The building permit in Morocco: procedure, documents and real timelines

Many projects fall behind not because the procedure is obscure but because owners discover it as they go: a plot whose status is unclear, a planning information note never requested, a missing principal document that makes the file inadmissible. This guide follows the real order of operations, from checking the plot to the occupancy permit, citing at each step the article of the general building regulation that applies. It complements the guide on the legal framework for building.

When is a building permit required?

The building permit is the authorisation provided for in article 40 of Law 12-90 on urban planning; outside urban perimeters it is provided for in article 7 of the dahir of 25 June 1960 on rural settlements. The general building regulation defines a “project” as any construction, subdivision, housing group or plot division whose execution is subject to obtaining prior authorisation, whether carried out by a natural or legal person, private or public.

In practice the obligation covers new construction, extension, adding a floor, altering a façade and changing the use of premises. Since Law 66-12, repair works that do not require an occupancy permit have their own repair permit, and demolition its own demolition permit. The boundary between these permits and works that need none is covered in the guide on minor works.

What should you check before filing?

The first check concerns the plot itself. The official template of the planning information note distinguishes three cases: land covered by a land title, by a registration application in progress, or unregistered. Unregistered land is not barred from a permit by the regulation, but proof of ownership then rests on a customary deed whose strength the commune and the urban agency assess. The guide Land title vs melkia explains why the title changes everything.

The second check is the note de renseignements urbanistiques. Article 6 of the general building regulation provides that the urban agency issues it to anyone who requests it, and article 7 sets a deadline not exceeding two working days. For the parcel, it states the planning document in force, the zone’s designation, prohibited uses, the maximum site coverage and floor-area possibilities, setback rules from boundaries, maximum height and access conditions. Article 7 adds that it is drawn up from the data supplied by the applicant and never amounts to approval in principle of any project. It is nonetheless the document the architect designs from, and the one that reveals an unbuildable plot before it is too late.

What goes into the file?

Article 32 of the regulation refers the list of documents to a joint order of the planning and interior ministries; order 337.20, published in Official Bulletin 6874 of 16 April 2020, is the text in force. Article 33 draws a distinction that protects the applicant: principal documents condition admissibility, but the absence of an information document can in no case justify a rejection, neither at filing nor during review.

According to the guide published by Médias24 in 2025, a file for an individual villa includes the signed application, the certificate of ownership, the cadastral plan, the planning information note, the signed architectural plans (location, site, floor plans, sections, elevations), a copy of the applicant’s identity document, an undertaking to respect the plans “ne varietur”, a photomontage of the existing site and the architect’s contract. Plans must be signed by an architect registered with the Order where Law 016-89 requires it. The full list, document by document, is the subject of the guide on the permit file.

Where do you file the application?

Article 10 of the regulation creates a one-stop shop (guichet unique des autorisations d’urbanisme) in communes of more than 50,000 inhabitants and their districts. Article 12 makes it the applicant’s single point of contact: it informs on documents, circuits and the progress of the file. In smaller communes, article 15 entrusts the review to a prefectural or provincial planning committee. Filing is done at the registry against a numbered and dated receipt, which serves as a certificate of admissibility subject to the principal documents; where a one-stop shop exists, the receipt already states the date of the committee meeting (article 30).

Electronic processing, provided for in article 47 of the 2013 regulation and organised by order 338.20 of 2020, led to the national platform Rokhas.ma, which handles filing, tracking and issuance of planning permits. Médias24 notes that in 2025 the procedure is fully digital and that a physical visit remains necessary only to pay the taxes. The filing can be made by the applicant, by the project’s designer or by an authorised representative (article 30), which matters for anyone managing a project from abroad.

How is the file reviewed?

Article 17 distinguishes two procedures. “Small projects” under annex 3 include individual dwellings up to 11.50 m in height (ground plus two floors) in an accepted subdivision, buildings up to 15.50 m (ground plus three) in an accepted subdivision, commercial premises under 500 m² of floor area, and alterations to existing buildings without change of volume. They are examined by the committee on the day of filing (article 19). “Large projects” under annex 2, including buildings above 15.50 m, schemes of more than twenty dwellings and premises open to the public, follow a different rhythm: the commune forwards the file to the committee members within three working days, and they decide within fifteen working days of the commune receiving the file (article 18).

