Dealing with Construction Permits in
Bahrain
Listed below is detailed summary of the procedures, time and costs to build a warehouse —including obtaining necessary licenses and permits, completing required notifications and inspections and obtaining utility connections.
The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.
-
Building a warehouse
-
Estimated Warehouse Value:
BHD 370,671
- City: Manama
| No. |
Procedure |
Time to Complete |
Associated Costs |
| 1 |
Obtain inquiry information certificate at Muncipality one-stop shop
BuildCo will first check the zoning of the building online by entering the parcel number onto the Municipality's website.
In 2008 the OSS has replaced 2 pre-permit procedures--the preliminary building approval and approval from the Electricity Authority—with a consolidated procedure. Under this new process, the approval from the Electricity Authority is now done conjointly with the preliminary building approval in a new procedure called "Inquiry Information Certificate". Applicants apply for this certificate and the OSS communicates the request and obtains the approval from the Electricity Authority. This reform has therefore eliminated the procedure to obtain a separate approval from the Electricity Authority.
Agency: Municipality
|
7 days
|
BHD 30
|
| 2 |
Obtain a land survey from a private consultant
A private consultant can be hired to provide this service. The surveyor puts the beacons and draws an electronic map of the land. The government plans to undertake reforms in this area, in particular with regards to fee structure and approval process.
Agency: Private consultant
|
2 days
|
BHD 80
|
| 3 |
Obtain final building permit at Muncipality one-stop shop
The engineering consultant submits the detailed drawings and required documents to obtain the final building permit. The required documents are:
• Copy of application
• Copy of ownership document (title deed)
• Detailed drawings
• Land survey certificate
• Professions Practice Committee form proving engineer/architect is licensed
• Letter from consultant assuming liability
• Copy if identity cards
• Approval of Electricity Directorate
The company making the detailed drawings must be licensed by the Committee for Organizing Engineering Professionals Practice. The company gets licensed on an annual basis. The cost of this annual licenses depends on the number of engineers/architects employed by the firm and the Category in which it is licensed. To build a warehouse, it is probably at least a Category C license. The cost of this license for the construction company is approximately BHD 95 x 2 = BHD 190 and BHD 30 per engineer/architect.
BuildCo must pay the following fees:
1. Permit fees - Build up area in m2. x BHD 0.350
2. Permit Insurance (refundable after construction) - Build up area in m2 x BHD 0.50
3. Sign Board fees = BHD 50.000
4. Sign Board Insurance (refundable after construction) = BHD 164.000
5. Excavation fees (assuming 6 months of building) = BHD 15.000
The OSS reduced the time to obtain building permits. The OSS introduced a single application form in December 2008 that replaced the 9 separate application forms and 15 different pieces of supporting documentation. This facilitated the online submission process of applications tremendously. Now, applicants can fill out a single application form online and upload all their documents and plans through a completely digitized process. Their application file gets forwarded to the various departments in the OSS who review it in parallel. In addition, the OSS developed a more sophisticated monitoring of internal processes with the use of daily monitoring reports. At the end of each working day, the OSS technical support team prepare daily monitoring reports and post them on the OSS intranet for review by top management. Engineers who do not adhere to internal deadlines will be questioned and either sanctioned or offered more support to help meet the deadlines. As a result of these improvements, the time to obtain a building permit fell from 21 days to 14 days.
Agency: Municipality
|
14 days
|
BHD 520
|
| 4 |
Submit "form of compulsary supervision" to the Municipality for foundation and receive inspection
The municipality will usually inspect construction sites after the laying of the foundation and after each floor is built. However, construction companies can opt out of these inspections by going to the Municipality after obtaining the building permit and signing a “form of compulsory supervision” attesting that the licensed company guarantees that the work will be made according to the building permit conditions, and is to be held liable should they be found in violation.
Agency: Municipality
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| * 5 |
Submit "form of compulsary supervision" to the Municipality for first floor and receive inspection
The municipality will usually inspect construction sites after the laying of the foundation and after each floor is built. However, construction companies can opt out of these inspections by going to the Municipality after obtaining the building permit and signing a “form of compulsory supervision” attesting that the licensed company guarantees that the work will be made according to the building permit conditions, and is to be held liable should they be found in violation.
Agency: Municipality
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| * 6 |
Submit "form of compulsary supervision" to the Municipality for second floor and receive inspection
The municipality will usually inspect construction sites after the laying of the foundation and after each floor is built. However, construction companies can opt out of these inspections by going to the Municipality after obtaining the building permit and signing a “form of compulsory supervision” attesting that the licensed company guarantees that the work will be made according to the building permit conditions, and is to be held liable should they be found in violation.
Agency: Municipality
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 7 |
Request and recive final inspection from Civil Defence
According to Article 75 of the Building Regulations: "It is allowed to construct linked or semi-linked stores and warehouses, on condition that the approval of civil defense is obtained with respect to the specifications of the emergency exits, gathering points and other of the security and safety requirements in emergency cases such as fire with noticing the easiness of movement among the stores' groups."
Agency: Civil Defense
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 8 |
Request and receive final inspection from the Municipality
At the end of construction, an inspection from the municipality is required.
Agency: Municipality
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 9 |
Obtain certificate of completion from the Muncipality
After the inspection, the certificate of completion is obtained, with which the power connection can be installed.
Agency: Municipality
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 10 |
Obtain water connection
One obtains the water connection through the one-stop shop during the building permit approval process. Cost is 25 BD for a ½ inch connection.
Agency: Water Authority
|
14 days
|
BHD 25
|
| * 11 |
Obtain sewage connection from Ministry of works
If construction is in a pre-zoned area of the city, there is already a planned manhole provision. The construction company can connect directly.
Documents required for the sewage connection:
1- The Land Deed / Certificate of Survey (if available) obtained from the Land Registration Ministry of Justice & Islamic Affairs/ Survey Land Registration Bureau
2- The Site Location Plan obtained from the Ministry of Municipalities & Agriculture
3- Layout plan which shows existing and all the proposed internal plumbing and drainage obtained from
Consulting Office / Owner
4- Copy of the CPR card obtained from Central Statistics
5- Copy of the address card obtained from Ministry of Municipalities & Agriculture
6- Copy of the Building permit (if issued before consulting SEPPD) obtained from the Ministry of Municipalities & Agriculture
7- Sewer Connection Application Form obtained from Sanitary Engineering Planning & Projects Directorate
2- The Site Location Plan
Ministry of Municipalities & Agriculture
3- Layout plan which shows existing
and all the proposed internal
plumbing and drainage
Consulting Office / Owner
4- Copy of the CPR card
Central Statistics
5- Copy of the address card
Ministry of Municipalities & Agriculture
6- Copy of the Building permit (if
issued before consulting SEPPD)
Ministry of Municipalities & Agriculture
7- Sewer Connection Application
Form
Sanitary Engineering Planning & Projects Directorate
Agency: Ministry of Works
|
10 days
|
BHD 150
|
| * 12 |
Obtain fixed telephone line from Batelco
BuildCo submits the application form for Batelco when it applies for the building permit at the one-stop shop.
Agency: Batelco
|
7 days
|
BHD 20
|
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.