Planning violations in Morocco: inspections, penalties and regularisation (law 66-12)

What you risk in Morocco if you build without a permit or without following your approved drawings, under law 12-90 as rewritten by law 66-12, article by article.

Which acts are violations?

Article 64 of law no. 12-90, as worded by law 66-12, lists them:

• building or starting to build without a permit;
• building without following the drawings and documents of the permit issued;
• building in a zone where building is not allowed under the regulations;
• building on public or private land of the State or local authorities, or on collective land, without authorisation;
• occupying a building without an occupancy permit (permis d'habiter) or certificate of compliance (certificat de conformité);
• building on land subject to an alignment order (art. 34, paragraph 2);
• not keeping the site logbook (cahier de chantier) (art. 54-2).

The law also requires a permit for any change to a façade (art. 40) and a demolition permit for any demolition, even partial (art. 63-1). The same rules exist for subdivisions (law no. 25-90, art. 63 et seq.) and for rural settlements (dahir of 25 June 1960, art. 12-4 et seq.).

Who inspects?

Violations are recorded in an official report drawn up by (art. 65):

• judicial police officers;
• planning inspectors (contrôleurs de l'urbanisme) reporting to the wali, the governor or the administration, who have the status of judicial police officers and can call on the police.

The inspector acts on his own initiative, at the request of the local authority, the president of the commune or the director of the urban agency, or on a complaint from anyone, a neighbour for example (art. 66). Before 2016, prosecution required a complaint from the president of the commune; that is no longer the case. To enter occupied premises, the inspector needs written authorisation from the public prosecutor, within three days (art. 66).

The procedure, step by step

1. Recording and official report: the original is sent to the King's prosecutor within 3 days; copies go to the local authority, the president of the commune, the director of the urban agency and the offender (art. 66).
2. Immediate stop of the works if the site is active, with a copy of the report (art. 67).
3. If the order is not respected: seizure of tools, equipment and materials, closure of the site and sealing (art. 67). The offender can ask the judge to reopen it; in case of conviction, the court orders confiscation.
4. If the violation is not serious and can be remedied: order to end it within 10 days to one month (art. 68).
5. Failing that: demolition order by the local administrative authority; if the demolition is not carried out within the set deadline, an administrative committee chaired by the wali or the governor, with the president of the commune, carries it out within 48 hours, at the offender's expense (art. 68).
6. Criminal prosecution before the court, independent of the demolition (art. 69).

For the most serious violations (no permit, or non-compliance on height, storeys, siting, floor area, soundness, materials or use), the demolition procedure applies (art. 70). When the building without a permit is on public or collective land, or in a zone where building is not allowed, the local authority demolishes of its own motion, at the offender's expense (art. 70).

The penalties set by law

Fines are cumulative (art. 79) and doubled for a repeat offence within the year (art. 80). In case of conviction, the court must order demolition and restoration, at the offender's expense (art. 80-1).

For subdivisions, law 25-90 provides heavier penalties: from 100,000 to 5,000,000 DH for a subdivision, housing group or land division without authorisation (art. 65), and up to five years in prison for a subdivision in a zone where building is not allowed or for selling plots in an unauthorised or not formally accepted subdivision (art. 66 and 68, 2016 wording). Law no. 34-21 of 28 July 2026 rewrote several articles of this chapter: see land subdivision.

Who is liable: owner, architect, contractor?

Article 78 names as co-offenders, punished like the main offender, the project owner, the contractor who carried out the works, the architect, the specialised engineer and the surveying engineer (ingénieur géomètre topographe) if they do not report the violation within 48 hours of learning of it, as well as anyone who gave the orders or facilitated the operation. In practice, an architect who discovers a storey added outside the permit must report it; if the architect stays silent, they face the same penalty as the owner.

This is one of the reasons why the permit requires an architect registered with the Order (art. 50): the architect directs the works, keeps the site logbook (art. 54-2) and certifies compliance at the end of the works (art. 55). Our architect's practice in Kénitra provides this supervision.

Can an irregular building be regularised?

Law 12-90 provides for a regularisation permit (permis de régularisation) issued by the president of the commune, after approval by the urban agency (art. 40). Its conditions are set by decree no. 2-18-475, amended by decree no. 2-23-103 of 8 May 2023:

• it covers buildings built without a permit or not in line with the permit (art. 5);
• the building must comply with the rules on safety, hygiene and sanitation, and with the height, siting, floor area and use set by the planning documents, and lie in a zone open to urbanisation (art. 9);
• otherwise, a building permit must first be obtained to bring the building into compliance (art. 9);
• in an irregular subdivision, regularisation is only possible after its restructuring (art. 10);
• the permit is issued within 60 days of filing (art. 8) and replaces the occupancy permit (law 12-90, art. 55).

Two important limits. First, the 2023 decree reopened the filing of applications for two years; according to the press, that window ended in May 2025, and we have found no text reopening it since. Check with the commune and the urban agency before counting on this route (the regional planning and housing agencies created by law no. 64-23, BO no. 7533 of 10 August 2026, are gradually replacing the urban agencies as they are actually set up). Second, regularisation does not erase the offence: demolition "does not hinder" prosecution (art. 69), and nothing in the texts provides that a regularisation permit ends prosecution.

What always remains possible: filing an application for an amending building permit for a project that complies with the zoning plan, which often means demolishing the non-compliant part. A storey that exceeds the height allowed by the zoning plan does not meet the conditions of article 9.

How to stay out of trouble

• Check whether the plot can be built on with the zoning information certificate before buying.
• Obtain the permit before digging, and follow the building permit procedure; for small works, ask for a repair permit.
• Any change during the works (storey, façade, opening) goes through a new application.
• Do not occupy or rent before the occupancy permit.
• Plan the real budget from the start, with the cost estimator, so you are not tempted to add unauthorised floor area. For all the texts, see planning and building regulations in Morocco and the building permit guide.

The amounts are those of the law; the judge sets the fine within these ranges. Inspection practice varies from one prefecture or province to another.

Frequently asked questions