Dealing with Construction Permits in
Romania
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:
RON 650,000
- City: Bucharest
| No. |
Procedure |
Time to Complete |
Associated Costs |
| 1 |
Obtain city-planning certificate (urbanization certificate)
The city-planning certificate is issued by the municipality’s Department of Urbanism. It describes the construction features allowed and lists all additional required approvals or permits, depending on the construction location and the exact characteristics required by the technical project.
Pursuant to the Order no.839/2009 issued by the Ministry of Regional Development and Housing (“Order 839”), approving the new Methodological Norms to the Construction Law, the validity period of the city-planning certificate may vary between 6 and 24 months.
The following urban planning documents are needed:
1. The general urban plan (PUG) and the related local regulation.
2. The (zone) urban plan (PUZ) and the related local regulation.
3. The detailed urban plan (PUD).
The urbanization certificate for the land plot gives information on the ownership, the public utility service availability, the location within (intravilan) and outside (extravilan) the city limits, the urban planning requirements, the land use at the time, the allowed uses, and so forth.
From a technical point of view, the certificate shows the percentage of land occupation, the coefficient of land use, the minimum and maximum dimensions of the plots, the allowed built-up area, utilities, and access, necessary parking, alignment of the land and buildings with the adjacent streets, and the maximum and minimum construction height allowed.
This certificate does not grant the right to build. Its validity period varies but cannot exceed 12 months. Construction must start during that 12-month period.
The city-planning certificate enumerates all the necessary project clearances applicable to the warehouse case considered here. The municipality has the right to decide which project clearances are needed.
Decision issued by Bucharest General Council for taxes and duties 2011 set the fee for this procedure as: RON 15.
Agency: Department of Urbanism of the local City Hall
|
30 days
|
RON 15
|
| 2 |
Obtain project clearance from water supply and sewerage authority (Apa Nova SA)
By law, the project clearance from the water supply and sewerage authority (Apa Nova S.A.) must be issued in 15 days, but, in practice, it can take up to 18 days.
Agency: Apa Nova SA
|
18 days
|
RON 72
|
| * 3 |
Obtain project clearance from General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations
The relevant legal provisions in force are the Methodological Norms for the endorsement and permitting regarding fire security and civil protection, approved by Order no. 80/2009 of the Ministry of Administration and Interior.
According to the amendments to the Construction Law, if the 15-day term provided by the law for issuing the clearance is not observed by the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, the legal provisions referring to tacit approval shall be applied.
Agency: General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations
|
15 days
|
no charge
|
| * 4 |
Obtain project clearance from environment protection office
By law, this procedure can take up to 10 days, and the associated cost is RON 100. According to the public authorities, however, the time to complete is 21 days, and the cost can be up to RON 500. This procedure depends on all the previous ones, and is thus done after all preceding procedures have been completed.
Agency: Bucharest Regional Environmental Protection Agency
|
21 days
|
RON 500
|
| * 5 |
Obtain project clearance from electric power supply authority (Electrica SA)
Project clearance from the electric power authority may not be necessary: the municipality decides whether the project needs this clearance. For the case of building a warehouse in the periurban area of Bucharest, this procedure will likely be required. Electricity is needed after construction for the warehouse to operate and during construction as well. According to new fee schedule for 2008 the fee to be paid to Enel S.A. (former Electrica Muntenia Sud S.A.) is up to RON 73,65.
Agency: Electrica SA
|
15 days
|
RON 74
|
| * 6 |
Obtain project clearance from health department
By law, the time to complete this procedure is 15 days. To apply for the approval at the Bucharest Health Department, several documents must be submitted: urbanism certificate with annexed plans, technical memorandum drafted by the architect, ownership title, and incorporation certificate.
Agency: Bucharest Health Department
|
15 days
|
RON 200
|
| * 7 |
Contract with the solid waste authority (REBU SA)
The municipality requests, through the certificate of urbanization, that a contract be signed with a waste disposal company to clear construction debris from the construction site. There are two companies that provide services in this area: ROSAL S.A. and REBU S.A. The latter is a larger player with a wider network. The tarriffs have been modified, currently being RON 89.25 (RON 75 + 24% VAT) per cubic meter of waste. Additionaly, for the surface of the land in question, a tax of RON 42 would also be applicable. The minimum of 35 m3 must be contracted according to the requirements of company.
