How to obtain a building permit?

The time has come in your life – you have decided to build a house. As a result, you must be prepared for a whole host of formalities, documents, signatures and struggles with legal requirements. Start by asking an important question: where and how do you obtain a building permit? You will find the answer here!

• MPZP
• No MPZP
• The house design
• The building permit application

MPZP

This enigmatic abbreviation stands for the Local Zoning Plan (MPZP, "Miejscowy Plan Zagospodarowania Przestrzennego"), in which we will find a great deal of very important information, including the most important of all: whether the plot we have our eye on is designated for development. If so, it will spare us many problems, although we should also check carefully what type of building can be placed on the land in question.

In addition, the MPZP will specify guidelines on the siting of the building, its distance from other buildings, its dimensions and sometimes even its colour scheme. If the chosen plot is covered by an MPZP, we can breathe a sigh of relief. Although some requirements may seem absurd to us, a plot not covered by a zoning plan is worse and more burdensome for the investor in almost every respect.

All that remains is to obtain an extract and a map extract from the MPZP – we do this by submitting an application to the local building authority. We will wait a maximum of 14 days for these two documents.

WHICH HOUSE DESIGN TO CHOOSE? FIND OUT!

No MPZP

If we are set on this particular plot or – worse – already own it, we must try to obtain a zoning decision (decyzja o warunkach zabudowy, WZ). We then need to apply to the Municipal Office for the decision, filling in a document in which we include, among other things, information about the boundaries of the site and the plans for the investment (a description of the building, technical parameters).

After submitting the application, all that remains is to wait for the zoning decision (WZ), issued by the head of the municipality (wójt), mayor (burmistrz) or city president (prezydent). The wait can last up to 90 days!

The house design

Now you need to choose a house design or commission one. In the meantime we can take care of other necessary matters: for example ordering a design map from a surveyor or obtaining the conditions for connection to the utility networks.

A ready-made design needs to be adapted to the needs of our plot and to the zoning conditions. The adaptation must absolutely be entrusted to a professional architect.

The building permit application

Although by now you will have made a dozen or so visits to various offices, it is not over yet! After presenting the design and having the architect make changes to it, you must submit an application for a building permit. What must it include?

• The house design drawn up in four identical copies, together with all the additional documents
• A certificate of the right to dispose of the property
• OPTIONALLY the zoning decision.

The Office's decision will be issued within 65 days of the date the application is submitted.

Although the road to obtaining a building permit is long and tiresome, it is worth doing if we want to enjoy our own place on earth in the future. Not having the mandatory permit involves substantial financial penalties, and even restriction of liberty or imprisonment for up to two years!

Want to know more about the documents required for building a house? Feel free to get in touch!