Czechia Tightens Fireworks Sale and Use Rules from July 1: Who Now Faces Fines of Up to 5 Million Crowns

On July 1, another part of the amendments to the Czech pyrotechnics law came into force, significantly restricting the free sale of powerful fireworks. Previously, category F3 pyrotechnics — large compact batteries, complex firework installations and powerful firecrackers — could be bought by anyone over 21. Now they are available only to holders of a special professional competence certificate.

Category F3 has effectively been placed on par with the strictest category, F4: purchasing, storing, displaying and setting off such pyrotechnics now requires an official document. As a result, powerful fireworks have completely disappeared from the shelves of ordinary supermarkets and hardware stores.

The certificate is issued by the Czech Mining Authority after successfully passing an exam administered jointly by the Czech Office for Testing of Weapons and Ammunition and the Mining Authority. The exam includes a written and oral test on knowledge of laws and safety regulations, as well as a practical part that checks the ability to handle emergency situations when pyrotechnics malfunction.

Only an adult over 21, with a medical certificate from a general practitioner, full legal capacity and a clean criminal record, can obtain the certificate. According to the government services portal, submitting an application costs 6,000 crowns, while a retake in case of failure costs 3,000 crowns. Due to high demand, available exam dates are being booked up very quickly.

Bypassing the new rules through online stores won’t work either: sellers, distributors and importers are required to check not only the buyer’s age but also whether they hold the appropriate certificate. “The seller must always check, at the time of purchase and handover of the goods, not only the buyer’s age but also their professional competence,” emphasized Martin Maxa, control director at the Czech Trade Inspection Authority. In practice, this means that powerful pyrotechnics bought online can no longer be collected via automated pickup points. Sellers who break the rules face fines of up to 5,000,000 crowns and a ban on their business activities.

Setting off category F3 pyrotechnics without a valid certificate is punishable by a fine of up to 500,000 crowns — even if the item was purchased before the rules were tightened. However, simply storing such pyrotechnics at home is not illegal. “There’s often panic-inducing information spreading that people face fines just for keeping F3 fireworks at home. That’s not true. You can still keep them at home without risk of a fine — only their use has become stricter,” reassures fireworks seller Petr Gebhart.

Age restrictions for other categories of pyrotechnics remain unchanged. Category F1 items — sparklers, party poppers and similar products — can be bought from age 15, while category F2 pyrotechnics (small Roman candles, firecrackers, fountains) can be bought from age 18. The most powerful category, F4, is still sold only to those over 21 and only with a certificate.

Another new rule: towns and municipalities now have the right to completely ban fireworks across their entire territory. Previously, they could only regulate specific locations — for example, near bodies of water or hospitals.

Meanwhile, the protective zones introduced on December 1, 2025, as part of the first stage of the amendments remain in place: within a 250-metre radius of hospitals, nursing homes, zoos, livestock farms and other sensitive facilities, setting off pyrotechnics is prohibited. In these zones, only category F1 items are allowed — sparklers, party poppers and similar products that can even be used indoors and are sold from age 15.

Violating the ban within a protective zone or in an area with a local ban carries an administrative fine of up to 100,000 crowns, or up to 10,000 crowns issued on the spot. However, lawyers point out that collecting such fines is almost impossible in practice. “The main and practically insurmountable obstacle in punishing illegal launches is identifying the offender. On New Year’s Eve, when thousands of fireworks go off in an anonymous crowd, it is nearly impossible to pinpoint a specific person and link them to a specific blast,” note lawyers Petr Plavec and Ondřej Klicman from the law firm Plavec & Partners.

You can check whether a particular location falls within a protective zone using the Ministry of Agriculture’s interactive map, where prohibited zones are marked with a red circle. The ministry notes that the map is only indicative, and exact information should be confirmed with the local municipal authority.

The tightening of the rules in Czechia is in line with a broader European trend: bans on setting off fireworks near hospitals, nursing homes and livestock farms are in place to a similar extent in countries such as Germany, Austria and Slovakia.

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Source: denik.cz