The law that regulates the authorization to carry out construction works is Law 50/1991 on the authorization to carry out construction works. It has undergone some amendments over the years, but the most recent ones have been introduced by:
- Law no. 102/2023 for the amendment and completion of Law no. 50/1991 on the authorization for the execution of construction works;
- Law no. 108/2023 on the approval of Government Ordinance no. 9/2023 for the amendment of art. 11 para. (1) lit. k) of Law no. 50/1991 on the authorization of the execution of construction works.
In the following paragraphs the main amendments made to Law 50/1991 by means of the above-mentioned regulations will be presented.
NEW LAW ON CONSTRUCTIONS WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION IN ROMANIA
By Law no. 102/2023 Articles 7 and 12 of Law 50/1991 were amended as follows:
- Art. 7 para. (23) lit. a) on the information made available to the public has been amended, so that the authorities are obliged to make public the content of the building permit and the related annexes or, if applicable, the content of the act rejecting the application for authorization to execute construction works.
- Art 7. paragraph (23) has been supplemented by the new law with 5 new paragraphs, para. (23^1) – para. (23^5), and the amendments concern obligations regarding publicity.
Thus, following these amendments, the information extracted from the content of the authorization, i.e. from the annexes on the main conditions to be fulfilled by the applicants must be published within maximum 30 days and must include:
- the building permit number and date of its issuance;
- project title/description;
- percentage of land occupation – P.O.T. and land use coefficient – C.U.T.;
- building setbacks from property boundaries;
- the areas, built on the ground, built on each level, built developed;
- the height regime, the number of underground and above-ground levels for each construction, and the heights of the constructions, at the cornice and maximum for each construction;
- whether the opinion of the competent authority for the protection of cultural heritage has been sought/obtained;
- whether the opinion of the competent authority for the protection of the environment has been sought/obtained;
- situation plan;
- plans of all facades.
With the publication of the information listed above, the date of finalization of the publicity operations carried out on the content of the building permit will be recorded and published.
Once the authorization has been communicated, but before any work commences, the beneficiary must at his own expense:
- note in the land register of the real estate and in a newspaper of general circulation the number of the building permit and the date of its issuance respectively, the title/description of the project;
- place the investment identification sign on the construction site in a visible place.
The content of the building permit shall be deemed to have been made known on one of the following dates, whichever is the latest:
- On the date of completion of the publicity operations by the public authority;
- on the date of the conclusion, by which the entry in the land register was ordered;
- the date of publication of the information in a newspaper of general circulation;
- the date of display of the investment identification board.
The rest of the interested public may request for study the information provided for by art. 7 paragraph (23^1) letters a) – j) of Law 102/2023, as well as other documents of public character.
- Art. 12 has been completed with para. (3): – thus, if the preliminary complaint is mandatory, the deadline for filing it is 30 days from the date of the last advertising operation carried out, and the deadline for annulment, suspension, intervention is 60 days from the date of receipt of the reply to the preliminary complaint/ from the date of expiry of the deadline for the resolution of the complaint. If the prior complaint is no longer mandatory, the time limits for cancellation, suspension, intervention will be 60 days and will run from the date of the last advertising operation.
Likewise, Law 108/2023 introduced amendments to Articles 11 and 43 of Law 50/1991. Thus:
- Art. 11 has been completed with other hypotheses for which a building permit is not required. These new cases are:
- works of routine maintenance, periodic maintenance, routine repairs to the transportation infrastructure and related installations;
- drilling and excavation works necessary to carry out geotechnical studies and geological prospecting for transport infrastructure projects of national interest and metro infrastructure projects;
- works for the raising of pedestrian crossings, road signs, road markings, subject to the prior approval of the Traffic Commission, the approval of the Road Brigade and the road administrator;
- work for the erection of temporary fencing made of light materials, not requiring foundations, to enclose virgin land, on the basis of a site permit.
- Art. 43 has been amended in letter b), as follows: – the authorization by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of the execution of construction works related to the transport infrastructure of national interest and metro infrastructure managed by the Commercial Transport Company and Metrorex will be carried out by the specialized directorate of the body and in compliance with all legal provisions in the field of authorization of construction works.
- Art. 43 has been supplemented with letter c), with the following content: – the rule in letter b) shall also apply to metro projects regardless of the stage of implementation they are at, if no application for the issuance of construction authorization has been submitted by the entry into force of the law.
WHAT CAN BE BUILT WITHOUT A BUILDING PERMIT?
Even if in principle a construction requires a building permit, there are some exceptions. Although these works do not require authorization, they must comply with certain town-planning rules, safety conditions and comply with the law. Some of these works may require other types of approvals/permits.
The works that do not require a building permit are listed under Art. 11 of Law 50/1991 with subsequent amendments as described above. In general they fall into the following categories:
- Simple repair or maintenance works that do not alter the building’s resistance structure or architecture;
- Temporary constructions which do not occupy much space and are not intended for permanent use;
- Buildings strictly necessary for agricultural activities;
- Fences or enclosing walls;
- Domestic outbuildings;
- Temporary installations for various cultural, sporting or social events.
