The building permit file in Morocco: the document checklist, item by item (order 337-20)

“What goes in the file?” has one written answer: joint order 337-20 of the ministers for urban planning and for the interior, taken under article 36 of the 2019 general building regulation. This guide follows it item by item, in the order of the text, for the seven files it covers, and stops where the text stops. It completes the guide to the building permit, which describes the procedure, and the one on the occupancy permit, which describes what follows the works.

Where the list comes from, and what changed in 2021

The general building regulation approved by decree 2-18-577 of 12 June 2019 refers the list of required documents to a joint order: that is its article 36. Order 337-20 of 25 Joumada I 1441 (21 January 2020) fixes the list “subject to the provisions” of articles 53 and 54 of the same regulation and repeals order 3214-13 of 14 November 2013, which played that role under the previous regulation (articles 1 and 2). It was amended by joint order 1032-21 of 30 Chaabane 1442 (13 April 2021), published in Official Bulletin 6992 of 3 June 2021, which also replaced the annexed models.

Two provisions of the 2021 text change what counters do. First, every file now includes “an information sheet bearing the applicant’s signature” and “a copy of the receipts for the payment of fees for services rendered”, that is, proof that the processing fees were paid. Second, the number of copies is unified: for each of the seven files, the documents “are supplied in a single copy” (points 1.3, 2.3, 3.2, 4.3, 5.2, 6.2 and 7.3). A counter that asks for several paper sets of drawings is applying a practice, not the text.

Building permit: the principal documents at filing

Point 4.1 lists what the file “must contain, at the time of filing”:

1. A signed application by the applicant, “or by the designer of the project or by any other person duly mandated for that purpose”, on the model in annex 5 of decree 2-18-577. For an owner living abroad, the power of attorney is what founds the mandate.
2. A certificate of ownership of the plot or of the existing building, “or failing that any other title proving ownership of the property or allowing the applicant to carry out the planned construction or modification”. The text therefore does not require a land title; it accepts another title, with the limits the guide on land status explains.
3. An ANCFCC plan showing the boundaries of the property “where the property is registered”, or “a topographic survey where the property is not registered”.
4. A location plan of the plot, “where applicable”, with the orientation, the access roads and the landmarks.
5. The architectural plan, whose requirements take the next section.
6. The previously approved plan and the previous building permit or subdivision authorisation, where the application concerns a modification of an existing building, a renewal of the permit “whether modified or not”, or a new building in a subdivision already authorised. “Failing presentation of the said approved plan, the applicant must supply a survey of the existing building.”
7. A copy of the architect’s contract, “in the cases where recourse to the latter is mandatory under the laws in force”, a question the guide on law 016-89 takes up.
8. A technical notice on safety against fire and panic risks, for the buildings listed below.
9. A technical note on energy performance, “prepared by the architect who designed the project”, on the model annexed to the regulation approved by decree 2-13-874 of 15 October 2014.

What the drawings must show

The architectural plan covers “all the floors of the building, the ground floor, the basement, as well as the terraces and the ceilings at a scale that may not be smaller than 1/100”. The ground-floor plan “must clearly indicate the alignment of the street and carry all the dimensions of the outer boundaries of the plot, the level of the pavement, the areas of courtyards and light wells as well as the dimensions allowing them to be checked”. The order insists: “all these indications must appear on the drawings”. These dimensions are what the committee checks setbacks, heights and areas against, and what the final inspection later compares the building with.

The graphic documents must also show “all the elevations of the building and the neighbouring ones, the site plan of the building to be erected, the profiles and interior sections needed to identify the project”. For “a total or partial modification of an existing building”, the drawings use the conventional colours: “the existing parts to be kept: neutral; the parts to be built: red; the parts to be demolished: yellow”.

Who must supply the fire-safety notice?

The technical notice certifies that the drawings comply “with the provisions of the general building regulation fixing the safety rules against fire and panic risks in buildings”, approved by decree 2-14-499 of 15 October 2014, on the models annexed to the order. Since 2021 it is required for five categories only: “buildings for individual residential use whose levels exceed R+3; buildings for collective residential use whose levels equal or exceed R+3 provided that the area of the lot on which the building will stand exceeds 150 square metres; establishments receiving the public (ERP); establishments receiving workers (ERT); high-rise buildings (IGH)”.

