If you have ever embarked on the process of buying or selling real estate in Croatia, you must have heard that every real estate being sold must have a occupancy permit (uporabna dozvola).
Through the experience of our business, we see that there are real estate buyers who are very educated and know this information, and when they come to our agency to ask what is on offer, they simply do not want us to show them any real estate that does not have a occupancy permit.
However, there are also plenty of sellers and buyers who do not know how important this document is and why they actually need it.
In this text, I will explain in detail what a occupancy permit is, how it is obtained, why it is issued and why it is a key document for the sale of real estate.
If you already know everything about the occupancy (usage) permit, feel free to skip this text, but if you want to learn more, you are in the right place.
WHAT PRECEDES THE OCCUPANCY LICENSE?
Some even think, if they have a building permit (građevinska dozvola), that they have everything they need for their facility that they have built. However, the building permit is only a document with which construction can be started, and its integral part is the project documentation according to which the house or building should be built.
The building permit is issued before construction and defines all the conditions for the construction of the building. Having a building permit means being able to start building a specific building exactly according to the blueprints of the main project made by authorized designers, i.e. architects and engineers.
The building permit establishes that the main project has been made in accordance with all regulations and conditions that must be met by a building at a specific location, and that all the necessary prerequisites for construction have been met. The construction permit usually states that after the construction of the building, it is necessary to request a occupancy permit for its use.
WHEN IS THE OCCUPANCY PERMIT ISSUED?
For new buildings, occupancy permit is required upon completion of construction. After the construction of a new property, a technical inspection is carried out in order to determine whether the building was built in accordance with the building permit or the main project.
If, after the technical inspection of the building, it is established that the works performed and the building constructed were made exactly according to the project and according to the construction permit, then the competent Department for Spatial Planning and Construction issues that important document called the OCCUPANCY PERMIT.
However, if after the technical inspection it is established that the building was not built exactly according to the project and according to the building permit, then the competent department rejects the request for issuance, that is, it cannot issue a occupancy permit.
This is something that will never be clear to me personally, why many people do not build according to their project for which they received a building permit, but always change something at the end of the construction, so they add another room, extend the balcony or even add another floor, mostly they add some new parts that are not in accordance with the main project, and in the end they cannot get a occupancy permit because of this.
Now we see that if you only have a building permit, that in itself is not proof that the building is legal and legal, precisely because during construction, the floor plan dimensions or the height of the building may have been deviated from.
That’s why, upon completion of construction, that final document is issued that proves that your real estate is legal and safe for use, and that’s exactly the occupancy permit.
The operating permit is actually a key document in the construction process, which serves as an official confirmation that the building was built according to all legal regulations, technical norms and in accordance with the issued construction permit. This document also confirms that the construction object is safe for use and that it meets all the necessary conditions for residential or business use.
WHAT HAPPENS WITH OCCUPANCY PERMITS FOR OLDER PROPERTIES?
For older buildings, it is important to mention that any act of use (certificate of use/permit to use/certificate that the final report of the supervising engineer has been submitted/certificate of the derived condition/decision on the derived condition) issued on any date is valid, but only if nothing was added or upgraded after that date of issue.
The condition from the occupancy permit at the time should be identical to the current condition on the ground. If after the date of issuance of the occupancy permit, anything was added or upgraded without a reconstruction permit, then that occupancy permit will not be valid for those illegal parts, and often the entire building is treated as illegal precisely because of these illegal actions.
WHAT ABOUT THE DECISION ON THE DERIVED STATE?
If your real estate has a document called a Decision on the Derived Condition (Rješenje o izvedenom stanju), you don’t need to worry because your facility does not require an occupancy permit.
This means that you were in the process of legalization and that you legalized all illegal parts of the building according to the Act on Dealing with Illegally Constructed Buildings.
That Decision on the derived condition that you received at the end of the legalization actually means that your real estate is now legal, and has the same meaning as the occupancy permit.
The decision on the derived condition is a document that is created as a result of the successfully implemented legalization of the object and is equated with a use permit.
The same rule also applies, that after the date of issuance of the Decision on the executed condition, nothing may be added or upgraded without requesting a reconstruction permit.
WHAT IF OCCUPANCY PERMIT WAS NEVER ASKED?
In practice, it happens that some investors or real estate owners, for various reasons, have never requested a use permit for the constructed building. If your building is of older construction and was built according to the project and building permit, and you simply did not know that you also needed a use permit, you can request it later. I will write about that topic in another blog.
WHAT DO YOU NEED A OCCUPANCY PERMIT FOR?
In addition to the fact that you will finally have the most important document that proves the legality of the building, you also need a use permit for various other purposes, for example:
– sale of real estate
– purchase of real estate through loans from banks
– reconstruction of the building (extension, upgrade)
– sharing of apartment units in a building with apartments and/or business premises
– rental for tourist purposes.
CONCLUSION:
If you are buying real estate, be sure to ask the seller or an authorized broker if the real estate has a occupancy permit. If it is not there, consult with experts whether it is even possible to obtain it. If it is certain that the property cannot obtain a use permit, we do not recommend such an investment. Don’t buy problems. I’m sure you have them even without searching for user licenses.
I hope that through this text you got a clearer picture of the importance of the occupancy permit and that, if necessary, you will take all the necessary steps to secure it for your property.
Be informed and prepared for your future purchase, to avoid potential problems and ensure that your property is completely legal and safe to use.
We have recorded video on our YouTube channel with this same topic, WITH ENGLISH TITLES. You can view it here ovdje.
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Author of the text: Jasminka Fišer Gavranović – owner of the agency Alfa nekretnine from Vodice, licenced real estate agent and home staging expert
Address: Alfa Real Estate, Obala Juričev Ive Cote 27, 22211 Vodice, Croatia
tel no.: office +385 441 292, cell phone +385 91 525 3260
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