Buyer's due diligence checklist for Czechia
Checks before you signPrověrka nemovitosti před podpisem smlouvy
The documents and checks a buyer of an existing Czech home should get before signing a reservation or a contract: title and seller, mortgages and other rights, insolvency and enforcement, building and planning, energy certificate, owners' association, money and taxes.
Use it from the first viewing until the purchase contract is signed, and repeat the cadastre check on the day of signing and before the escrow releases the price. A lawyer usually runs these checks for the buyer. Many of them you can do yourself online.
Reviewed October 28, 2026. Not legal advice. Have a notary or lawyer check your case before you sign.
Key facts
- Applies to
- Whole country. For a flat unit or a house registered in the cadastre of real estate.
- Cadastre lookup
- Free and without registration in Nahlížení do KN: owner, title sheet number and pending proceedings.
- Full cadastre extract
- From the remote access service (dálkový přístup).
- Agent's cadastre extract
- No older than 3 working days at the brokerage contract. Without it the client may withdraw within 14 days (zákon č. 39/2020 Sb., § 11).
- Energy performance certificate (PENB)
- Shown to the buyer before the contract and handed over at signature at the latest. Valid 10 years (zákon č. 406/2000 Sb., § 7a).
- Debts to the owners' association
- Pass to the buyer if the buyer could find them. The seller must show the manager's confirmation (OZ § 1186).
- Hidden defects of a building
- Notify within 5 years of acquisition (OZ § 2129(2)).
- Enforcement register search
- CZK 60 for the basic extract and CZK 60 for each detailed extract, for an unregistered user.
- Transfer tax
- None since 26 September 2020 (zákon č. 386/2020 Sb.).
- Property tax
- The buyer files a return by 31 January of the year after purchase. The tax follows ownership on 1 January (zákon č. 338/1992 Sb., § 13a).
- Property tax, late registration
- If the transfer is registered only after 31 December of the filing year, file by the end of the third month after the month of registration.
- Cadastral filing fee
- CZK 2,000 per application for entry.
The checklist
Title, seller and capacity
Current cadastre extract for the propertyVýpis z katastru nemovitostí (list vlastnictví)
Parts C and D of the cadastre extract
Search for a 'plomba' and the state of any pending proceedingPlomba, vyhledání řízení
The seller's previous acquisition deed from the collection of deedsNabývací titul, sbírka listin
It shows how the seller acquired the property and whether that contract created pre-emption rights, bans on transfer or other conditions.
Seller's identity document and, for a company, an extract from the commercial registerDoklad totožnosti, výpis z obchodního rejstříku
It confirms the signer is the owner or may sign for the company. Spouses with SJM act together, or one with the other's consent (OZ § 714).
Insolvency register search on each sellerInsolvenční rejstřík (ISIR)
Central enforcement register search on each sellerCentrální evidence exekucí
Mortgages and rights of others
Statement of the outstanding mortgage debt from the seller's bank, and its consent to deletionVyčíslení zůstatku úvěru, souhlas s výmazem zástavního práva
The escrow pays the bank first from the price. The bank's statement fixes the amount and the account.
Easements and rights of residence in part CVěcná břemena (služebnost, právo užívání, výměnek)
They bind every later owner. A lifelong right of residence can make a house unusable for you.
Pre-emption rights of co-ownersPředkupní právo
Co-owners whose co-ownership arose by inheritance or similar have a pre-emption right for 6 months from its start (OZ § 1124).
Recorded pre-emption rightsPředkupní právo
Pre-emption rights recorded in the cadastre bind the seller too.
Existing lease contractsNájemní smlouvy
A lease passes to the buyer with the property (OZ § 2221). Get the contracts, the deposits held and the rent payment record.
Building, planning and condition
Final building approval and plans from the building officeKolaudační rozhodnutí nebo kolaudační souhlas, stavební dokumentace
It shows that the building, and any extension or loft conversion, may be used as a home. Unapproved works can lead to fines or removal.
