Professional qualification under Section 7 of the Trade Licensing Act

What the law says

Section 7 of the Trade Licensing Act introduces the so-called special conditions for operating a trade. While the general conditions (legal capacity and a clean criminal record) apply to everyone, the special conditions concern only certain trades. The Act defines them concisely in Section 7(1): "The special conditions for operating a trade are professional or other qualifications, where this Act or special regulations require them."

The key word is "where". For unqualified (free) trades, professional qualification is not proven at all. For craft, regulated and licensed (concession) trades it is, to the extent stipulated by the Act or its annexes.

Section 7 further addresses several practical situations:

• Subsection 2 protects existing entrepreneurs. If the professional qualification requirements change or are supplemented after the licence has arisen, proof of practical experience is "not required from an entrepreneur whose trade licence for operating the affected trade continues in force", nor from a responsible representative who already held the role before the change.
• Subsection 3 allows professional qualification to be proven by a document issued not to a natural person but "to the entrepreneur by the competent professional authority".
• Subsection 4 defines practical experience in the field. It means the performance of professional activities by a self-employed person, a responsible representative, a person entrusted with managing the establishment, or an employee in an employment relationship. Related fields are those which "use the same or similar working procedures and professional knowledge".
• Subsection 5 opens the way to recognition of professional qualifications. A citizen of the Czech Republic or of another EU member state may prove their qualification by documents of professional qualification certifying that they carried out the activity in question for a specified period in another EU member state.
• Subsection 6 requires, for selected activities (Annex No. 5), that performance be ensured only by persons with professional qualification, that records be kept of them, and that the documents be retained for at least 3 years.

Section 7 is followed by Section 21 (professional qualification for craft trades) and Section 22 (substitute documents).

Interpretation and explanation

In practice, Section 7 answers the question: do I need to know something in order to operate a given trade? For the unqualified (free) trade, no. For the other types, you must demonstrate a qualification.

For craft trades, Section 21 lists the documents: "due completion of secondary education with an apprenticeship certificate in the relevant field of study", as well as the school-leaving examination (maturita), higher vocational or university education in the relevant field, or a document on the "recognition of professional qualification, issued by the recognition authority pursuant to the Act on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications". If you do not have education exactly in the field, Section 22 offers a substitute: education in a related field plus one year of practical experience, or alternatively six years of practical experience in the field.

Watch out for the difference between trade types. Regulated and licensed (concession) trades have their requirements stated directly in Annexes No. 2 and 3 and tend to be stricter (authorisation, certificates, specific education). For a concession, the office also decides and may request an opinion from another authority.

Recognition of a qualification from abroad proceeds under Act No. 18/2004 Coll. The recognition authority decides, which for most trades is the Ministry of Industry and Trade. This is important both for foreigners and for Czechs who trained or worked in another EU state.

Practical impacts and examples

First example: you want to operate a hairdressing salon (a craft trade). You hold an apprenticeship certificate in the field of hairdressing, so you prove your professional qualification under Section 21 without practical experience. If you held an apprenticeship certificate in a related field, you would additionally need one year of practical experience under Section 22.

Second example: you worked for five years as an employee in a locksmith's workshop. This period counts as practical experience in the field under Section 7(4), because you performed professional activities in an employment relationship. You prove the experience with a confirmation from the employer.

Third example: you trained in Slovakia. Under Section 7(5) and Section 21(2), you apply for recognition of your professional qualification at the recognition authority, and only with this document do you notify the trade.

Fourth example: you operate an activity from Annex No. 5 (for instance the provision of physical-education services) through employees. Under Section 7(6), you must ensure that it is performed only by persons with professional qualification and archive their documents for three years.

Context

Professional qualification is only one of the conditions. Alongside it, you must meet the general conditions and, for certain fields, appoint a responsible representative. You will find the specific requirements for individual fields in the catalogue of trades, where for each one you can tell whether it is an unqualified (free), craft, regulated or licensed (concession) trade.

If you are just starting out, go through the guide on how to set up a trade. You will learn which professional qualification documents to prepare, where to notify the trade, and how to proceed when you obtain your qualification through recognition of professional qualification.