Dealing with Construction Permits in
Liberia
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.
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Building a warehouse
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Estimated Warehouse Value:
LRD 15,142,172
- City: Monrovia
| No. |
Procedure |
Time to Complete |
Associated Costs |
| 1 |
Submit plans to Ministry of public works
The application file should include 2 copies of the site plan; letter of request addressed to the Deputy Minister; the land deed; and the architectural, structural, and mechanical drawings. These documents are passed from one official to another for approval at the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) before the building permit is issued. Physically all departments are located in different parts of the city which may delay the approval. It is relevant, given that there is an internal order of approval.
The documents are submitted internally at the MPW in the following order:
1. Office of the Deputy Minister/Technical Service
2. Office of the Assistant Minister, Technical (initial recipient).
3. Land-Use Planning and Zoning Division (initial site plan and document review). There are no thorough checks with the National Archives on the authenticity of the land documents. Ensuring that is the responsibility of the owner of the warehouse.
4. Chief of Zoning (physical site approval).
5. Chief of Architecture (design approval).
6. Chief of Electromechanical Engineering (electrical and mechanical approval).
7. Chief of Engineering (structural approval and billing).
8. Finance Section (payments).
9. Land-Use Planning and Programming (signature on permit).
10. Office of the Deputy Minister, Technical Services (permit attached).
A temporary building permit can be granted after the second step above, when the Land-Use Planning and Zoning Division conducts an initial site plan and document review. This temporary permit could be obtained within a week. It is granted for a maximum of 90 days, but this is an exception rather than the rule. In practice, a permit is accorded after all steps mentioned above have been completed. As a result of the weak enforcement of building regulations, partly a result of the post-conflict situation, many private construction projects take place without following the official guidelines.
Agency: Ministry of Public Works (MPW)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 2 |
Receive inspection from Zoning division, Ministry of public works
It takes about 3 days for the Zoning Division to process an application. The zoning division will contact the applicant to inform them that they will need an inspection. There are only 4 inspectors and resources are limited, so the applicant has to provide transportation for them.
Agency: Ministry of Public Works (MPW)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 3 |
Obtain payment slip from the MPW and pay fees at the Central Bank
Once all the technical departments have reviewed the application, the Finance Department creates a payment slip. The applicant must come pick up the payment slip and then go the Central Bank to pay the fees. The fee for design approval for commercial buildings is 5 cents/sq.ft.
Agency: Ministry of Public Works (MPW)
|
1 day
|
USD 700
|
| 4 |
Obtain construction permit from MPW
The applicant must return to MPW with payment receipt and the application is processed for final approval. The process at the Ministry of Public Works from submission of plans (procedure 1) to approval used to take 3 months, but reforms introduced in 2008 reduced the processing time for simple building permits to 1 month. The MPW established a 30 day statutory time limit for the issuance of building permits. The MPW also introduced a checklist to clearly define all of the documents required to complete the application. Now, all applications are scrutinized on submission to check for completeness and accuracy before being forwarded to processing. The reform eliminated the Minister’s signature on building permits for simple construction projects. By rule, the Minister's consent is only required for projects with a value greater than USD 1 Million or that involve an international government. However, in practice the Minister or Deputy Minister still approve projects that are less than USD 1 Million in value.
Agency: Ministry of Public Works (MPW)
|
28 days
|
no charge
|
| 5 |
Obtain construction clearance from the City Corporation of Monrovia
After obtaining the design approval from MPW, BuildCo must obtain a separate construction clearance from the Planning Department at the City Hall. The Planning Department takes 1 day to review the plans and then prepares a payment slip which is usually paid the next day.
City Corporation of Monrovia as of May 1, 2009 abolished 3% fee charge, based on project value, for issuing a building permit and replaced it with a fixed fee of USD 0.04/sq.ft. for new commercial and industrial construction projects.
However, practitioners note that this fee is "negotiable." Applicants can pay less amount, which is official, for a clearance that will last less period of time. There are no fee schedules posted at City Hall and often, builders are asked to pay much higher fees.
Agency: City Corporation of Monrovia
|
2 days
|
USD 560
|
| 6 |
Receive inspection from MPW - I
The construction of the warehouse can commence after the building permit is obtained. There is no requirement to request inspections at any stage of the construction process. However, building inspectors and engineers are often dispatched from the Ministry of Public Works to inspect construction sites to see to what extent the construction conforms with the originally submitted drawings. Over the course of 6–7 months, inspections occur randomly at a rate of every 3 weeks or as often as every week. The work stops only if there has been noncompliance with the plans.
