The objective of this component is to create a system for mass, automated, and transparent mass valuation of real estate in FBiH through the Sales Price Register, development of standards and methodologies for property valuation, and the establishment of the information portal with advanced tools, in accordance with applicable legislation, international standards, and best practices.

Component D: Capacity Building and Project Management

This component provides support for strengthening institutional capacities, structures, and inter-institutional cooperation to ensure the long-term sustainability of project investments, as well as for support the development and implementation of policies, legal acts, and technical guidelines, training and capacity-building programs in the fields of spatial data infrastructure (SDI), data harmonization between the cadastre and land register, establishing a building register, and real estate valuation.

Who are main beneficiaries of the project?

• Citizens and property owners;
• The business community in FBiH;
• Land registry offices of municipal courts in FBiH;
• Local self-government units, cadastral offices;
• Decision-makers at all levels (from local to central).

What are the most relevant project activities for users?

For citizens, land registry offices of municipal courts and local government units:

Within the GIVE Project and Component A, activities are also being carried out to support the public display of cadastral data, as well as the continued harmonization of cadastral and land registry data for an additional 150 cadastral municipalitiesin FBiH.

PUBLIC DISPLAY OF REAL ESTATE DATA

How is the public display of real estate data conducted?

The public display of real estate data is carried out by cadastral municipalities, and the procedure is conducted by a commission for the public display, appointed by the competent representative body for one or more cadastral municipalities. The commission presents the data to the parties, verifies, and determines the data on land parcels, buildings, apartments, and users of real estate.

How are parties invited to participate in the procedure?

The commission determines, for each cadastral municipality separately, the place and time of the beginning and end of the data display, through a public notice published in the "Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH", official bulletins of the canton and city/municipality and FGA web site, at least two daily newspapers, on the notice board of the city/municipality, local electronic media, and in places used for posting notices in the relevant cadastral municipality, and this must be done no later than 15 days before the beginning of the public display. The invitation notifies all persons who have the right or a legal interest in the real estate in the published cadastral municipality that they are obliged to appear at the premises of the Commission at the time indicated in the invitation and provide the necessary information.

How does the process of public data display proceed?
The public data display process includes:

• Delivery of the cadastral record to the user, or their legal heir;
• Verification of identity and real estate data;
• Harmonization with the actual situation and possible corrections in the Survey and Cadastral Classification database;
• Resolving oral objections during the data communication, whereby justified objections lead to immediate correction of data in the Survey and Cadastral Classification database;
• User’s confirmation of the data recorded in the property register, confirmed by their signature;
• Finalization of the data communication by entering the place and date of the data display and signatures of all commission members.

When receiving an objection related to property boundaries, the commission informs the users that they are obliged to clearly and permanently mark the boundary lines with visible markers, before the objection is resolved. In the process of resolving objections to survey and cadastral classification data, an on-site inspection must be carried out in order to establish the actual situation on the parcels, perform the additional survey according to the method and with the accuracy prescribed for the survey of details. The data collected during the additional survey is recorded on the sketches of the supplementary survey, which represent an integral part of the case file related to the specific objection.

In the case of an unfavourable decision, a formal decision on the rejection of the objection is issued. This decision may be appealed to the Federal Geodetic Administration within eight (8) days from the date of receipt of the decision.

All information related to cadastral municipalities where public display is in progress will be published on the official website of the FGU.

ESTABLISHMENT AND/OR REPLACEMENT OF LAND REGISTRY

How are the activities of establishing and/or replacing the land registry conducted?

The procedure for the establishment and/or replacement of the land registry begins with a public notice by the competent municipal court, announcing the establishment of the land registry for a specific cadastral municipality. The announcement of the procedure for establishing and/or replacing the land registry is published on the court’s notice board, in the Official Gazette of BiH, the Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH, in two daily newspapers available in Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the notice board of the local self-government unit, through local electronic media, and in places used for posting public notices within the relevant cadastral municipality and local community. The announcement of the establishment and/or replacement of the land registry is also supported by the implementation of public information campaigns.

How are citizens invited to participate in the procedure of establishing and/or replacing the land registry?

The court invites citizens to report their property rights to the land registry office within 60 days from the date of publication, and to prove their claim with a written submission in two copies. The submission accompanying the application usually includes a purchase agreement, inheritance decision, or other document proving ownership of the real estate. Persons who claim rights to real estate may request an extension of this deadline for an additional 90 days in order to obtain the necessary evidence. Individuals who were unable to know about the announcement of the procedure for establishing and/or replacing the land registry, have the right to report their ownership or other property rights within 60 days from the date they became aware of the procedure, but no later than one year from the start of the establishment process, in accordance with Article 67, Paragraph 3, Item 4 of the Law on Land Registry Books of the Federation of BiH.

Article 67, Paragraph 5 of the Law on Land Registry Books of the Federation of BiH stipulates that, in cases where an interested party fails to submit a claim within the prescribed deadline, the land registry office shall proceed with the establishment based on the existing evidence, in accordance with Article 64 of the same Law. This provision excludes any possibility of registering property in the name of the state if the state was not registered as the owner or possessor in the existing land registry and/or cadastral records, and if the land registry officer does not determine the state to be the owner, in accordance with Article 69 of the Law on Land Registry Books. Based on these facts, it is clear that the procedure for establishing the land registry is carried out by municipal courts, in accordance with Laws, and municipalities, cantons, entities, and the state are considered parties to the procedure, like everyone else.

After completing the procedure, the land registry office issues a decision and delivers it to the involved parties.

You can learn more about the regulations regarding land registry administration in the Federation of BiH at the following link:
https://www.fgu.com.ba/bs/zakoni.html

How can you check which cadastral municipality your property belongs to?

If you are not sure which cadastral municipality your property is located in, you can freely check it on the FGA Real Estate database www.katastar.ba, where the search is possible by parcel number, cadastral record or graphic search by interactive map.