Dealing with Construction Permits in
Tanzania
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:
TZS 325,000,000
- City: Dar es Salaam
| No. |
Procedure |
Time to Complete |
Associated Costs |
| 1 |
Obtain location plan from City Council - Ministry of Lands
The Requesting Agent/Person has to write a letter to the municipality and the Land Ministry requesting for block Plan, indicating location of the land, street, ward, city, region. Where the plots are on unplanned area it may take more than ninety days since it will be need to re-survey the plot and produce the locational Plan.
Agency: City Council (Ministry of Lands)
|
7 days
|
TZS 5,000
|
| 2 |
Obtain certified copy of the land rent receipts from the Internal Revenue Authority
The Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development is responsible for the overall payment of land rent and property tax, the Municipalities and Cities in different regions have this same role. Due to insufficient Technical Staff in the Ministry dealing with Lands they have requested Tanzania Revenue Authority to assist in the collection of property tax.
Agency: Internal Revenue Authority
|
7 days
|
no charge
|
| * 3 |
Obtain geological survey
If the requested area has a geo-survey map it can be obtained instantly but if the area has no geo-map done earlier, then the process can be costly but usually within 20 days this can be done using GPS systems. The cost would depend on who would issue the geological survey, if private firm is engaged (in cases of urgency it is uasually the process) then the cost might be higher than TZS 8,000,000.
|
20 days
|
TZS 8,000,000
|
| 4 |
Obtain building permit
The documents required for obtaining a building permit are the following:
- Architectural/engineering drawings and calculations, including site layout and location plans, plans, elevations, sections of the building including storm water drainage, fire protection, driveways and parking. All drawnings should be signed by a registered proffesional architect and all the detailed structural , electrical, plumbing and engineering installations by a registered proffessional engineer.
- Title deed showing ownership.
- Receipts of payments of land rents and other statutory fees, and changes of land use if any.
Four copies of the documents must be submitted to the City Council for planning approvals and obtaining the building permit. The City Council distributes three of the copies of the files to the Health Department, Fire Department, and Planning Department, and retains a copy for itself. Each of these entities must approve the project. To speed the approval, BuildCo should follow up with each of these departments directly. After these departments grant their approval, the city engineer approves the plans, and then the City Council must approve the application. This last approval can take around 3 months because the City Council meets only once a month and the number of requests is often high. Usually architects have to be well connected with members of the Council to get their project approved in less than 3 months.
The cost of the building permit for category buildings of 929.01 m2 area is TShs. 300,000.0 But if there will be any other additional area above this area it will cost TSh.15,000 at every 92.90 per square metres.
Agency: City Council (Ministry of Lands)
|
180 days
|
TZS 359,903
|
| 5 |
Request and receive pre-construction inspection from the City Council officers
BuildCo must notify the City Council 7 days before beginning construction, and within those 7 days City Council officers should perform the inspection. This procedure has no cost but if there is no transportation in the office and the customer needs the work done he can assist with the transportation at his own. This is to speed up the process rather than waiting for transport allocation.
Following the devastating collapse of 10 storey building, the regional directorate of Dar es Salam has undertaken several ad hoc measures to ensure safety and security of citizens. This has led to increased requirements for notification of commencement of construction works. Now companies have to submit a formal letter explaining the parameters and specifics of projects. However, it led to backlog and delays by 2-3 weeks of inspections that have to approve the site before works begin.
The Municipal team of experts such as structural engineer, drainage engineer, architect, quantity surveyor, town planner and fire engineer visit the site and conduct a general inspection. Visit is done prior to commencement and upon finishing foundation work before backfilling.
Agency: City Council (Ministry of Lands)
|
14 days
|
no charge
|
| 6 |
Request and receive excavation work inspection from the City Council officers
Agency: City Council (Ministry of Lands)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 7 |
Request and receive foundations work inspection from the City Council officers
BuildCo must provide transport to City Council officers to and from the site.
Agency: City Council (Ministry of Lands)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 8 |
Request and receive concrete work inspection from the City Council officers
Sometimes if the Supervising Consultants on site are registered engineers, architects or quantity surveyors, and the contractor has good record of performance of these professionals, they are left to supervise and check the qualty and standard, where the municipality has deficiency in technical staff.
Agency: City Council (Ministry of Lands)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 9 |
Request and receive slabs work inspection from the City Council officers
Agency: City Council (Ministry of Lands)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 10 |
Request and receive roof work inspection from the City Council officers
Agency: City Council (Ministry of Lands)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 11 |
Request and receive inspection from the fire department once construction is completed
Agency: Fire Department
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 12 |
Obtain approval of the building from the fire department upon completion
After receiving the inspection from the Fire Department, BuildCo receives a certificate from the Fire Department. That certificate is necessary to obtain an occupancy permit from City Council.
Agency: Fire Department
|
14 days
|
no charge
|
| 13 |
Receive inspection from the health department
Agency: Health Department
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 14 |
Obtain approval of the building from the health department upon completion
Agency: Health Department
|
14 days
|
no charge
|
| 15 |
Apply for occupancy permit from the City Council and request final inspection
Agency: City Council (Ministry of Lands)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| * 16 |
Receive final inspection from the City Council officers
Agency: City Council (Ministry of Lands)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 17 |
Obtain occupancy permit
Agency: City Council (Ministry of Lands)
|
14 days
|
no charge
|
| 18 |
Obtain water and sewage connection from Dawasa
Agency: Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (Tanesco)
|
30 days
|
no charge
|
| * 19 |
Obtain telephone connection
Agency: Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL)
|
3 days
|
TZS 60,000
|
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.