Land-use plan and planning information for a house or a plotÚzemní plán, územně plánovací informace
It shows what may be built on the plot and on neighbouring land, and whether a road or a public project is planned.
Access to the property from a public road and the utility connectionsPřístup z veřejné komunikace, přípojky
Access over a neighbour's land needs an easement. Check who owns each connection.
Technical inspection by an independent surveyorTechnická prohlídka
A defect you should have noticed with ordinary care at signing gives you no claim later (OZ § 2103).
Energy certificate
Energy performance certificate, or a copyPrůkaz energetické náročnosti budovy (PENB)
Flat in a building with units
Confirmation of debts from the owners' association or building managerPotvrzení osoby odpovědné za správu domu o dluzích (§ 1186 OZ)
Declaration of the owner, statutes and house rulesProhlášení vlastníka, stanovy společenství vlastníků, domovní řád
They define your unit, your share of common parts and the rules, for example on short-term letting or pets.
Minutes of recent general meetings, repair fund balance and association loansZápisy ze shromáždění, fond oprav, úvěry SVJ
They show planned works and future contributions. An association loan raises the monthly payments you take over.
Monthly advances and the last annual settlement of service chargesPředpis záloh, vyúčtování služeb
Money, taxes and process
Written escrow agreement with a lawyer, a notary or a bankSmlouva o úschově (advokátní, notářská, bankovní)
Brokerage terms, if an agent is involvedSmlouva o realitním zprostředkování, rezervační smlouva
A brokerage contract cannot oblige a consumer to buy (zákon č. 39/2020 Sb., § 14).
Where the agent holds your money
Only at your separate written request, on a separate account (zákon č. 39/2020 Sb., § 4).
Application for entry and the filing feeNávrh na vklad, správní poplatek
Property tax return in the year after the purchasePřiznání k dani z nemovitých věcí
Later tax return deadline after late registrationPřiznání k dani z nemovitých věcí
Formalities
A due diligence list is a checklist by nature. In the Czech Republic the buyer or the buyer's lawyer must collect these documents, because no notary or official does it as part of the sale.
- You do not sign this checklist.
- No law makes anyone collect these searches for you. A notary takes part only if you choose one.
- Attach the cadastre extract and the energy certificate to the contract.
- An agent who acts for you must give you a cadastre extract no older than 3 working days when you sign the brokerage contract (zákon č. 39/2020 Sb., § 11).
- The agent must tell you about defects and restrictions it knows of or should know of (zákon č. 39/2020 Sb., § 12).
Common mistakes
- Relying on the agent's extract alone. Check the cadastre yourself on the day of signing. A 'plomba' marks a change of rights in progress. Find out what it is.
- Buying a flat without the manager's confirmation of debts. Debts you could have found pass to you.
- Ignoring a lease. A sale does not end it, and the landlord of a flat cannot give notice because ownership changed (OZ § 2224).
- Missing a right of residence or another easement in part C of the title sheet. It binds you as the new owner.
- Treating a cooperative flat (družstevní byt) as a unit. It is not owned in the cadastre. You buy a member's share. The cooperative's statutes and debts matter.
- Skipping the building approval. A loft, extension or change of use without approval can lead to fines or an order to remove it.
- Paying anything outside escrow before the cadastre shows you as owner.
Legal basis
- Zákon č. 256/2013 Sb., katastrální zákon
- Zákon č. 89/2012 Sb., občanský zákoník, § 980 and § 984 (reliance on the public register), § 1186 (debts to the building manager), § 2103 and § 2129 (defects), § 2221 and § 2224 (a lease survives a sale)
- Zákon č. 406/2000 Sb., o hospodaření energií, § 7a (energy performance certificate)
- Zákon č. 39/2020 Sb., o realitním zprostředkování, § 4, § 11 and § 12
- Zákon č. 338/1992 Sb., o dani z nemovitých věcí, § 13a (tax return, including § 13a(11) for a transfer registered after 31 December)
- Zákon č. 67/2013 Sb., on services in buildings with flats, § 7 (settlement of service charges)