Rokhas: how online building permit applications work in Morocco

Since 2020, almost all planning authorisations in Morocco have been applied for, reviewed and issued on a national platform: Rokhas. Here is what a property owner needs to know, even if it is the architect who actually uses the tool.

What is Rokhas?

Rokhas (from the Arabic rokhsa, authorisation) is the single digital window for planning authorisations and business licences. Launched as a pilot in Casablanca, the platform was rolled out nationwide from 2019-2020. Its legal basis: Joint Order No. 338-20 of 21 January 2020 creates an "interactive and unified digital platform across the whole country" for filing, reviewing and issuing authorisations, occupancy permits and certificates of conformity, managed in partnership with the private sector. The process is paperless from end to end: filing, opinions of the committee members, electronic signature of the decision.

Which authorisations go through Rokhas?

The zoning information certificate (note de renseignements urbanistiques), on the other hand, is issued by the Urban Agency through its own channels (counter or agency website). Check with the agency in your city. Note: Law No. 64-23 (Official Bulletin No. 7533 of 10 August 2026) creates regional urban planning and housing agencies (agences régionales de l'urbanisme et de l'habitat), which gradually replace the urban agencies as each is actually set up.

Who can file an application on Rokhas?

The general building regulations allow filing "by the applicant, by the project's design architect or by any other duly authorised person" (art. 34). But for a building permit in an urban municipality, a delimited centre or their peripheral zone, Article 50 of Law 12-90 makes it mandatory to use a self-employed architect registered with the Order of Architects (Ordre des architectes): it is therefore the architect who creates the project on Rokhas, uploads the drawings and signs electronically. The owner remains the applicant and must provide the documents relating to them.

For lighter procedures (repair, demolition, regularisation), Rokhas also lets citizens file themselves, with a personal account, as the municipality of Casablanca announced when these services went online in May 2020.

What are the steps for a building permit on Rokhas?

1. Zoning information certificate for the plot, from the Urban Agency.
2. Architect's contract and design: sketch design, then the permit file, with the engineers for the structure.
3. Putting together the digital file: main documents set by Joint Order No. 337-20, amended by Joint Order No. 1032-21 (see below).
4. Filing on Rokhas: the numbered and dated receipt serves as a certificate of admissibility, provided all the main documents are present.
5. Review committee (commission d'instruction): prefecture or province, municipality, Urban Agency, plus the relevant departments for major projects. "Small projects" (petits projets) are examined in a meeting as soon as they are filed; "major projects" (grands projets) within 15 working days.
6. Any comments: supplementary documents or minor reservations to be cleared within an additional 5 working days; substantial changes notified by registered letter, with the time limit restarting when the corrected drawings are filed.
7. Payment of taxes and fees for services rendered, then issue of the decision with the drawings stamped "ne varietur".
8. Construction, then the occupancy permit, also applied for on Rokhas at the end of the works (see our guide to the occupancy permit).

Which documents are needed for a building permit?

Main documents required at filing (Joint Order No. 337-20, as worded by Joint Order No. 1032-21 of 13 April 2021, which among other things reduced files to a single copy):

• application signed by the applicant, the designer or a representative;
• certificate of ownership or title entitling you to build;
• ANCFCC (land registry) plan for registered land or topographic survey for unregistered land, and location plan;
• architectural drawings at a scale of at least 1/100: all floors, roof terraces, elevations (including neighbouring ones), site plan, sections;
• copy of the architect's contract where an architect is mandatory;
• fire-safety statement: approved by an inspection firm (bureau de contrôle) only in the cases provided for by Order 1032-21 (detached housing above R+3, multi-unit housing of R+3 and above on a plot of more than 150 m², establishments open to the public or to staff, high-rise buildings); for other dwellings, the architect adds a statement on the drawings confirming compliance with fire-safety rules;
• architect's note on compliance with energy performance rules.

Before issue, the following are added in particular: information sheet signed by the applicant (signature certification (légalisation) has no longer been required since Order 1032-21), engineers' structural drawings, building-line survey along the public road (constat d'alignement), site logbook (cahier de chantier), receipts for payment of fees and, for the buildings concerned, a telecom connection file.

What time limits apply, and how do you track progress?

Decree No. 2-22-141 (2023), implementing Law No. 55-19, reportedly also includes the building permit among the acts for which silence means consent once the time limits expire, with a certificate issued by the wali or governor: this is known from the press, and the text of the decree has not been reviewed. Never start works without a written document. Rokhas lets you track the progress of the file online. Online payment of municipal taxes was announced as early as 2020; its roll-out and the payment methods accepted vary by municipality. For the amounts, see our guide to building permit fees and taxes.

Which mistakes block an application on Rokhas?

• Missing main document: the file is inadmissible (art. 37 of the RGC). On the other hand, the absence of a supplementary document cannot justify a rejection.
• Project not compliant with the zoning information certificate (NRU): height, setbacks or footprint exceeded. This is the most avoidable reason for rejection.
• Title and cadastral plan inconsistent with the plot as drawn.
• Alteration of an existing building without the regulatory colour codes (existing in neutral, to be built in red, to be demolished in yellow) or without the previous approved plan or a survey of the existing building.
• Contradictory floor areas between the drawings and the architect's certificate used to calculate the taxes (art. 33 of the RGC).
• Late response to comments: 5 working days for minor reservations.
• Wrong procedure: filing for a repair permit for works affecting the structure, façade or internal layout, which require a building permit. See our guide to works and repair permits.

Can a Moroccan living abroad (MRE) get a permit remotely?

Yes, that is one of the benefits of Rokhas: the architect files and tracks the application online, and the owner does not have to travel for every step. The owner must, however, provide the documents relating to them (certificate of ownership, signed information sheet — its certification has no longer been required since Order 1032-21) and, where applicable, a power of attorney, which can be drawn up at the consulate.

CITURBAREA, a registered architect's practice in Kénitra, prepares and files applications on Rokhas in the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region and supervises the site through to the occupancy permit. Start with a free construction cost estimate, see our fees or contact the practice. For the overall picture, read our guide to the building permit in Morocco and, outside urban perimeters, the guide to the building permit in rural areas.

Frequently asked questions