Citeste articolul in romana → Cum obtii autorizatia de construire in 2026
A building permit (autorizatie de construire) is the city hall's approval to build. You need one for a new house, an extension, an added storey or any structural change to an existing building. The route is always the same four stages. First, the urbanism certificate tells you what you can build on your plot. Then an architect and engineers prepare the studies and the project. You collect the approvals the certificate asks for. Finally, you file everything and the city hall issues the permit within 30 days.
Some documents and approvals are needed for every project, such as the topographic survey, the geotechnical study, the signed project and the utility approvals. Others depend on your plot. Building in a protected area adds the culture approval. Building close to another house can add the neighbours' agreement. A project that doesn't fit the local rules needs a zonal urban plan first. From the certificate to the permit, count on a few months. In legal fees, budget about 1.1% of the value of the works, plus the cost of the project and the studies.
In short
You need a permit for a new house in a city, an extension, an added storey, or any opening in a structural wall.
Six steps: urbanism certificate → studies and project → approvals → permit → technical project and notice of start → works and handover.
Always needed: the certificate, a land book extract, a topographic survey, a geotechnical study, a project signed by an architect and engineers, the utility approvals and the environment authority's opinion.
Sometimes needed: the culture approval (protected areas), the neighbours' agreement, fire safety, a zonal urban plan (PUZ), the association's vote for a bloc.
Legal deadlines: certificate within 15 working days, permit within 30 days. Realistically, a few months in total.
Fees: about 1.1% of the value of works for a home (0.5% permit fee, 0.5% construction inspectorate, 0.1% urban-planning control).
Do you need a building permit?
Yes for new buildings and structural work. No for most interior renovations.
Permit: a new house in a city, an extension, an added storey, an opening in a structural wall, merging rooms across structural walls.
Notification only: a non-structural wall, extending a bathroom or kitchen, closing a balcony uniformly, or a single-storey rural house up to 150 m² under strict conditions.
Nothing: finishes, new fixtures, new installations that don't touch the shared riser.
What are the steps?
Six steps, always in this order.
Urbanism certificate (certificat de urbanism).
It tells you what you can build on the plot and which approvals you'll need.
It's issued within 15 working days and is valid 12–36 months.
Studies and the project for the permit (often called DTAC).
The topographic survey, the geotechnical study, and the architecture, structure and installations project.
An architect with signing rights must take part, and certified verifiers check the project.
Approvals (avize).
Only the ones listed in your certificate.
Each issuer has 15 days. If one doesn't reply in time, the approval counts as given.
The building permit.
File the application with everything above.
The city hall has 30 days, or 7 working days with an urgency fee.
Technical project and notice of start.
The project is developed into construction drawings and verified. Work can't start without it.
Notify the city hall and the State Construction Inspectorate (ISC), and put up the site panel.
Works and handover.
A contractor builds it.
The handover is attended by the city hall.
Then the building is registered in the land book.
What do you always need?
These are needed for every permit, whatever and wherever you build.
Urbanism certificate for building.
Land book extract and cadastral plan extract, no older than 30 days when you file.
Topographic survey, made by an authorised surveyor and received by the cadastre office.
Geotechnical study of the ground.
The project for the permit:
architecture, structure and installations;
signed by an architect and engineers;
checked by certified verifiers;
registered with the Order of Architects.
The energy-performance report (NZEB), for new buildings.
Utility approvals for the connections you need: electricity, water and sewage, and gas if you use it.
The environment authority's opinion. For a house, it's usually a formality.
The fees, paid before the permit is issued.
After the permit: the technical project, verified; the notice of start; the site panel; the handover.
Planning a house on a city plot, or a renovation that needs a permit? Book a free 45-minute Office Hours session, send us the plot's land book extract or your urbanism certificate, and we'll help you see which of these you'll need, what's likely to slow you down, and where to start.
What might you need, depending on the plot?
Your urbanism certificate tells you which of these apply. Most houses need one or two, not all.
Where you build:
Protected area or historic monument: the culture approval (the Ministry of Culture's regional directorate or the monuments commission). It adds time, because it goes through a commission.
Near a national road, railway, airport or water: the approval of that road, rail, aviation or water authority.
Near military or special sites: approval from the defence or security institution. These are never tacit.
What's next to you:
Buildings close by: a preliminary expert report on how your works affect them. If it calls for safety measures, you also need the neighbours' agreement by authentic deed. A neighbour can refuse only for a good reason; an unjustified refusal can be overruled in court.
Building closer than 60 cm to the boundary: the neighbour's agreement by authentic deed (Civil Code, art. 612).
What you build:
Fire safety (ISU) approval: only for the building categories the government lists. A typical single-family house usually doesn't need it.
Public health approval: depending on the building's use.
Access onto a public road, or works on public land: the road administrator's agreement.
If the project doesn't fit the rules:
A zonal urban plan (PUZ): needed when what you want exceeds the plot's limits for height, coverage, setbacks or use. It's a separate procedure, measured in months.
For a renovation of an existing building:
A technical expert report on the building.
A measured survey and a diagnostic analysis of the existing building.
In a bloc: the agreement of two thirds of the association and of every directly affected owner, for any structural change (Law 196/2018, art. 39).
What does a building permit cost?
About 1.1% of the value of works in legal fees for a home, plus the project and studies.
Permit fee: 0.5% of the value of works for a residential building, 1% for other buildings.
State Construction Inspectorate (ISC): 0.5%. Half is paid when work starts, the rest by the handover.
Urban-planning control: 0.1%, paid when work starts.
Architecture stamp: 0.05%, where it still applies. Its status was under review in 2026.
Smaller fees: for the certificate and the approvals.
The project and the studies: priced per project, depending on the plot and the building.
"Value of works" is the construction and installation cost from the project's cost estimate, without VAT. It's settled against the final value before the handover.
How long does it take?
About two months of legal deadlines. In practice, a few months.
Certificate: 15 working days.
Approvals: 15 days each, in parallel; 30 days if you use a single-approval committee where one exists.
Permit: 30 days from a complete file.
What adds time: the studies and the project before you file; approvals that come back with questions; neighbours' agreements; and the technical project after the permit.
How long is the permit valid?
Three years to start work, then the duration of works it states.
Suspension: once, for up to 12 months.
Extending the duration of works: once, for up to 12 months, for 30% of the original fee.
Changes to the brief during works: need a modification permit before you build them.
The urbanism certificate: valid 12–36 months, and can be extended once by up to 24 months if you ask before it expires.
Get your permit route mapped
In a free, 45-minute Office Hours call, an architect looks at your plot or building with you: what the urbanism rules allow, which documents you'll always need, which extra approvals apply to you, and what to do first.
Bring: the land book extract or cadastral number, the urbanism certificate if you have one, photos of the plot or building, and what you want to build or change.
No pitch, no obligation. Pick a time below; it shows in your local time.
Renovating in Romania: all articles
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Before you buy
Rules and approvals
Planning the renovation
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Houses and land
