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* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
Requirement Details
Procedure 1.
Buy 2 municipal stamps from City Hall to attach to building permit applicaton
Time to complete:
1 day
Cost to complete:
XAF 2,000
Name of Agency:
City Hall (Mairie)
Comment:
Once BuildCo is ready to submit it's building permit application, it must go to City Hall (Mairie) to purchase 2 municipal stamps (timbres fiscaux). These stamps cost XAF 1,000 each and will be used to legalize the building permit.
Procedure 2.
Submit building permit to the Direction Generale de l'Urbanisme and obtain preliminary approval by the Building Commission
Time to complete:
5 days
Cost to complete:
XAF 20,000
Name of Agency:
Directorate General of Urban Planning (Direction Générale de l’Urbanisme)
Comment:
The application form costs CFA 20,000. The dossier has to contain: 5 copies of the building plan, 1 copy of the title deed, and other supporting documents. The application has to include either a property title (title foncier), a decret provisoire (issued for two years during which the applicant has to build something otherwise it never gets translated into a titre foncier) or an attestation from the tax authorities (Direction d’impots) that the company is currently in the process of getting a property title with the cadastre Simple copies suffice. The application also has to contain a number of technical documents such as a construction plan, location plan and a lot plan (plan de bornage). The cadastre will later verify that BuildCo really constructed in line with the lot plan. The building permit application is reviewed by a Building Commission consisting of 14 representatives and chaired by the Mayor. The Commission meets every Wednesday and usually considers 10 dossiers at a time. On average, the commission receives 15 applications a week. So if BuildCo applies on Monday and is among the first 10 applicants its application will be reviewed that week. Otherwise it would be considered the following week. Thus BuildCo can calculate between 3-10 days for getting the application approved by the Commission. Amongst other things, the Commission will check that the plans have been conceived by an architect who is either part of the Order of Architects of Gabon (l’ordre des architects) or has graduated from one of the reputable universities in the region. If the application has been approved, the Chef de Service will send a “soit transmis” on to the cadastre to ask them to carry out the inspection (implantation). The topographer from the cadastre will go out to the site of the proposed construction and mark out the location of the building on the lot to ensure the plans follow the lot plan (plan de bornage) that was submitted. If he sends the “soit transmis” Thursday it usually arrives on Friday. Then the cadastre has to send a bill for the implantation to the builder. One thing that takes more and more time during the evaluation process of the Commission is zoning. There is no separate zoning process, but applicants have to indicate in their application whether the building is going to be for residential, commercial or industrial use and they will check against the master plan of the city.
Procedure 3.
Pay the fees at the cadastre for site inspection and wait for inspection
Time to complete:
14 days
Cost to complete:
XAF 30,000
Name of Agency:
Cadastre
Comment:
They will only come and do the actual work after once BuildCo has paid. The cost for these procedures is arbitrarily set but the average fees are around CFA 5,000 and 10,000 are per the number of corners of the building. This can take a long tif if BuildCo doesn't go directly and ask them. That is why the Chef de Service now sends applicants who have received a preliminary approval from the Commission a notice to let them know that they should go to cadastre and follow up on their application. He sends those letters at the same time as the “soit transmis.” Once BuildCo pays the fee at the Cadastre, it can receive the lot inspection (implantation). Although it is possible for the inspection to occur right away, there is only one topograph in the cadastre so it takes an average of 2 weeks to receive the inspection.
Procedure 4.
Receive inspection from the topographer of the cadastre
Time to complete:
1 day
Cost to complete:
no charge
Name of Agency:
Cadastre
Comment:
Procedure 5.
Obtain clearance from the City Hall (Mairie) and obtain final building permit
Time to complete:
75 days
Cost to complete:
no charge
Name of Agency:
City Hall (Mairie)
Comment:
Once the Cadastre has inspected the plot, BuildCo must return to City Hall (Mairie) to obtain clearance from the Mayor and obtain the final building permit. This procedure can take anywhere between 2 weeks and 4 months.
Procedure 6.
Receive random inspection by city brigade
Time to complete:
1 day
Cost to complete:
no charge
Name of Agency:
City Brigade
Comment:
In addition to the checks done by the Direction General de l’urbanisme, 2 city brigades (one located in the south and one in the north of the city) who check randomly companies are building legally. A project like this will likely receive 2 such random inspections.
Procedure 7.
Receive random inspection by city brigade
Time to complete:
1 day
Cost to complete:
no charge
Name of Agency:
City Brigade
Comment:
In addition to the checks done by the Direction General de l’urbanisme, 2 city brigades (one located in the south and one in the north of the city) who check randomly companies are building legally. A project like this will likely receive 2 such random inspections.
Procedure 8.
Receive inspection after construction is completed by a representative of the Direction Generale de l'Urbanisme
Time to complete:
1 day
Cost to complete:
no charge
Name of Agency:
Directorate General of Urban Planning (Direction Générale de l’Urbanisme)
Comment:
Procedure 9.
Obtain certificate of conformity from the Cadastre
Time to complete:
10 days
Cost to complete:
no charge
Name of Agency:
Cadastre
Comment:
Without the certificate of conformity, BuildCo cannot start using the building. It is issued by the cadastre.
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