Agency: REBU SA
|
1 day
|
RON 3,166
|
| * 8 |
Notarize statement about inexistence of land disputes
The company should make a notarized statement (in this case, BuildCo is both the company and the applicant) stating that there are no disputes related to the land. This procedure is not a standard requirement by law but is often requested in practice.
Each notary charges a different fee, but the fee cannot exceed RON 30 (equivalent to USD 10), the maximum notary fee established by the National Notaries Union.
Agency: Notary
|
1 day
|
RON 15
|
| 9 |
Obtain building permit
BuildCo must apply for a building permit by submitting the following documents:
- City-planning certificate.
- Property title on the land (there are no requirements as to how recent the title must be).
- Technical documentation which replaced former Plans for the authorization of construction.
- Necessary approvals, as required by the city-planning certificate.
- Environmental approval Environmental Protection Agency
- Proof of payment of the legally required taxes (receipts from the tax authorities).
- Legalized copy of the title to the real estate or the updated cadastral plan and land registry extract for informative purposes, if the law does not otherwise require.
The building permit is issued by the municipality. Note that, for Bucharest, the construction permit is issued by the General Mayor of Bucharest, if the construction is to be done outside the buildable area or if it exceeds a district area; or by the relevant district mayor, if the construction is to be located in one of the six districts of Bucharest.
The cost of the building permit is 1% of the value of the construction work.
Agency: City Hall
|
30 days
|
RON 6,500
|
| 10 |
Receive foundations work inspection
The schedule of inspections is described in the building permit. By law, BuildCo must pay 0.1% of the authorized value to the competent territorial inspectorate for construction. In addition, the investors or owners must pay the State Inspectorate for Construction a monthly payment equivalent to 0.70% of the value of the expenses incurred in that month for the execution of the construction work.
Agency: Bucharest Construction Inspectorate
|
1 day
|
RON 5,200
|
| 11 |
Receive frame inspection
Agency: State Inspectorate for Construction
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 12 |
Final assessment of the construction through the Acceptance Commission
The company notifies the local public administration and other relevant authorities of the date of completion of construction so that the Approval Commission may be convened. The Acceptance Commission is a body made up of the construction beneficiary (BuildCo), officials from local public administration, and technical experts. It is legally required to meet and determine that the construction meets all applicable legal requirements.
The commission must be convened within 15 days from the date of completion of works. The utility connections would have been made at this stage. The final assessment can take several days and includes an on-site inspection. Within 3 working days from the end of the assessment, the Acceptance Commission must submit the notes and conclusions to the beneficiary of construction and recommend approval (with or without reservations), postponement, or rejection of the construction.
Agency: Acceptance Commission
|
120 days
|
RON 350
|
| * 13 |
Receive final inspection from Acceptance Commission
Acceptance Commission
Agency: Acceptance Commission
|
55 days
|
RON 150
|
| 14 |
Obtain water and sewage connection (Apa Nova SA)
According to the water and sewage authority (Apa Nova S.A.), this procedure takes approximately 2-3 months due to significant increase in demand and backlog. The associated costs were increased to RON 330 for connection fee, RON 72 for application fee and 64,18% VAT.Inspections for utilities occur at the same time as the connection.
Agency: Apa Nova SA
|
75 days
|
RON 473
|
| * 15 |
Obtain telephone connection (Romtelecom SA)
Inspections for utilities occur at the same time as the connection.
Agency: Romtelecom SA
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 16 |
Register the building with the real estate registry
The building can be registered once it has been completed and approved. There are two stages of approval, and for that reason, the building can be registered twice. The first stage is after the Commission approval, and the second is when the warranty period had expired, after the final Commission approval. The second approval applies only when the owner and the builder are different entities. Therefore, in the case considered here, it is assumed that only one registration is done.
Pursuant to Order no. 186/2009 on the establishment of time frames for performing services by the National Agency for Cadastre and Land Registration ("Order 186"), the standard registration time is of 21 days but, if the applicant pays an additional fee, the registration time will be reduced to 7 days. According to Order no. 39/2009 on the approval of fees for performing services by the National Agency for Cadastre and Land Registration ("Order 39"), the standard registration fee is of RON 120 and the additional fee, for obtaining a shorter issuance time, is four-times the standard fee.
Agency: Real Estate Registry
|
7 days
|
RON 480
|
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.