Repairs, extra storey, façade, demolition: which works permit do you need in Morocco?

Redoing a bathroom, adding a storey, opening a window in a façade, knocking down an old house: in Morocco, each of these works falls under a different procedure. Choosing the wrong one exposes you to a stop-work order and a fine.

Which works require a permit?

Law 12-90 (art. 40) requires a building permit for any construction and for changes to existing buildings "if they concern points covered by the regulations". Since the 2016 reform (law 66-12) and its 2019 decrees, it also provides for the repair permit, the regularisation permit and the demolition permit. The general building regulation (règlement général de construction, RGC, decree 2-18-577) divides projects between three procedures.

The text gives no detailed list of "minor works". For routine jobs (tiling, interior painting, like-for-like replacement of windows and doors, boundary wall), practice varies from one commune to another and with the local regulation: check with the planning department before you start. In a medina, a ksar, a kasbah or on a listed or registered building, the procedure is heavier and a certificate from the Culture department may be requested.

How do you get a repair permit?

1. Prepare the file (joint order no. 337-20): application signed on the official form, title proving ownership or the right to carry out the works, and where relevant a certificate that the building is neither registered nor listed. One copy is enough.
2. File it at the commune's registry office or single window (guichet unique), or on Rokhas. The owner can file personally.
3. Review by the commune's planning department, without going through the committee or collecting the opinions of the other administrations: decision within 5 days, issue within 10 working days (RGC, art. 46; Decree 2-18-475, art. 3).
4. Carry out the works: put up a visible board (permit number, nature and duration of the works), remove the rubble and clear the public highway at the end.

The repair permit is valid for six months and cannot be renewed (RGC, art. 47). If the works do not start within that period or are not finished within the set duration, a new application must be filed.

Do you need a permit to add a storey?

Yes. Adding a level is a change that requires a building permit, with an architect and a structural engineer, since the stability of the existing building has to be checked. Three points to check before even drawing:

• Does the zoning plan (plan d'aménagement) allow one more level? Ask for a zoning information certificate (note de renseignements urbanistiques).
• The procedure: adding a storey to a residential building that stays within 15.50 m and R+3 (or 18.50 m and R+4 in a formally accepted subdivision) falls under "small projects", examined in session as soon as the file is filed; beyond that, under "large projects" (RGC, annexes 2 and 3).
• The documents: former approved drawings and initial permit, or failing that a survey of the existing building; drawings in the conventional colours (existing in neutral, to be built in red, to be demolished in yellow).

An unauthorised extra storey also blocks the building's occupancy permit (permis d'habiter). To budget for the additional floor, use our free cost estimator.

How do you get a demolition permit?

The demolition permit is issued by the president of the commune within one month (art. 63-1 of law 12-90; decree 2-18-475, art. 14). The file, filed in a single copy since joint order no. 1032-21 (BO no. 6992 of 3 June 2021), which amended order 337-20, includes: application, title deed, contract with a specialised demolition company, contract with a specialised engineer, photos of the building and of the neighbouring buildings, a work schedule, and a technical study by the engineer (diagnosis, method, safety measures for neighbouring buildings). Order 337-20 exempts a detached single-family house no more than 8 metres high, but article 13 of decree 2-18-475 presents the technical study as mandatory without exception: to be safe, provide it in every case. The permit sets a deadline for carrying out the works; the official template provides that it lapses after six months if works have not started, and requires a site fence, a board, and notice to the commune at least 15 working days before the demolition begins.

What are the risks of works without a permit?

Law 66-12 tightened the controls and penalties of law 12-90. When a violation is recorded by an authorised officer:

1. Immediate stop of the works, with possible seizure of equipment and sealing of the site if the order is not respected.
2. Formal notice, when the violation is not serious, to take the necessary measures to end it within 10 days to one month (art. 68): this means bringing the works into compliance, not an administrative regularisation.
3. Demolition order by the local administrative authority if nothing is done; if it is not carried out, demolition by an administrative committee chaired by the wali or the governor, within 48 hours, at the offender's expense (art. 68). For a building without a permit on public land or in a zone where building is not allowed, the local authority demolishes directly of its own motion (art. 70).
4. Criminal prosecution and fines.

The project owner is not the only one at risk: the contractor, the architect, the engineer or the surveyor can be prosecuted as co-offenders, in particular if they do not report the violation within 48 hours. That is why a serious architect will refuse to supervise a site that departs from the approved drawings.

Can works already carried out be regularised?

The regularisation permit (permis de régularisation) (decree 2-18-475) makes it possible to regularise a non-compliant building that meets safety, stability and planning rules; it stands in for the occupancy permit. The window for filing applications, opened for two years in 2019-2020, was reopened for two years by decree 2-23-103, published in May 2023. That window appears to have been closed since May 2025: no extension has been found to date. Check with your commune whether an application can still be accepted before taking any step. Outside this scheme, the only route is bringing the building into compliance, or even demolishing the illegal part.

When should you call in an architect?

As soon as the works touch the structure, the façade, the layout or the common parts, or add floor area: article 50 of law 12-90 makes an architect registered with the Order mandatory for any change subject to a building permit in urban areas. Even for a repair, the architect's advice avoids filing under the wrong procedure. See our guides on architect fees, the building permit and the fees and taxes.

CITURBAREA, an architect's practice registered with the Order and based in Kénitra, studies the feasibility of your extra-storey, renovation or demolition-and-rebuild works in the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region. Describe your project to us.

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