Regulation of building permits in Belgium

There is common Belgian idiom “elke Belg wordtgeboren met een baksteen in de maag,” which literallytranslates to “every Belgian is born with a brick in theirstomach.” This idiom expresses the fondness of Belgiansfor building and owning their own homes. However,navigating the various regulations concerning buildingpermits across Belgium can prove quite a challenge.In this edition of the Planning and EnvironmentalJournal, we share both our fondness for and an overviewof this particular aspect of planning and zoning law.

Regulatory framework in Belgium

Belgium is a federal state, composed of the Flemish,Walloon and Brussels Capital regions. As a consequenceof consecutive state reforms of Belgium, the fullcompetence concerning planning, zoning andthe relevant permits has been assigned to theseregions. As such, the Belgian federal level only plays amarginal role in the broader context of the regulation ofbuilding permits.

The Parliaments of the respective regions regulate thedevelopment and designated use of individual parcelsof land in their region. Local authorities (provinces andmunicipalities) apply the regional legislation and can settheir own local zoning and planning policies.

The following table lists the main current zoning andplanning legislation.

Measures requiring a building permit

Only certain measures require an application for abuilding permit. Although the list of measures whichrequire a building permit varies from region to region,certain elements are common to all three regions.

The following list provides a rough outline of themeasures which require a building permit:

• construction works;
• rebuilding an existing construction;
• refurbishment works;
• altering some functions of the building (e.g. residential, industrial, recreation);
• the modification of the relief of a parcel;
• deforestation;
• felling trees or other vegetation of a certain size or nature;
• certain cases of habitual use of land;
• certain cases of publicity (e.g. advertisement panels); and
• the allotment of parcels.

Although refurbishment works generally require abuilding permit, certain maintenance works are usuallyexcluded from this requirement. Additionally, certainconstruction works do not require a building permitbut a notification of the activities to the competentplanning authority. These works are relatively simpleand common. As such, the competent authority oftenhas a minimal amount of discretion when evaluatingthe notification.

It is important to keep in mind that the specificmeasures requiring a building permit as well as theinterpretation of the concepts outlined above mayvary in the respective regions. The outline above isnot exhaustive.

Integration of building permits and other statutory permits

Development often does not only concern constructionworks, but also necessitates the requirement of otherrelevant statutory permits. An environmental permitfor the exploitation of installations or a permit allowingcertain commercial activities (mostly retailers) are themost common statutory requirements in this respect.Across the different regions of Belgium, the regionallegislators have – to a varying degree – pushedtowards further integration of these permits in acombined permit.

Flanders

In the Flemish region, the regional legislator hastaken the most far-reaching steps on this subject.With the entry into force of the decree on theintegrated environmental permit, parties can requesta single integrated environmental permit covering thefollowing aspects:

• construction works;
• allotment of parcels;
• exploitation of installations;
• commercial activities; and
• changes in vegetation.

The most important benefit of this integration isthe creation of a common procedural framework.This integration eases and enables a combinedevaluation of all the mentioned aspects, contrary to thefractured evaluation existing in the past.

Brussels

Contrary to Flanders, building permits, permits thatallow the allotment of parcels and environmentalpermits are in principle still separate under the currentBrussels legislation. However, the Brussels capital regiondoes not completely lack some form of integration.

Firstly, an ordinance of May 8, 2014, merged thesocio-economic permit with the building permit.Secondly, the Brussels Public Planning Code denotes acommon procedural framework of the evaluation of amixed project. Mixed projects are projects which requireboth a building and environmental permit. Despite theseparation of the permits themselves, the Brussels codeprovides for a uniform evaluation.

Wallonia

Unlike its Flemish and Brussels counterparts, theWalloon legislator has so far not taken any stepsto integrate the various statutory permits. Buildingpermits, environmental permits, permits that allowthe allotment of parcels and the Walloon permit forcommercial establishments are in principle still separate.Currently, the Walloon legislation does not provide forcombined evaluation of the different aspects.

Absence of building permit

In all respective regions of Belgium, a building permitis required before carrying out specified measures.In the absence of a building permit, the offender andthe landowner allowing such activities risk criminalprosecution and possibly an order to demolishthe building.

However, in practice, urban offences are often notprosecuted under criminal law. Therefore, acrossthe Flemish, Walloon and Brussels regions, there is anoticeable tendency for urban offences to be dealt withunder administrative law (fines, administrative ordersrequiring the offender to carry out certain changes,and so on).