Doing business in Belgium: Construction Permission

Obtain a recent proof of land ownership

Agency: Bureau de l’Enregistrement

The administration must check two items:

That the person requesting the building permit has the right to do so. He might not necessarily be the owner of the land, but acting on behalf of the owner.
The applicant must submit a recent list of neighboring plots. In case of inquiry they should be able to consult the neighbors.

Therefore, the cadastral extract must be recent. Although the town has access to cadastral plans, the applicant must still obtain a recent cadastral extract. It costs around 50-100 Euros and it takes a maximum of 15 days to obtain it.

Time and cost: 7 days, EUR 75

Obtain clearance from the Fire Department

Agency: Fire Department

Some municipalities request a fire department report on the owner’s behalf. The cost to obtain this report is set in the official fee schedule published in the law: December 18, 2003 Arrêté du Gouvernement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale fixant les redevances à percevoir en contrepartie des prestations effectuées pour des missions de prévention par le Service d’Incendie et d’Aide médicale urgente de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale.

Time and cost: 14 days, EUR 880

Request building permit from the Municipality

Agency: Municipality

The building permit request must be filed with the Municipality along with drawings. In Brussels, an environmental impact report is not required for a warehouse construction similar to that in the Doing Business case study. Moreover, the building permit expires after 2 years from the date of issuance, if construction has not started within that period.

The Urbanism Department has 30 days to inform the applicant that the application is not complete. After that period, the administration has another 3 months, depending on the type of construction to deliver the “permis d’urbanism.” Other clearances are required such as obtaining clearance from VIVAQUA for sewage, obtaining information regarding the sewage and the depth at which the sewage pipes are located. This can take another 30 days. Contacting VIVAQUA is done by the Urbanism Department and is part of the permit request process.

Time and cost: 110 days, EUR 780

Inform Municipality of commencement of work

Agency: Municipality

The builder must inform the Municipality of the commencement of work by writing a certified letter 8 days prior to the start of construction. According to Art. 194/2 of the CoBAT, it is mandatory that the permit be posted on the construction site before the start of construction and throughout its entire duration.