How to check a developer before signing the agreement

Checking a developer before signing comes down to five free steps: download the company’s KRS extract and its financial statements (ekrs.ms.gov.pl), check the National Register of Debtors and UOKiK decisions, review the land’s księga wieczysta (land and mortgage register) at ekw.ms.gov.pl along with the final building permit, read the information prospectus, which the developer must deliver free of charge before the reservation agreement, and go and look at the company’s earlier estates. The whole thing takes one or two evenings and does not cost a single zloty.

On top of that, three safety numbers from the developer act: your payments must go into a residential escrow account protected by the Deweloperski Fundusz Gwarancyjny (Developer Guarantee Fund; the developer’s contribution: 0.1% with a closed account, 0.45% with an open one — as of August 2026), the reservation fee may not exceed 1% of the price of the unit, and since 11 September 2025 every developer is obliged to publish asking prices and the history of their changes on its own website. Below is the whole path step by step — go through it before you pay the first zloty.

How do you check a developer in the KRS and the debtor registers?

The first stop is the free search engine of the National Court Register (ekrs.ms.gov.pl). Download the company’s current extract and check three things:

• the legal form and date of incorporation — a company registered half a year ago, with no track record, calls for caution;
• the share capital and the composition of the management board — who will actually sign the agreement with you;
• notes on liquidation, bankruptcy or restructuring — those are hard warning signals.

On the same service you will find the Repository of Financial Documents — you can download the financial statements for recent years free of charge and see whether the company is making money or only piling up debt. Supplement this with the National Register of Debtors (bankruptcy and restructuring proceedings) and with UOKiK decisions concerning the developer.

One practical note: developers often carry out each investment through a separate special purpose vehicle. That is normal market practice, but in that case check the parent company and its earlier projects too — it is the parent that carries the reputation of the whole group.

How do you assess a developer’s previous investments?

The sales brochure shows renderings; the truth is shown by estates handed over a few years ago. Drive out to the developer’s previous investments and assess the condition of the façades, the common parts and the greenery after years of use. Look for residents’ groups from those estates on Facebook and local forums — you will learn whether construction finished on time and how the developer responded to defects reported under the statutory warranty.

Since 11 September 2025 you also have a new tool: every developer must publish on its website the asking prices of all units together with a full history of changes, and report the data daily to the government portal dane.gov.pl. If the price list is hidden or available “only at the sales office”, the company is breaking the act — treat that as a red flag.

Also check whether the company belongs to the Polish Association of Developers (Polski Związek Firm Deweloperskich) — membership obliges it to observe a code of good practice. That settles nothing on its own, but it is another piece of the puzzle.

How do the escrow account and the Deweloperski Fundusz Gwarancyjny work?

Since 1 July 2022 the Act of 20 May 2021 on the protection of the rights of buyers of residential units and single-family houses and on the Deweloperski Fundusz Gwarancyjny has applied. Your payments must go into a mieszkaniowy rachunek powierniczy (residential escrow account, MRP), and not directly into the developer’s account.

Type of account	When the developer gets the money	Developer’s DFG contribution
Closed MRP	Only after ownership has been transferred to you	0.1% of each payment
Open MRP	In tranches, after the bank has verified each stage of construction	0.45% of each payment

The rates follow from the regulation of 21 June 2022 and still apply in 2026. The contribution to the Deweloperski Fundusz Gwarancyjny is paid by the developer — you pay nothing extra on that account. If the developer or the bank goes bankrupt, the DFG refunds buyers the payments from the open account. Just remember that DFG protection covers investments whose sales started on or after 1 July 2022 — older projects may operate under earlier rules, so ask outright which legal regime applies to your agreement.

The absolute red flag: any construction that circumvents the act — a request to pay outside the escrow account, an “investment agreement” instead of a developer agreement, promissory notes as security.

What should you check in the land’s księga wieczysta and the building permit?

The plot’s księga wieczysta number is in the information prospectus. Enter it in the free browser at ekw.ms.gov.pl and review all the sections — we explain how to read a księga wieczysta in a separate guide:

1. Section II — whether the developer is the owner of the land or its perpetual usufructuary;
2. Section III — claims, warnings, easements;
3. Section IV — mortgages. A mortgage held by the bank financing the construction is standard, but the agreement must include the creditor’s consent to release your unit free of encumbrances. Mortgages in favour of other entities require an explanation.

Also ask for the final building permit decision and compare its number and date with the details in the prospectus. It is worth looking into the local spatial development plan (MPZP) — you will find out what may be built outside your window in five years.

What is the information prospectus and when must you receive it?

The developer has a statutory duty to deliver the information prospectus to you free of charge, on a durable medium, before the reservation agreement is concluded. In it you will find, among other things, the developer’s experience and completed investments, the schedule of the project, details of the land and the building permit, the type of escrow account and information about planned investments in the neighbourhood.

A refusal to hand over the prospectus, or dragging their feet over it, is a signal to say thank you and look elsewhere. If the developer changes the prospectus and does not inform you about it, you have the right to an immediate refund of the reservation fee.

What limits and deadlines does the developer act give you?

A few specifics that are easy to miss (legal status as of August 2026):

• The reservation fee may not exceed 1% of the price of the unit stated in the prospectus — on a flat costing 600,000 zł that is a maximum of 6,000 zł. It counts towards the price, and if the loan is refused because of a negative creditworthiness assessment, it is refundable.
• The developer agreement requires the form of an akt notarialny (notarial deed), and the notary’s costs are split equally between the developer and the buyer — we write in more detail here about what to watch out for in the agreement itself.
• At handover you report defects into the protocol; the developer has 14 days to state whether it accepts them (no reply = acceptance) and 30 days from signing the protocol to remedy them.
• In the case of a material defect you may refuse to take over the unit, and if the developer does not remedy it despite further deadlines — withdraw from the agreement (a construction expert’s opinion is needed at the repeat handover).
• The statutory warranty for defects of the unit operates under the rules of the Civil Code — for real estate that is 5 years from delivery.

A short checklist before the reservation

Before you sign anything, tick off: the KRS extract and financial statements, the land’s księga wieczysta, the final building permit, the information prospectus with its annexes, the type of escrow account and the bank running it, whether the investment is covered by the DFG, the price list with its history of changes on the developer’s website, a visit to a previous estate, and an analysis of the draft agreement — ideally with a lawyer or an experienced adviser. We have gathered the investments that have passed this verification with us among the flats from developers in Warszawa.

At allproperty we work with developers every day and know their delivery record — we will point out what to look at in the prospectus and the agreement for a specific investment before you pay the reservation fee. On the primary market the buyer pays us no commission (0%). If while reading the prospectus or the agreement in the evening you come across something worrying, do not wait until Monday — we work around the clock, call +48 666 866 468 or +48 692 649 839 at any hour. Write to us — we will check the developer together, calmly and step by step.