Zoning information certificate (note de renseignements urbanistiques): what is it for and how do you get it?

Before signing a preliminary sale agreement or paying an architect, one question decides everything: what can be built on this plot? The zoning information certificate (note de renseignements urbanistiques) answers it, for a few hundred dirhams.

What is the zoning information certificate?

It is an official document, signed by the urban agency, which specifies "the use that may be made of a landed property" under the zoning plan (plan d'aménagement) or the rural settlement development plan in force (art. 6 of the general building regulation, RGC). In Arabic, it is called مذكرة المعلومات التعميرية. It accompanies most land transactions and is the starting point of any serious architectural design.

Why ask for it before buying or building?

• Before buying: check that a plot sold as "buildable" really is, and that it is not encumbered by a planned road, a planned public facility or a no-build zone (zone non aedificandi).
• Before designing: know the authorised height and number of levels, the setbacks and the footprint, and therefore the floor area you can really build. It is the basis of any costing: without the certificate, a budget estimate remains theoretical.
• Before investing: find out whether a shop, a rental building or a facility is allowed in the zone.

A concrete example: two neighbouring 200 m² plots, one in a villa zone, the other in an R+3 apartment-building zone. The land price per m² may be similar, but the buildable floor area, and therefore the value of the project, have nothing in common. The certificate states it in black and white.

What does the zoning information certificate contain?

Article 8 of the RGC sets a minimum content. The official template (annex 1) adds the alignment to be respected and the easements.

The certificate comes with a copy of the zone regulation and an extract of the plan. Read both: the decisive details (projections, basements, ceiling heights, roof terraces) are often in the regulation.

Where and how do you apply for it?

The application is filed with the urban agency responsible for the commune where the plot lies, against a dated and signed receipt (art. 6 of the RGC). In the region: the Rabat-Salé Urban Agency for Rabat, Salé, Témara and Skhirat; for Kénitra, the competent urban agency is that of Kénitra-Sidi Kacem. Check which agency your commune actually reports to. Note: 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, and will then take over the issuing of the certificate.

1. Check who can apply: if the planning document is approved, any interested person can apply for the certificate, including a buyer. Otherwise, only the owner, or a person with the owner's consent, can apply.
2. Gather the documents: application form, identity document, and depending on the agency a certificate of ownership or registration application, cadastral plan or survey, Lambert coordinates approved by the land registry. Example published by the Rabat-Salé Urban Agency: application, certificate of ownership and cadastral plan (if the title is not in the ANCFCC database), copy of the national ID card (CIN).
3. File and pay at the counter, or online where the agency offers it. The Casablanca Urban Agency has the e-auc.org platform; the Rabat-Salé agency announced in 2020 that applications could be processed through its website. Check the online service available on your agency's website.
4. Collect the certificate and have your architect read it.

What is the deadline and how long is the certificate valid?

Deadline: two working days at most after the application (art. 7 of the RGC). The Casablanca Urban Agency announces 48 hours for its online procedure.

Validity: the RGC ties it to the duration of the legal effects of the planning document in force (art. 9). The official template provides for the agency to state a duration in months. If a new zoning plan is being studied or under public inquiry, ask for a recent certificate: the rules may change, and the president of the commune can, where the use of the land is not yet defined by a zoning plan (plan d'aménagement or plan de zonage), defer a decision on a permit by a reasoned decision, for two years at most (art. 45 of law 12-90).

How much does a zoning information certificate cost?

The amount is set by each urban agency. Published examples:

These amounts are indicative and to be verified on the day of the application: they may have been revised. A stamp duty may be added for cash payments.

What are the limits of the certificate?

• It is drawn up on the basis of the data supplied by the applicant and does not certify that data (art. 7 of the RGC): an error in the title or the cadastral plan distorts the answer.
• It is in no way an agreement in principle on a project: only the building permit authorises you to build.
• It says nothing about the legal status of the title (mortgage, joint ownership, dispute): that is the role of the certificate of ownership and the notary.
• It does not take into account the subdivision rules or the specifications (cahier des charges), which add to the zoning plan.

How does the architect use the certificate?

The architect turns the certificate into building capacity: possible floor area, number of levels, siting, parking. The architect also spots the traps (an alignment that cuts into the plot, a setback imposed on the secondary-road side). On this basis, the architect draws up the sketch and then the building permit file filed on Rokhas.

To go further: our guide to the Kénitra zoning plan, the one on land subdivision, and the steps to build a house. Once you know what can be built, estimate your budget with our free cost estimator and check the construction cost per m².

CITURBAREA, an architect's practice registered with the Order in Kénitra, analyses the zoning information certificate of your plot in the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region before any commitment. Tell us about your plot.

Frequently asked questions