Dealing with Construction Permits in
Qatar
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:
QAR 2,601,200
- City: Doha
| No. |
Procedure |
Time to Complete |
Associated Costs |
| 1 |
Obtain Planning Permisssion from the Municipality
The Municipality of Industrial Area is part of the Municipality of the Greater Doha. Architects apply to obtain planning permission on any working day but can receive the planning permission only on Sundays, Tuesday, and Thursdays. The cost of the obtaining a planning certificate (QAR 100) has not changed since 1998. The application to obtain a planning permission includes the below documents. These documents are usually available within the company, causing no need for further procedures to be recorded: -Ownership Certificate : The government owns all lands in Doha and leases them to private citizens. A rent payment is paid on an annual basis to the MIA. The architect should only bring the receipt of last year's payment. This receipt is a proof that all previous payments have been made. No stamp is needed. -Land plan showing the location, area, and neighboring plots of land. -Copy of the applicants ID card -Copy of company's registration certificate The planning permission includes a location clearance from the Municipality of Industrial Area, set of design guidelines for construction work from the Municipality of Industrial Area, and a land plan with site map.
Agency: Municipality of Industrial Area
|
3 days
|
QAR 100
|
| 2 |
Submit documents and obtain preliminary approval (opening of file) from the Municipality
The papers required to open a file are a copy of the owner's ID card, owner's letter authorising the architect and a certified copy of the land ownership document. The architect shall apply to the concerned municipality to open a file with all the above d
Agency: Municipality of Industrial Area
|
10 days
|
QAR 100
|
| * 3 |
Obtain fire safety clearance from the Civil Defense Department
The law requires the Fire Department to issue permission to build a warehouse within 15 days. Usually the fire department does not take more than 15 days to issue such permissions.
Agency: Civil Defense Department
|
14 days
|
no charge
|
| * 4 |
Obtain clearance from Road Construction Department at the Urban Planning and Development Authority
Agency: Road Construction Department, Urban Planning and Development Authority
|
7 days
|
no charge
|
| * 5 |
Obtain clearance from Kahramaa (at the Urban Planning and Development Authority) for power and water service delivery
Agency: Kahramaa Counter, Urban Planning and Development Authority
|
20 days
|
no charge
|
| * 6 |
Obtain clearance from QTEL (at the Urban Planning and Development Authority) for telecom service delivery
Agency: QTEL counter, Urban Planning and Development Authority
|
7 days
|
no charge
|
| 7 |
Obtain clearance from the Building Permit Department of the Urban Planning and Development Authority
The planning permission, which was obtained in procedure 1 is added to the plans and drawings and submitted to plans and drawings section of the Building Permit Department. The Building Permit Department checks whether the drawings have been achieved according to the regulations of Qatar National Building Specifications (QNBS). The key QNBS are: - Construction cannot utilize 100% of the land area - Right to use land - Number of stories allowed in each area of Doha - Height specification for each building in Doha BuildCo must seek approval from Building Permit Department stating that the project will not affect utilities’ infrastructure.
Agency: Building Permit Department, Urban Planning and Development Authority
|
7 days
|
no charge
|
| 8 |
Obtain final building permit approval from the Municipality
The application is composed of a file showing that land rent payments have been made, the project meets zoning requirements, the Fire Department permits building the warehouse, and the Building Permit Department states that the project will not affect utilities’ infrastructure. The fees are paid in the MIA for the building permit issuance. QAR 50 are paid to support the Palestinians via NGOs and charity organizations that focus on health organizations in the West Bank and Gaza.
Agency: Municipality of Industrial Area
|
10 days
|
QAR 3,000
|
| 9 |
Submit public announcement of construction project at the Municipality
After obtaining drawings approvals from Building Planning Department, the contractors, inspector, and owner should sign a statement showing that they fulfill requirements mentioned in Qatar National Building Specification.
Agency: Municipality of Industrial Area
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 10 |
Obtain final cadastral measurements of the warehouse at the Municipality of Industrial Area
This file includes:
- Health and hygiene clearance form
- Building drawing
- Cadastral certificate
Agency: Municipality of Industrial Area
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 11 |
Submit final records of construction project to the Municipality
Agency: Municipality of Industrial Area
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 12 |
Receive final inspection
Agency: Municipality of Industrial Area
|
1 day
|
QAR 100
|
| 13 |
Receive fire safety approval from the Civil Defense Department
This approval also includes certificate of fire and panic safety and inspection certificate
Agency: Municipality of Industrial Area
|
3 days
|
no charge
|
| 14 |
Obtain certificate of completion from Municipality
There is a one-stop shop at the Buildings Permit section of the Municipality of Industrial Area. This one-stop shop is responsible for internal approvals related to completion of the building project. Representatives from the planning, engineering, services and building control departments are available in a single window. Contractors visit this single window asking for the above five approvals. It takes 3 days to obtain these approvals from the same window. There is only one interaction between the contractor and the MIA in this step. Every other interaction that takes place within the three-day period is internal within the one stop shop staff members
Agency: Municipality of Industrial Area
|
3 days
|
no charge
|
| 15 |
Register the building at the municipality
The Municipality of Industrial Area submits all data online and updates the database on a perpetual basis. Silence-is-consent rules apply in this procedure. Most people do not use the electronic database because they find the process faster when it is manual.
Agency: Municipality of Industrial Area
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| * 16 |
Obtain water and sewage connection from Kahramaa and Ashghal
Agency: Kahramaa and Ashghal
|
5 days
|
QAR 20
|
| * 17 |
Obtain telephone connection from QTEL
Agency: QTEL
|
15 days
|
QAR 220
|
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.