Building permit in Morocco: documents, steps and timelines

In Morocco, every new building in the areas covered by law 12-90 needs a building permit (autorisation de construire) issued by the president of the commune. In urban communes, delimited centres and their peripheral zones, the file is prepared by an architect registered with the Order of Architects (CNOA) (law 12-90, art. 50). Here is the full process, from the first documents to the start of works.

When do you need a building permit?

Law no. 12-90 on urban planning (art. 40) requires a building permit for any new construction and for changes to existing buildings when they concern points covered by the regulations. Since law no. 66-12, any change to a façade also requires a permit. Small repair works that do not touch the structure, façade, interior layout or use fall under a lighter procedure, the repair permit (permis de réfection): see our guide on renovation and repair permits.

In urban communes, delimited centres and their peripheral zones, using an architect registered with the Order is a condition for obtaining the permit (law 12-90, art. 50). For a building of 150 m² of floor area or less, the architect is only mandatory for the design (art. 54). Can you build without an architect? Not for a permit application in these zones. Rules differ in rural areas: see building permit in rural Morocco.

Documents to provide

• Land title (titre foncier) or certificate of ownership
• Cadastral plan and zoning information certificate (note de renseignements urbanistiques)
• The architect's file: drawings (site plan, façades, sections) and the regulatory forms
• Depending on the project: soil survey (geotechnical study), opinion of the engineering consultancy (BET), structural calculations

Joint order no. 337-20 distinguishes main documents, required at filing, from additional documents, to be supplied before the permit is issued. A file missing any main document is inadmissible, but a missing additional document can never justify a rejection (general building regulation, RGC, art. 37). Since order no. 1032-21, documents are supplied in a single copy. Before any design work, ask for the zoning information certificate: the urban agency must issue it within two working days (RGC, art. 7).

Steps and timelines

1. Design by the architect, and approval with you.
2. Filing of the file with the commune's departments (single window (guichet unique) / urban agency). Today filing goes through the online platform: see Rokhas, online building permits.
3. Review by the review committee, against the zoning plan (plan d'aménagement): regulatory timeline of 15 days (small projects) or 30 days (large projects) for a complete file (joint order 1839-23); in practice, the time observed is often longer and varies from one commune to another.
4. Issue of the permit, then start of works.

The file is examined by a review committee on which the province or prefecture, the commune and the urban agency sit. The urban agency's opinion is binding: the president of the commune must follow it (RGC, art. 39). The regulatory timelines are as follows:

The timelines start again from zero if the commune asks for amended drawings (RGC, art. 41), which is why the time observed in practice is often longer than the regulatory timeline: check with the commune before fixing your schedule. A shop on the ground floor can tip the file into the large-projects procedure. The detailed steps are in our guide to the building permit procedure.

What if the commune does not reply?

Article 48 of law 12-90 provides that, if the president of the commune remains silent, the permit "is deemed granted" two months after filing. Be careful: a tacit permit does not exempt you from complying with the zoning plan. Do not start without a written document.

How long is the permit valid?

The permit lapses if foundation works have not started within one year of its issue (law 12-90, art. 49). Neither the law nor the RGC provides for an extension: after that, a new application must be filed. Any change to the approved project also requires a new application.

Taxes and fees to budget for

The main items are:

• The building-operations tax (taxe sur les opérations de construction), paid to the commune when the permit is issued, per m² of covered area. Each commune sets its rate by municipal tax order within the legal range: 20 to 30 DH/m² for a single-family home, 10 to 20 DH/m² for a collective building or business premises, with a minimum of 1,000 DH (law 47-06 as amended by law 07-20; consolidated scale to be verified, and the rate to be verified with your commune).
• The urban agency's fee (rémunération de l'agence urbaine): each agency sets its own scale (the CITURBAREA simulator uses 3.6 DH/m² as an assumption).
• Occupation of the public highway for the building site (hoarding, storage, scaffolding).
• The civil protection opinion where required.

Important: pay your tax on undeveloped urban land (taxe sur les terrains urbains non bâtis, TNB) up front: arrears can block the issue of the permit. A worked example for a 200 m² villa is given in our guide on building permit fees and taxes. These taxes are small compared with the cost of the works: estimate the whole budget with our free cost estimator.

Before opening the site

Law 66-12 added site-organisation rules to law 12-90 (art. 54-1): a site-opening declaration signed by the architect and filed with the commune (the permit template says 48 hours before works start), a hoarding and a site board showing the permit number and date. During the works, the architect keeps the site logbook (cahier de chantier) (art. 54-2). At the end comes the occupancy permit (permis d'habiter).

What happens if you build without a permit?

A building without a permit is illegal: the works can be stopped, fines imposed and the building even demolished, and it cannot be regularised or officially connected to utilities. Building without a permit is punished by a fine of 10,000 to 100,000 DH (art. 71 of law 12-90 as rewritten by law 66-12). Details in our guide on planning violations and penalties.

CITURBAREA, an architect's practice registered with the Order in Kénitra, prepares, files and follows up your permit file. Tell us about your project.

Frequently asked questions