New Law on Construction of Buildings as well as the new Law on Spatial Planning entered into force on 5th March 2025. These two important laws have replaced the previous Law on Spatial Planning and Building Construction.
The most important news is that the construction permit was returned as an approval that a building can be built instead of the construction application that was used for the past seven years. Also, the authority to issue construction permits for buildings up to 3,000m2 is returned to the municipalities level; the procedure for building individual family houses is simplified; while the licensing of professional staff, technical norms and the participation of foreigners from European Union countries in design and supervision work are harmonized with EU standards and directives.
The most significant innovation in the Law on Spatial Planning is that the Government establishes a company for the preparation of planning documents at the state level, and one or more municipalities can establish a company for the preparation of local planning documents on their territory.
More details regarding the novelties in this area follow below.
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- The Chief State Architect generally approves the conceptual design of the architectural project of a building with a gross construction area of 3,000m2 and more; a hotel, i.e. a four or five-star tourist resort, square, promenade, city parks, etc.
- The Chief City Architect gives his consent to the conceptual design of the architectural project, which refers to buildings up to 3000m2 of gross construction area, except for hotels or tourist resorts with four or five stars and tourist resorts; conceptual design of the architecture project of the temporary building for which the main project is being prepared.
- The Chief State Architect, i.e. the Chief City Architect, does not verify the evidence regarding property and legal relations on the land and the building.
- The building is being built on the basis of the construction permit. Building without a construction permit is prohibited.
- A construction permit, except for a family residential building, is issued on the basis of the following documentation: 1) the main project, certified in accordance with law; 2) the report on the positive audit of the main project, certified in accordance with law; 3) consent of the Chief State Architect/Chief City Architect; 4) evidence of the right of ownership, or other right on the construction land (real estate deed, concession agreement, lease agreement, decision on determining public interest, notarized consent or declaration of will of the owner of the land entered in “G” list of the real estate deed and other evidence of the right to build on the land), or evidence of the right to build, or other right on the building if it is a reconstruction of the building; 5) evidence of the determination of the obligation to pay the construction fee prescribed by the law regulating spatial planning and evidence of the settlement of the obligation to pay the special fee for investments prescribed by the law regulating the regional water supply of the Montenegrin coast; 6) consents, opinions and other evidence determined by special regulations; 7) proof of liability insurance of the designer and auditor of the main project.
- A construction permit for a family residential building is issued on the basis of the following documentation: 1) the main project, certified in accordance with law; 2) approval of the Chief City Architect on the conceptual design; 3) declarations of the designer that the project was done in accordance with the law, conceptual solution, special regulations and rules of the profession and that it can be built based on it; 4) evidence of the right of ownership, i.e. other right on construction land (real estate deed, concession agreement, lease agreement, decision on determination of public interest, notarized consent or statement of will of the owner of the land entered in “G” list of the real estate deed and other evidence of the right to build on the land) or evidence of the right to build, i.e. other right on the building; 5) evidence of the determination of the obligation to pay the construction fee prescribed by the law regulating spatial planning and evidence of the settlement of the obligation to pay the special fee for investments prescribed by the law regulating the regional water supply of the Montenegrin coast; 6) consents, opinions and other evidence determined by special regulations; 7) proof of liability insurance of the designer of the main project.
- The construction permit is issued within 30 days from the date of submission of the application. The investor is obliged to notify the building inspector of the start of construction of the building no later than seven days before the start of construction. Along with the notification of the start of the construction of the building, the investor submits the contract on the engagement of the contractor and the contract on the engagement of professional supervision, proof of professional liability insurance of the contractor and professional supervision. Along with the notification of the start of construction, the investor, for a family residential building, submits to the construction inspector a contract on the engagement of the contractor and proof of the contractor’s professional liability insurance.
- The notification of the start of the construction of the building is published on the website of the Ministry/the local government authority, within three days from the date of submission of the notification.
- In order to determine the building’s suitability for use, the competent authority for issuing construction permits issues an occupancy permit. The occupancy permit is issued for a building or a part of a building for which the construction phase is determined by the construction permit, as well as for a part of the building that represents a technical-technological unit and can be used as such independently.
Before starting to use the building, the investor is obliged to submit a request for the issuance of the occupancy permit, no later than seven days from the day of receiving the final report on the performance of expert supervision. With the application for the issuance of the occupancy permit, the investor, except for the investor for a family residential building, submits:
1) final report on professional supervision;
2) proof of fulfilled obligations, in accordance with special regulations;
3) the project of the completed building, in case there were changes during construction;
4) facility maintenance project.
An investor for a family residential building submits a request for the issuance of the occupancy permit no later than seven days from the preparation of the contractor’s declaration that the building was built in accordance with the construction permit and the main project and that it is suitable for use. Eligibility for the use of the building is determined by a technical inspection, except for the use of a family residential building. Eligibility for the use of a family residential building is determined by the statement of the contractor that the building was built in accordance with the construction permit and the main project and that it is suitable for use. The technical inspection of the building includes control of compliance of the performed works with the construction permit, the revised main project, i.e. the project of the completed building, as well as with regulations, standards, technical norms and quality norms that apply to certain types of works, i.e. products, equipment and installations. The use of the building or part of the building can only be approved if the building or part of the building was built in accordance with the construction permit and the revised main project, or the project of the constructed building, or the main project on the basis of which the construction permit was issued.
The occupancy permit is issued by decision, within seven days from the date of delivery of the technical inspection report and documentation. For infrastructure objects for which construction permits have been issued and which cannot be used independently, but together form a functional unit, one occupancy permit is issued. The Ministry/the local government body, is obliged to publish the occupancy permit on the website within three days from the day of issue. The investor is obliged to, within seven days from the date of delivery of the occupancy permit, submit a request for registration in the real estate cadastre in accordance with the law regulating the state survey and the real estate cadastre.
The use of the building is not allowed before the issuance of the occupancy permit, except in cases of trial operation or functional testing of the installed equipment. The investor is obliged to submit a request for registration in the real estate cadastre within seven days of receiving the occupancy permit.
Fines for non-compliance with the new laws range from EUR 5,000 to EUR 40,000.
Proceedings started before the entry into force of Law on Construction of Buildings, in which no final decision has been made, will be concluded according to the law that was in force at the time the proceedings were initiated, if that is more favorable for the party. Issuance of urban-technical conditions started in accordance with the earlier Law on Spatial Planning and Building Construction will continue in accordance with the law under which the procedure was initiated.
The information in this newsletter does not constitute legal advice on any particular matter and is provided for general informational purposes only.
