Dealing with Construction Permits in
Swaziland
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
-
Estimated Warehouse Value:
SZL 7,150,000
- City: Mbabane
| No. |
Procedure |
Time to Complete |
Associated Costs |
| 1 |
Submit plans to municipality and obtain approval
BuildCo submits the title deed to the municipality, along with four copies of the draft project, a three-page form, zoning information, and plot ratio. It takes about 6 weeks on average to get the plans approved and receive the building permit.
The application cost has increased over the past year as building costs have risen with inflation, but the rule remains the same: 1% of the scrutiny fee, plus SZL 10 for the submission fee.
Agency: Municipality
|
42 days
|
SZL 7,160
|
| * 2 |
Hire a company to prepare an environmental impact assessment
A compliance certificate always has to be obtained but the procedure differs significantly depending on the category your construction falls in. There are 3 categories: the first one is usually for residential buildings, the third one is for bigger projects with 10 plots or more. Everything else falls into category 2. A warehouse might be a borderline case between the first and second category and is very likely to be considered in the 2nd category.
In this case, it is needed to hire a company to prepare an Environmental Impact Assessment. Bicon charges about Rand 5,000 for such an assessment and it takes them 3-4 weeks to prepare it.
This procedure is done simultaneously with the previous one.
Agency: Private company
|
21 days
|
SZL 5,000
|
| * 3 |
Request and obtain Certificate of Environmental Compliance
As a next step, the assessment is submitted to the Swazi Environmental Authority for review. The submission costs Rand 1500 and an additional Rand 500 for resubmissions. Resubmissions seem to be ALWAYS requested The SEA takes about 6 weeks on average for the review. For category 3 cases, the SEA might even request to put the plans up for public review which means that they ask you to advertise the plans in the local newspaper. The notification has to be advertised for 3 weeks and then another 3 weeks are granted to the public for reaction. After that the SEA needs another week to collate the comments, address them and issue the compliance certificate.
Agency: Swazi Environmental Authority
|
42 days
|
SZL 2,000
|
| 4 |
Receive foundations inspection from city council
The municipality is supposed to carry out several inspections during construction and and issue a certificate or report.
A book is available with all the certificates that the inspector must sign after completing an inspection. The common stages when inspections are conducted are foundations, reinforce sled, and cast concrete.
Notification is normally done over the telephone. The waiting time is about 2 days.
There is a cost for inspections. This is E2,000 for 2 inspections.
Agency: Municipality
|
1 day
|
SZL 2,000
|
| 5 |
Receive reinforce slab inspection
The waiting time is about 2 days.
Agency: Municipality
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 6 |
Receive cast concrete inspection
The waiting time is about 2 days.
Agency: Municipality
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 7 |
Request certificate of occupancy
Agency: Municipality
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 8 |
Receive final inspection
The average waiting time is 2 days.
Agency: Municipality
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 9 |
Obtain certificate of occupancy
At the end of construction, an occupation certificate is issued by the municipality. The cost is included in the application for a building permit (as for all the other procedures done by the municipality).
A final inspection before the certificate is issued determines whether any changes have been made.
Agency: Municipality
|
15 days
|
no charge
|
| 10 |
Request water connection
Agency: Swaziland Water Services Corporation (SWSC)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| * 11 |
Receive water inspection
Agency: Swaziland Water Services Corporation (SWSC)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| * 12 |
Connect to water
Agency: Swaziland Water Services Corporation (SWSC)
|
29 days
|
SZL 8,000
|
| * 13 |
Request and connect to telephone
Agency: Swaziland Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (SPTC)
|
14 days
|
SZL 1,000
|
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.