Does a house with an additional floor require a construction permit?
According to the provisions of Clause 17, Article 3 of the 2014 Construction Law, a construction permit is a legal document issued by a competent state agency to an investor to build new, repair, renovate, or relocate a project. That is, in the case of houses with additional floors, a construction permit is also required.
At the same time, according to Clause 1, Article 98 of the 2014 Construction Law, the adjustment of construction permits is regulated as follows:
Article 98. Adjusting construction permits
1. During the construction process, in case there is a design adjustment that changes one of the following contents, the investor must propose to adjust the construction permit:
a) Changes in the form of the architectural exterior of the project for urban works in areas with requirements for architectural management;
b) Changes in one of the factors regarding location, construction area; scale, height, number of floors of the project and other factors affecting the main load-bearing structure;
c) When adjusting the interior design of the building to change the usable function that affects safety, fire prevention, fighting, and environmental protection.
Accordingly, during the construction process, in case there is a design adjustment that changes one of the factors regarding location, construction area; scale, height, number of floors of the project and other factors affecting the main load-bearing structure, the investor must propose to adjust the construction permit
Thus, in the case of houses with additional floors, there is no need to apply for a new construction permit but only need to apply for a construction permit adjustment.
Process for adjusting construction permits
Pursuant to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 102 of the 2014 Construction Law, amended by Point a, b, Clause 36, Article 1 of the 2020 Construction Law on the process of granting construction permits and adjusting construction permits, it is stipulated as follows:
Step 1: The investor submits 2 sets of documents requesting a construction permit and adjusting a construction permit to the competent authority issuing a construction permit.
Step 2: The competent authority issuing the construction permit is responsible for receiving the documents of organizations and individuals requesting the issuance and adjustment of the construction permit; checking the documents; recording the receipt in case the documents meet the regulations or instructing the investor to complete the documents in case the documents do not meet the regulations.
Step 3: Within 7 working days from the date of receipt of the dossier, the competent authority issuing the construction permit must organize the dossier appraisal, field inspection...
Step 4: The competent authority issuing the construction permit is responsible for comparing the conditions according to the provisions of this Law to send documents to collect opinions from the state management agency on areas related to construction works according to the provisions of law.
Step 5: Within 12 days for individual works and houses from the date of receipt of the dossier, the state management agencies are required to give written replies to the contents under their management functions.
After the above deadline, if these agencies do not have an opinion, they will be considered to have agreed and must be responsible for the contents under their management functions; the construction licensing agency shall base on current regulations to decide on the issuance of a construction permit;
Step 6: From the date of receiving a complete and valid dossier, the competent authority issuing the construction permit must review the dossier to issue a certificate within 20 days for the case of granting a construction permit, including a construction permit with a term, an adjusted construction permit, a relocation permit and within 15 days for individual houses.
In case the licensing period has come but further consideration is needed, the construction licensing agency must notify the investor in writing of the reason, and at the same time report to the competent authority directly managing for consideration and direction of implementation, but not more than 10 days from the expiration date as prescribed in this clause. The time for granting a construction permit for advertising works is implemented in accordance with the provisions of the law on advertising.