The committee brings together permanent members, representatives of the prefecture or province, the commune and the urban agency, joined for large projects by civil protection, telecommunications and the network operators (article 21). The designer may attend to present the project, provided he withdraws for the deliberation (article 29). Minutes record each member’s individual opinion; they go to the commune president, who decides within three working days (article 34). Article 35 states the decisive rule: no permit may in any case be issued without the concurring opinion of the urban agency’s representative.

1. Filing at the registry. You receive a numbered, dated receipt; with a one-stop shop it states the committee date (article 30).
2. Forwarding to the committee. Three working days for a large project; immediate for a small one (articles 18 and 19).
3. Review and minutes. At most fifteen working days for a large project; on the spot for a small one. Each member records an opinion (article 34).
4. Decision of the president. Within three working days of the committee; refusals must be reasoned and notified (articles 34 to 36).
5. Notification. Registered letter with acknowledgement within two working days, with the “ne varietur” plans (articles 39 and 40).

What if the committee asks for changes?

Two cases are provided for. Where the committee requires changes, the president sends the applicant a registered letter within two working days of receiving the minutes; the issuance timelines only start running again from the date the amended plans are filed against a receipt (article 37). Where the observations are limited to additional documents or reservations without effect on the opinions, they are notified to the designer, who has five working days to put things right (article 38). The difference matters: in the first case the clock is reset; in the second it keeps running.

In the event of a refusal, article 36 obliges the president to give reasons and to inform the applicant. The most frequent grounds and the appeal routes are covered in the guide on permit refusals.

How long does it really take?

Added up, the regulation’s timelines give under a month for a large project and a few days for a small one. The Médias24 guide mentions a review period of thirty days “in most cases” for an individual villa, longer depending on complexity. Three factors stretch reality: the back-and-forth of article 37, which resets the clock; the opinions of outside services, which article 27 nonetheless requires to be given “within the set deadlines or, at the latest, during the meeting”; and projects that depart from the plan d’aménagement and go before a derogation committee. Article 49 charges the governors with ensuring that deadlines are respected and with intervening where delays persist.

The Rokhas platform publishes indicators of average processing times by commune and project type; these are the only public observational data. Built Morocco does not quote any lived timeline here until its Baromètre has collected its own data; when it does, it will publish ranges with their sample sizes.

What does the decision contain, and what duties follow?

The permit follows the template in annex 6 of the regulation, after the “ne varietur” stamp is applied to the written and drawn documents. Its standard clauses bind the holder: inform the commune’s services in writing 48 hours before works begin; display on site, visibly and permanently, the date and number of the permit, the object of the project and the professionals in charge; neither occupy the public domain nor connect the building to networks without prior authorisation; keep a copy of the permit and plans on site; provide a two-metre site fence; and file any change to the project as a new permit application.

The clause most often overlooked is article twelve of the template: the permit is deemed to have lapsed if the foundation works shown on the plans have not begun by the end of one year from its issuance. A permit obtained and left idle is a permit lost.

How do you obtain the occupancy permit?

Provided for in article 55 of Law 12-90, the occupancy permit (permis d’habiter, for housing) or certificate of conformity (for other uses) is issued by the president of the communal council on the beneficiary’s request, accompanied by a declaration of completion of works (article 41 of the regulation). It is drawn up after a final inspection, the récolement, which checks that the works conform to the authorised plans, by a committee of representatives of the prefecture or province and the commune (article 42). The president notifies the inspection date within three working days of filing and convenes the committee within fifteen working days (article 43); the minutes and the decision follow within two working days (article 44).

Article 45 offers a faster route: where the works were directed by an architect, the inspection may be replaced by that architect’s certificate that the works conform to the plans and to the permit’s indications. The permit template finally recalls that it is forbidden to use the building before the occupancy permit is obtained: without it, no final network connections and no safe sale. The guide on the occupancy permit details this stage.