Dealing with Construction Permits in Bangladesh

The table below summarizes the procedures, time, and costs to build a warehouse in Bangladesh.

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Building a warehouse

Data as of: January 2009
Estimated Warehouse Value: BDT 16,800,000
City: Dhaka

Requirements Summary:


  Procedure Time to complete: Cost to complete:
1 Obtain cadastral survey map from Land Records Department 3 days USD 25
2 Obtain zoning clearance 45 days no charge
3 Obtain project clearance from the local authority (Ward Commissioner, Dhaka City Corporation) 3 days no charge
4 Obtain project clearance from the Environment Department of Rajuk 30 days USD 80
5 Obtain project clearance and building permit from the City Development Authority (RAJUK) 105 days BDT 30,000
6 Receive excavation inspection 1 day no charge
7 Receive foundation inspection 1 day no charge
8 Tax inspector from Dhaka City Corporation inspects the completed warehouse 1 day no charge
9 Apply for electricity connection 1 day no charge
10 Receive electricity inspection 1 day no charge
11 Obtain electricity connection 40 days BDT 165,000
*12 Request telephone connection 1 day USD 50
*13 Telephone inspector makes the connection 7 days no charge
*14 Obtain water and sewerage connection 10 days BDT 30,000
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.

Requirement Details

Procedure 1.
Obtain cadastral survey map from Land Records Department
Time to complete:
3 days
Cost to complete:
USD 25
Name of Agency:
Land Records Department
Comment:
Procedure 2.
Obtain zoning clearance
Time to complete:
45 days
Cost to complete:
no charge
Name of Agency:
Comment:
To obtain clearance, BuildCo must present proof of land ownership and the cadastral maps showing the exact site location. Anticorruption drive of the interim government of Bangladesh stemmed from massive violations of building regulations on one hand and collapse of buildings with casualties on the other hand impacted on the work of some areas of construction regulation. Obtaining zoning clearance before would take on average 2-3 months if no bribes paid, while by law it should be only 15 days. The Building Committee’s drive is to make this procedure come as close to the official time-limit made this procedure possible to be completed in 45 days.
Procedure 3.
Obtain project clearance from the local authority (Ward Commissioner, Dhaka City Corporation)
Time to complete:
3 days
Cost to complete:
no charge
Name of Agency:
Dhaka City Corporation
Comment:
To obtain the local authority’s approval, BuildCo must submit an application with the proposed design plans. The approval may take anywhere from 3 to 7 days.
Procedure 4.
Obtain project clearance from the Environment Department of Rajuk
Time to complete:
30 days
Cost to complete:
USD 80
Name of Agency:
Environment Department of Rajuk
Comment:
The Environment Department of Rajuk issues three types of clearance, based on the type of establishment green (nonpolluting), orange (low polluting), and red (high polluting). For the green category, the environmental clearance is issued for a fee of USD 25. If unofficial payments are made, environmental clearance can be obtained in a week. For other categories, the cost and time to get clearance are higher.

To obtain project clearance, the following documents are required, depending on the environmental category:
- Approval from the Ward Commissioner, Dhaka City Corporation.
- Project profile, feasibility report, and drawings.
- Land ownership documents.
- Cadastral survey map and location map.
- Trade license (copy).
- Registration of the Board of Investment (copy).
- EIA/ IEE/ EMP Report.
- Fees payable to DOE.
 
Total project cost Fees (USD) Renewal fees
USD 0–0.08 million USD 25 USD 5
USD 0.08 million–0.16 million USD 50 USD 12
USD 0.16 million–0.8 million USD 80 USD 20
USD 0.8 million–1.6 million USD 160 USD 40
USD 1.6 million–32 million USD 400 USD125
USD 32 million–80 million USD 800 USD250
USD 80-million and above USD1,600 USD 400
Procedure 5.
Obtain project clearance and building permit from the City Development Authority (RAJUK)
Time to complete:
105 days
Cost to complete:
BDT 30,000
Name of Agency:
City Development Authority (RAJUK)
Comment:
The approving panel of the City Development Authority (RAJUK) meets weekly to discuss cases. In early 2007, officials in the Ministry of Works imposed a 30-day time limit on the process. As of August 2007 under the new Building regulation the RAJUK introduced a single window approach to procedures related to obtaining a building permit. However applicants have to still visit each agency responsible for different parts of construction approval separately due to inconsistencies in legislation. Fire Department raised its disagreement with RAJUK on building that do not require fire clearance. According to government regulation buildings higher 10 floors are subject to the clearance, however Fire Department uses the old regulations by which anything above 6 floors is subject to their supervision.

Each agency that provides approval is given 7 day time-limit, which is still not complied with. Before building permit is issued the authorized officers have to visit the site to ascertain its location according to the drawings and maps. However with only a handful of officers and massive number of applications this becomes impossible to comply with an original 30 day time limit that government set. The procedure still takes on average 3-5 month.
Procedure 6.
Receive excavation inspection
Time to complete:
1 day
Cost to complete:
no charge
Name of Agency:
City Development Authority (RAJUK)
Comment:
Due to lack of sufficient manpower of the authority, it takes more than a week to visit site.
Procedure 7.
Receive foundation inspection
Time to complete:
1 day
Cost to complete:
no charge
Name of Agency:
City Development Authority (RAJUK)
Comment:
Due to lack of sufficient manpower of the authority, it takes more than a week to visit site.
Procedure 8.
Tax inspector from Dhaka City Corporation inspects the completed warehouse
Time to complete:
1 day
Cost to complete:
no charge
Name of Agency:
Dhaka City Corporation
Comment:
A tax inspector from the Dhaka City Corporation visits the site to assess the completed building (1 day, no appointment or fee). From then on, the tax authority will send the annual tax bill which will arrive 30 days later.
Procedure 9.
Apply for electricity connection
Time to complete:
1 day
Cost to complete:
no charge
Name of Agency:
Dhaka Electric Supply Authority (DESA) or Dhaka Electric Supply Company (DESCO)
Comment:
Procedure 10.
Receive electricity inspection
Time to complete:
1 day
Cost to complete:
no charge
Name of Agency:
Dhaka Electric Supply Authority (DESA) or Dhaka Electric Supply Company (DESCO)
Comment:
Procedure 11.
Obtain electricity connection
Time to complete:
40 days
Cost to complete:
BDT 165,000
Name of Agency:
Dhaka Electric Supply Authority (DESA) or Dhaka Electric Supply Company (DESCO)
Comment:
For electrical connections of 50 kW and over, the fee is BDT 165,000. This includes the cost of a transformer required for a high-volume connection.
Procedure 12.
Request telephone connection
Time to complete:
1 day
Cost to complete:
USD 50
Name of Agency:
Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board
Comment:
The time usually depends on the availability of lines in the construction area. Mobile telephone connections may be obtained within a day. But it takes about 30 days to receive a fixed telephone connection from the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board.
Procedure 13.
Telephone inspector makes the connection
Time to complete:
7 days
Cost to complete:
no charge
Name of Agency:
Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board
Comment:
Procedure 14.
Obtain water and sewerage connection
Time to complete:
10 days
Cost to complete:
BDT 30,000
Name of Agency:
Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA)
Comment: