Dealing with Construction Permits in
Uruguay
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:
UYU 9,555,000
- City: Montevideo
| No. |
Procedure |
Time to Complete |
Associated Costs |
| 1 |
Request and obtain a notary’s testimony (testimonio notarial)
Notarized documents are required for obtaining a building permit, registering the new construction work, and obtaining water and electrical power services.
Notarization costs UYU 1,500 to UYU 2,000, and three notarized copies cost UYU 600 per copy.
Agency: Notary Public (Escribano Público/Notario)
|
1 day
|
UYU 3,500
|
| 2 |
Register the construction work (on a provisional basis) at the General Cadastre Office (Dirección General de Catastro Nacional)
Once the Municipal Superintendent's Office of Montevideo has granted the building permit, the interested party must submit an affidavit together with the planned construction layout and the building permit to the General Cadastre Office (Dirección General de Catastro Nacional).
Unless objections are raised to the documentation, this procedure takes a day. The construction work is registered on a provisional basis until final approval is obtained.
Agency: General Cadastre Office (Dirección General de Catastro Nacional)
|
1 day
|
UYU 263
|
| 3 |
Request temporary water connection from Obras Sanitarias del Estado (OSE)
The company must request temporary connection from the water company.
Agency: Obras Sanitarias del Estado (OSE)
|
1 day
|
UYU 8,485
|
| 4 |
Receive inspection and connect to water services from OSE
The inspection and connection take place at the same time.
Agency: Obras Sanitarias del Estado (OSE)
|
14 days
|
no charge
|
| 5 |
Request and obtain building permit
The fee for the building permit is UYU 78 per square meter. Once approved, the construction work must commence within 270 days or the permit expires.
Agency: Municipal Superintendent’s Office of Montevideo (Intendencia Municipal de Montevideo)
|
30 days
|
UYU 101,764
|
| * 6 |
Register the new construction work for indemnity insurance
Payment is effected on a monthly basis after the new construction work has been registered at the Social Security Bank (Banco de Previsión Social). The approximate total amount of all payments required would be UYU 1,170,000.
Also, for construction work on the scale of the one in this case, a common practice is to contract third-party insurance (extra-contractual liability insurance). Such insurance is not compulsory, but risk coverage of up to USD 250,000 is usually contracted at a cost of 0.2 % of the amount covered by the policy. BuildCo cannot begin construction without obtaining a registration code from the Social Security Bank.
Agency: Social Security Bank (Banco de Previsión Social)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| * 7 |
Request and obtain a safety plan and study
The safety plan and study must be prepared and signed by a risk preventionist authorized by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad Social). There are only about 100 authorized preventionists.
Agency: Risk Preventionist
|
5 days
|
UYU 3,860
|
| * 8 |
Request and obtain a report on fire risk from the National Fire Department
This assessment (asesoramiento primario) is done to appraise the feasibility of the project in terms of fire requirements and norms.
The time for the assessment has increased substantially because of a staff shortage in the Fire Department (Dirección Nacional de Bomberos) and lack of coordination between supervising authorities. Personnel are not well qualified to handle the procedure. On average the procedure takes 90 days if all documents are submitted properly. However, that can be extended up to a year.
If 20 people work in the building, 50% of them will have to be trained in fire safety. However, this requirement does not apply to the case considered here.
Agency: National Fire Department (Dirección Nacional de Bomberos)
|
90 days
|
UYU 3,235
|
| * 9 |
Request sewage services from the Urban Sanitation Department
The services are requested while waiting for the building permit to be issued by the municipality. The documents are approved as part of the building permit application process. Hence, it takes only a day to get the clearance and pay the fee.
Agency: Urban Sanitation Department
|
1 day
|
UYU 231
|
| 10 |
Receive inspection from the water authority - I
The inspections take place at least once a month. The water authority (Obras Sanitarias del Estado, OSE) conducts the inspections to determine the consumption of water, which then defines the load. There is no need to request these inspections. They do not interrupt the construction works.
Agency: Obras Sanitarias del Estado (OSE)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 11 |
Receive inspection from the water authority - II
The inspections take place at least once a month. The OSE conducts these inspections to determine the consumption of water, which then defines the load. There is no need to request these inspections. They do not interrupt the construction works.
