Comparison of building permit procedures in European Union countries. Ruddock, Les; Chynoweth,

Abstract

Building regulations set minimum requirements for safe, healthy, energy-efficient and accessible buildings. To guarantee that these requirements are applied, a building control system is indispensable. The trend towards a common market for construction products and services justifies gaining a better insight into the building control systems in the European Union (EU). This paper presents a comparison of the building permit procedures adopted in the 27 EU countries. To collect the necessary information, a questionnaire on building regulatory systems was distributed to national experts in each country and the major legal documents were reviewed. The information was organized in thematic tables containing all the countries. The main conclusion is that the organization of a regular building permit procedure is similar in the EU countries. No major differences were found concerning the several steps it takes to get a building permit and to carry out a construction work: pre-consultation, possibility of phasing, submission demands, checks carried out and maximum procedure time for plan approval, possibility and moment to object to a building permit being issued, start of construction works, frequency and moment of site inspections, fees, and completion of construction works. The main differences concern detail aspects in several of these steps. There is one basic type of building permit procedure in countries from continental Europe. The United Kingdom countries are those presenting more deviations from the common pattern. These deviations aim to reduce the burden of administrative aspects, while ensuring good levels of compliance. In the last 10 to 15 years, the dominant trends identified in the building permit procedure were a decrease in the types of construction works submitted to building authorities’ control during plan approval, and the reduction in the maximum building permit procedure times. Building authorities’ control during the construction phase has remained unchanged. Altogether, there is a movement towards simpler and faster building permit procedures. For the near future, no major changes are expected in the building permit procedures.