Dealing with Construction Permits in
Malawi
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:
MWK 67,606,101
- City: Blantyre
| No. |
Procedure |
Time to Complete |
Associated Costs |
| 1 |
Obtain approval of plan from the City Assembly
The general procedure for obtaining the approval of the project plan is as follows:
1. BuildCo arranges for a private engineering consultant to complete the building plans. The plans must be prepared by licensed architects and signed by an engineer. One complication: the type of engineer is not specified, so they do not have to know anything about construction. There is an abusive practice of architects / engineers signing plans prepared by technicians who worked independently without actually reviewing them just to get payment.
2. BuildCo completes the “application for permission to develop or to subdivide land” and a by-laws form, and submits the forms and the plans to the City Assembly with payment of a fee based on the size of the building and the assessed value of the land.
3. The plans and application are then forwarded to a Technical Panel for consideration. The panel’s members are representatives from the following organizations:
- Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi.
- Malawi Telecommunications Limited.
- Water Board.
- City Assembly Physical Planning Department.
- City Assembly Engineering Department.
- City Assembly Parks and Recreation Department.
- City Assembly Health and Environment Department.
- City Assembly Building Department.
- Occupational Safety, Health, and Welfare Department of the Ministry of Labor.
- Malawi Housing Corporation.
- Ministry of Transport and Public Works.
The panel reviews the building plans and application and either approves development or suggests amendments. If the panel requires amendments, BuildCo is notified by mail of the changes required. BuildCo can also contact the City Assembly by phone or in person to inquire about the status of the application.
A water connection application is filed along with the site plan. If the panel accepts the application, it is forwarded to the Town and Country Planning Committee, which meets monthly. The committee notifies BuildCo by mail and a notice of decision, a legally binding document, and the by-laws form are issued.
The meeting of the Town and Planning Committee takes place only once a month, and the Technical Panel meets only once every 2 weeks. However, companies may choose to opt for a fast track option which allows companies to convene an emergency meeting of the Town and Planning Committee at a higher fee charged on top of standard fees. The fee for fast track option would be MWK 50,000. In this case, the meeting will take place within about a week of the payment being made. BuildCo will get an oral decision at the end of the meeting. If there is an affirmative decision, construction can begin right away. The official document will be issued soon after. Practice, is however this option is used seldom by companies. Many companies plan ahead of the time, and have prior consultations with the municipal officials.
Under normal circumstances by Town and Country Planning Act, the Planning Committee should either approve the application or tell why it cannot be approved within 60 days of the application being submitted. In reality, this is likely not to happen. However, there is a silence is consent rule. If after 60 days, there is no response; construction can begin which not too many companies resort to.
Cost: As of May 1st, 2004 the cost according to Blantyre City Assembly is MWK 391,530.7 (MWK 48,828,847 x 0.8%+MWK 800 (local tax)+MWK 100 (application fee)).
Agency: City Assembly
|
60 days
|
MWK 528,795
|
| 2 |
Notify the City Assembly of the commencement of construction
During the construction phase of an approved project, the City Assembly sends out inspectors at various stages of construction. Inspectors from the City Assembly’s Departments of Building, Environment and Health, and Fire join the national-level Occupational Safety, Health, and Welfare Department to inspect the construction approximately five times. These inspectors come as a team, and there is no charge for these visits. The Building Department issues six cards that specify when a building should be inspected. BuildCo notifies the inspectors by sending a card at the appropriate stage of construction. The City Assembly inspectors come within 2 days to 2 weeks of notification. However in reality many do not come due to scarcity of resources. BuildCo does not stop construction and wait until the inspection is completed. In practice, builders continue construction after submitting the notice without waiting for the inspection.
Agency: City Assembly
|
14 days
|
no charge
|
| 3 |
Receive inspection on setting out/commencement
The inspection usually takes a day.
Agency: City Assembly
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 4 |
Notify the City Assembly of foundation excavation
Agency: City Assembly
|
14 days
|
no charge
|
| 5 |
Receive inspection on foundation excavation
Agency: City Assembly
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 6 |
Notify the City Assembly of Brick work foundation
Agency: City Assembly
|
14 days
|
no charge
|
| 7 |
Receive inspection on Brick work foundation
Agency: City Assembly
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 8 |
Notify the City Assembly of damp roof course
Agency: City Assembly
|
14 days
|
no charge
|
| 9 |
Receive inspection on damp roof course
Agency: City Assembly
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 10 |
Notify the City Assembly when the construction reaches wall plate level
Agency: City Assembly
|
14 days
|
no charge
|
| 11 |
Receive inspection on construction
Agency: City Assembly
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 12 |
Apply for telephone connections
Agency: Malawi Telecommunications Ltd.
|
42 days
|
MWK 6,000
|
| 13 |
Receive inspection on the property from the telephone service provider
After the inspection by the telephone service provider, an agreement form is sent by mail to the applicant stating the cost of connecting to the telephone service and the monthly charges. BuildCo waits until advised of the availability of lines and then pays the fees for the connection to be activated.
Agency: Malawi Telecommunications Ltd.
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 14 |
Apply for waste and sewerage connections at the City Assembly and obtain connection
Sewerage services can be obtained by completing a form that asks for technical information about the capacity needed and the location of the pipelines. In practice, the type of construction considered here would include a septic tank.
Agency: Water Board of the City Assembly
|
14 days
|
MWK 4,000
|
| * 15 |
Receive inspection by the City Assembly engineers
After the inspection, the cost of extending the sewer pipes to the facilities is estimated, and the investor BuildCo is informed of how much to pay to complete the connection.
Agency: City Assembly
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| * 16 |
Apply for occupational permit
Definition of fee for the occupancy permit is a debatable matter between officials and construction companies. To define the base for levying fee municipality has to evaluate the construction cost according to its methodology. In addition Quantitative Surveyors, who work for construction companies provide monthly updates to the authorities on the cost incurred. That is then summed to the information that municipality has. Based on that the fee will be 0.1% and must be paid before the occupancy permit is issued. In our case it will be MWK 48,828 of warehouse value MWK 48,828,847.
|
3 days
|
MWK 2,000
|
| 17 |
Final inspection
Agency: City Assembly
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 18 |
Register the property title in Lands Registry
Agency: Lands Registry
|
7 days
|
MWK 2,000
|
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.