Agency: Obras Sanitarias del Estado (OSE)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 12 |
Receive inspection from the water authority - III
The inspections take place at least once a month. The OSE conducts these inspections to determine the consumption of water, which then defines the load. There is no need to request these inspections. They do not interrupt the construction works.
Agency: Obras Sanitarias del Estado (OSE)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 13 |
Receive inspection from the water authority - IV
The inspections take place at least once a month. The OSE conducts these inspections to determine the consumption of water, which then defines the load. There is no need to request these inspections. They do not interrupt the construction works.
Agency: Obras Sanitarias del Estado (OSE)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 14 |
Receive inspection from the water authority - V
The inspections take place at least once a month. The OSE conducts these inspections to determine the consumption of water, which then defines the load. There is no need to request these inspections. They do not interrupt the construction works.
Agency: Obras Sanitarias del Estado (OSE)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 15 |
Receive inspection from the water authority - VI
The inspections take place at least once a month. The OSE conducts these inspections to determine the consumption of water, which then defines the load. There is no need to request these inspections. They do not interrupt the construction works.
Agency: Obras Sanitarias del Estado (OSE)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 16 |
Request a final inspection from the municipality
Agency: Municipality (Intendencia Municipal de Montevideo)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 17 |
Receive inspection from the municipality
BuildCo must wait about 2 months before the inspection takes place.
Agency: Municipality (Intendencia Municipal de Montevideo)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 18 |
Obtain final approval of the construction work from the municipality
Final approval is obtained a minimum of 60 days after the final inspection is requested (unless objections are raised). The actual approval is issued approximately 7 days after the inspection.
Agency: Municipality (Intendencia Municipal de Montevideo)
|
60 days
|
no charge
|
| * 19 |
Receive final inspection by the Social Security Bank and obtain approval
This inspection is not required by law, but is almost certain to be carried out when a warehouse is built.
Agency: Social Security Bank (Banco de Previsión Social)
|
4 days
|
no charge
|
| * 20 |
Request and receive inspection from the National Fire Department
Agency: National Fire Department (Dirección Nacional de Bomberos)
|
87 days
|
UYU 3,235
|
| 21 |
Register the building at the Cadastre Office
Once the final approval of the construction work has been granted, BuildCo submits the final construction layout to the Cadastre Office and pays a further fee of UYU 110. The building is officially registered within 24 hours (provided there have been no objections).
Agency: Cadastre Office (Dirección Nacional de Catastro)
|
1 day
|
UYU 345
|
| 22 |
Register the building at the National Property (Real Estate) Registry and obtain certificate
Agency: Registry (Dirección Nacional de Registro (Inmueble))
|
5 days
|
UYU 700
|
| 23 |
Request final water connection from OSE
The company pays a security deposit of UYU 45,630. The deposit is returned when the company terminates the service.
Agency: Obras Sanitarias del Estado (OSE)
|
1 day
|
UYU 45,630
|
| * 24 |
Receive inspection from the OSE
An amount of UYU 4,500 must be paid for the inspection. Typically, a temporary (3-week) water supply connection would have been previously requested. This temporary connection entails a security deposit equivalent to UYU 4,500 + the cost of one month’s water consumption for every 1,000 square meters. In such cases, the final connection is obtained within a day.
It is assumed that there will be no pipeline installation or similar costs because the construction work is located within the supply system network.
The cost is about 5% higher.
Agency: National Sanitary Agency (Administración Nacional de Obras Sanitarias del Estado – OSE)
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| * 25 |
Connect to final water services from OSE
Agency: Obras Sanitarias del Estado (OSE)
|
19 days
|
no charge
|
| * 26 |
Request and obtain connection of sewage services
The connection is made at the time of the inspection.
Agency: Urban Sanitation Department
|
15 days
|
no charge
|
| * 27 |
Request and connect to telephone services from the Telecommunications Network Administration (ANTEL)
The National Telecommunications Network Administration (Administración Nacional de Telecomunicaciones del Estado, ANTEL) provides telephone service. The cost of installing telephone service is UYU 2,805 which includes UYU 1,705 as a deposit that is returned when service is terminated.) The cost does not include the phone device. The connection takes place in 48–54 hours.
Agency: Telecommunications Network Administration (ANTEL)
|
5 days
|
UYU 2,805
|
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.