Agency: Ministry of Public Works (MPW)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 7 |
Receive inspection from MPW - II
Agency: Ministry of Public Works (MPW)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 8 |
Receive inspection from MPW - III
Agency: Ministry of Public Works (MPW)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 9 |
Receive inspection from MPW - IV
Agency: Ministry of Public Works (MPW)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 10 |
Receive inspection from MPW - V
Agency: Ministry of Public Works (MPW)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 11 |
Receive inspection from MPW - Vl
Agency: Ministry of Public Works (MPW)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 12 |
Receive inspection from MPW - VII
Agency: Ministry of Public Works (MPW)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 13 |
Receive inspection from MPW - VIII
Agency: Ministry of Public Works (MPW)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 14 |
Receive inspection from MPW - IX
Agency: Ministry of Public Works (MPW)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 15 |
Receive inspection from MPW - X
Agency: Ministry of Public Works (MPW)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 16 |
Receive inspection from MPW - XI
Agency: Ministry of Public Works (MPW)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 17 |
Receive inspection from MPW - XII
Agency: Ministry of Public Works (MPW)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 18 |
Request and obtain fixed line from LIBTELCO
A complete renovation of the telecommunication system of Monrovia was undertaken. Deployment started in September 2007 and the installation was completed in January 2009. The new Liberia Telecommunications Corporation (LIBTELCO) had its grand opening in February 2009 and is the sole fixed line provider in Liberia. LIBTELCO offered a test pilot phase, from February 1, 2009 to April 30, 2009, during which the public was offered a two-month free service (March – April: 60 days). Services became commercially available as of May 1, 2009. The fixed lines are only available in Monrovia. There is a project to extend the services to other counties in the future.
LIBTELCO offers four services as follows:
1. Fixed lines
Voice only: 180 000 subscribers, and there is the capability to expand to 600 000.
Voicemail: there are 60 000 subscribers.
SMS: 60 000 subscribers and expansion of this service is very easy
2. Faxes
3. High Speed Internet (2 speed: 2 MEGA and 153.6 KB)
4. Push to Talk (PTT), has 5000 subscribers and this service can be expanded by another 5000
TELCO also support 4 GSM operators, LoneStar, Comium, LIBEGEL and CELCOM. The internal gateway for LIBTELCO is located in Norway.
As a result of this reform, time to obtain a land line in Monrovia is one week and there is no more need to register with LIBTELCO. Official cost for installation of fixed line is USD 25.
Agency: Liberia Telecom
|
7 days
|
LRD 25
|
| * 19 |
Register with water company
Agency: Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation (LWSC)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| * 20 |
Receive inspection from Water and Sewer Corporation
The Water and Sewer Corporation inspects the site to prepare a cost estimate for the pipes and installation.
Agency: Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation (LWSC)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| * 21 |
Obtain water and sewage connection
Water connections can be made if existing pipelines pass through the construction site. If that is the case, then water connection should take 1– 2 weeks. The cost for water connection includes LRD 250 for the connection itself and USD 50 for the meter. If a water pipeline does not pass through the area, then BuildCo must buy all the necessary materials to extend an existing pipeline to the construction site before the connection is made. This will inevitably add cost and time to the utility connection process. In the case considered here, it is assumed that it is not necessary to purchase materials because the site is 10 meters from the water main.
Agency: Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation (LWSC)
|
14 days
|
USD 54
|
| 22 |
Request and obtain occupancy permit
In the recent year the Ministry of Public Works started more rigorously enforcing the regulations of the Zoning Law. According to article 5. A of the Zoning Law all new building must obtain an occupancy permit before being used. Stricter enforcement has led to wider practice by companies to obtain the occupancy permit. This is issued within 10 days.
Agency: Ministry of Public Works (MPW)
|
10 days
|
no charge
|
| 23 |
Register the building at Probate Court
This registration of the completed building occurs in two stages. First BuildCo must register the building with the Probate Court, similar to a notarization procedure. Registration at the Probate Court takes 3 days and costs LRD 300. The case considered here assumes that BuildCo does not employ a lawyer (lawyer’s fees would amount to USD 250). Registration is not required, but companies do so to increase the resale value.
Agency: Probate Court
|
3 days
|
LRD 300
|
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.