The question almost always arrives after the design has been discussed: the land is not mine, can I still get the permit? The code answers with neither yes nor no. It answers with a list, and your place on that list decides not only whether you may build, but what you may build.
The documents that actually go into the file are on the building permit page. This looks at what that document has to prove.
The rule starts from ownership
Article 245 paragraph (3) says execution of works is permitted to holders of the right of ownership and to holders of other rights in rem corresponding to public property, subject to the legal act that created the right, or with the owner’s consent.
Two things get lost in a quick reading. First, holding the right is not enough; the act that granted it has to be observed too. A right created for one use does not stretch itself over another. Second, the owner’s consent appears here as an alternative, not as an extra formality.
The exception that surprises people
Paragraph (4) deals separately with the case where you hold no right in rem but only a contractual claim. The typical case is a lease or a loan-for-use agreement. On that basis, and with the owner’s consent, only three categories may be carried out:
- temporary constructions, whether built or demolished;
- repairs to permanent constructions;
- interior partitions that are non-structural and demountable.
Letter b) adds a narrowly drawn special case for leases under petroleum and natural gas legislation, and letter c) leaves room for other works, but only in cases and conditions expressly provided by law.
The practical consequence is short and rarely said plainly: a lease does not support a new permanent construction. Demountable partitions, yes. A house, no. If you need more than that, you need a different title, not a longer contract.
What you file as proof
If the land-book situation has to change before the file is opened, by splitting or merging, that operation has a certificate of its own, covered in splitting or merging land.
Article 262 letter b) asks for the cadastral plan extract and the land registry extract, neither more than 30 days old, and, as the case may be, documents certified as true to the original attesting ownership of the property or another right, in rem or contractual, that permits building, under the conditions of article 248. The certification is made by the holder of the right, signing each page by hand or with a certified electronic signature.
And one simplification worth knowing before you gather paperwork: where the owner is confirmed by the land registry extract and is the same person applying for the permit, the code says expressly that no further documents attesting ownership are needed.
Who applies
Article 248 paragraph (1) ties the application back to the list: the permit is issued at the request of the holders of the rights set out in article 245. Paragraph (2) makes an exception for public interest engineering works, where the application may come from persons other than the holders of principal rights in rem.
Paragraph (3) settles a frequent practical problem: where the investment involves new construction together with alterations, interventions on an existing building, or partial or total demolition, a single permit is applied for, setting out the categories of works separately. We wrote about demolition followed by new construction in DTAD became PAD.
Check this before the design, not after
The order in which these questions usually get asked is the reverse of the order in which they matter. Title to the land is checked once, in five minutes, and decides whether the rest is worth doing. On the sequence of steps read by the code’s own deadlines, see the order of the steps; on what happens once the file is in, see after you file.
This article is analysis, not legal advice. The provisions cited are from Legea 169/2026, published in Monitorul Oficial no. 661 of 10 August 2026. Check your own situation with the issuing authority.