Do you know how long a building permit is valid for?

The Building permission Planning permission is required to carry out certain construction works. But how long are building permits valid in 2024?

Validity period of building permit

As a general rule, building permits have a validity period three years. This means that the permit holder has three years from the date of issuance of the authorization to start construction work.

After this period, if the work has not started, the building permit becomes void and a new one has to be requested to start the construction work.

Extension of validity period

Under certain conditions, however, it is possible to request an extension of the validity period of the building permit. This request must be submitted by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt or directly to the relevant town hall two months before the expiry of the initial deadline.

The extension request must be motivated and explain the reasons why the work could not be started within three years after the issuance of the permit.

Building permits are granted for extended periodsa year, and can be renewed at most once. Thus, the maximum validity period of a building permit is five years, taking into account the possible extension.

Progress of steps related to building permit

To better understand the validity period of a building permit, the various steps involved in obtaining and administering this authorization must be reviewed. eye

Let’s remember that building permits are issued by the mayor in the name of the state and are subject to local planning regulations (local town planning plan, municipal map, etc.).

Submitting a building permit application

• The applicant must fill out Cerfa form n°13406*08 for individual building or collective building or Cerfa n°13409*08 for all other types of construction.
• It must also provide some supporting documents such as site plans, collective plans, section plans, descriptive notice of the project and photographs allowing the assessment of the project’s impact on its environment.
• Finally, the complete file must be sent in four copies to the town hall of the municipality where the land is located by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt or deposited directly on site.

Request processing and processing time

Once the file is submitted, the competent authority has an examination period to study the request and check whether it complies with applicable town planning rules. These deadlines are usually:

• 2 months For individual house or collective house,
• 3 months For all other types of construction.

This deadline can be extended in case of necessary external consultations or opinions (architects of Bâtiments de France, technical services, etc.).

At the end of the examination period, if the request is not expressly denied, it is expressly accepted.

Exhibition of building permit on land

As soon as the building permit is granted, express or implied authorization must be displayed on the land concerned. This display should be visible from the public highway and should mention the date of issue, period of validity of the permit as well as essential characteristics of the project (nature, destination, surface area, height etc.).

Declaration of Commencement of Work

Before starting work, the building permit holder must send to the Town Hall a Declaration of Opening of Works (Cerfa n°13407*04). This declaration makes it possible to effectively start the work and extend the validity period of the building permit.

Declaration of completion of work

Once the construction work is completed, the permit holder must announce their completion at the town hall using Cerfa form n°13408*04.

The town hall then has a period of three months to conduct an on-site inspection and verify that the work has been carried out in accordance with the approved permit and applicable town planning regulations.

If this is indeed the case, it issues a certificate of conformity that certifies that the work complies with legal requirements.