The notice and its drawings “must be endorsed by the architect, the specialised engineer and a technical control office, each for what concerns them”. For other housing, “the architect who designed the project simply signs the related architectural drawings, including a statement that these architectural drawings comply with the safety standards against fire and panic risks”. For the R+2 villa or the small building on a 100 m² plot, this item therefore does not call for a control office; it remains a prudent choice.

The complementary documents before issue

“The building permit application file must contain, before its issue, the following complementary documents”:

• An information sheet bearing the applicant’s signature (added in 2021).
• A technical file for connection to the general public telecommunications network, only for “a building, whatever its nature or use, with at least four levels or three levels comprising six dwellings”, or “a commercial or industrial building with a ground area equal to or greater than 500 m²”. The single-family house is exempt.
• The technical drawings “produced by the specialised engineers relating to the structure and stability of the buildings and to their soundness in accordance with the regulations in force”: the reinforced-concrete drawings and the structural calculation note.
• A copy of the alignment statement, “if the building is planned on the edge of a public road”.
• A site logbook “conforming to the model fixed by the competent administration”.
• A copy of the receipts for the payment of fees for services rendered (added in 2021).

The text places these items between filing and issue without saying when they are called for. In practice most counters ask for the structural drawings together with the architectural ones; nothing prevents filing a complete file on day one.

Repair, demolition, regularisation: the three other permits

The order fixes the documents of the regularisation permit, not its conditions, which fall under decree 2-18-475 of 12 June 2019 cited in its recitals. The engineer’s certificate is the decisive item: a building no engineer will certify cannot be regularised by this route. The culture certificate refers to the regime of law 22-80, described in the guide on renovating in a medina.

Subdividing, creating a housing estate, splitting a plot

Points 1 to 3 of the order concern operations under law 25-90 and matter to the private owner in two cases: checking, before buying a lot, that the subdivision was authorised on a complete file; and dividing a plot, which requires a splitting authorisation.

Subdividing (point 1.1): the application; an ANCFCC certificate attesting that the land is registered or being registered, the opposition period having expired without opposition; the ANCFCC plan; a topographic plan above 25 hectares; the urban design (roads, numbered lots, facilities, green spaces, connections); the road and network documents; the specifications; the design contracts. Before the “ne varietur” documents (point 1.2): architectural prescriptions, infrastructure drawings, profiles, fee receipts, site logbook, information sheet. The housing estate (point 2) adds the buildings’ drawings, the fire-safety notice, the energy-performance note and the structural drawings.

Splitting (point 3.1): the application, signed by the applicant “or by the surveyor-topographer engineer”; a location plan drawn by the latter; an ANCFCC certificate giving the nature of the property, the owner, the real rights and charges and, in co-ownership, each share, “or a copy of the title deed of the plot concerned where it is not registered”; the ANCFCC boundary plan if the property is registered; a site plan of existing buildings; the splitting plan at 1/500 or 1/1000 “where it is not a sale in undivided shares”; the surveyor’s contract. The mention of an unregistered deed means a split on a melkia is admissible at filing; what follows depends on the commune.

Assembling the file, in a useful order

1. Gather the title and the land documents. Certificate of ownership and boundary plan from the ANCFCC for registered land; deed and a surveyor’s topographic survey for a melkia. The guide on buildability describes the information note to request at the same time.
2. Sign the architect’s contract. It goes in the file where an architect is mandatory; the architect produces the 1/100 drawings, site plan, elevations, sections, the energy-performance note and, depending on the building, the fire-safety notice or the conformity statement on the drawings.
3. Commission the structural drawings. From a specialised engineer or design office; required before issue, but most counters ask for them at filing. For buildings subject to the fire-safety notice, also line up the control office that endorses it.
4. Prepare the application and the mandate. On the annex 5 model, signed by the owner or by a representative holding a proper power of attorney.
5. Add the items specific to the situation. Previously approved plan or survey of the existing building for a modification or renewal; alignment statement on a public road; culture certificate for a building in a heritage perimeter.
6. File a single copy, at the one-stop counter or the commune’s registry, or online, against a numbered and dated receipt; pay the fees and keep the receipts, which are required before issue with the information sheet and the site logbook.

What the order does not say

The order fixes a list, not a procedure: time limits, receipt, committee and notification are in the general building regulation and in the guide to the building permit. The amount of the fees for services rendered is fixed elsewhere; the order only requires the receipts. Electronic filing does not change the list: the same documents are uploaded. Finally, some counters ask for items outside the list; the text does not provide for them, and the applicant is entitled to ask on what basis they are required.