Most people file at the town hall where the land is and get the permit from the same place. For them the question in the title never comes up. It does for anyone whose land spans two communes, anyone building in a small commune with no planning department, and anyone unlucky enough to file just when the mayor cannot hold office. For all of them, Article 304 of the Urban Planning Code moves the signature to the county.
The rule: the local mayor
The building permit, the modification permit, the regularisation permit and the demolition permit are issued by the mayor of the commune, town or municipality, by the sector mayor or the General Mayor of Bucharest, as the case may be, or by the president of the county council (Art. 304 para. 1).
The mayor issues permits for all works on the locality’s territory (para. 2). The exception is Bucharest: there, who issues what between the General City Hall and the sectors is settled by Articles 130, 131 and 584, to which the text refers.
Three situations in which the county signs
The property crosses the locality boundary. For works on property that crosses the boundary of a local authority, the permit is issued by the county council president with the mayor’s prior approval (para. 3 lit. a). The typical case: a plot or a network crossing the line between two communes.
The commune has no planning department. The county council president also issues the permit, with the mayor’s prior approval, for works inside or outside the built-up area of a locality whose mayoral staff has no department responsible for spatial and urban planning (para. 3 lit. b). The text does not say how that absence is established; in practice, you learn it at the town hall’s registry when you file.
The town hall cannot function. In exceptional situations, the county council president issues the permit with the prior approval of the locality’s general secretary: when the local council has been dissolved, or when the mayor cannot exercise the office because the mandate was suspended or has ended, or because a preventive measure under criminal law was taken (para. 4).
In all three, the town hall does not drop out. It gives a prior approval, the mayor’s or the general secretary’s, and the county signs the decision.
Other authorities, for certain works
Paragraph (5) leaves room for other authorities, under Articles 329, 343 and 346 or special laws. The first concerns national transport infrastructure and the metro, the second nationally important natural-gas projects, the third special-character buildings, permitted by the defence, public-order and national-security institutions. For a house, these cases do not arise.
What it means for your file
- Where the application goes. It is addressed to the authority that issues. Land on two communes, filed at only one of the town halls, starts with a detour.
- One more approval on the way. When the county signs, the file also passes the mayor or the general secretary for the prior approval. The issuing deadlines are those in the law, but there are more steps.
- The signature on the deed. When you receive the permit, check who signed it. Who signs a permit is explained in the article on what happens after you file.
What the file contains is on the page about the building permit application.
This article is analysis, not legal advice. Provisions are cited from Legea 169/2026, published in Monitorul Oficial no. 661 of 10 August 2026. Check your own situation with the issuing authority. Romanian legal terms are kept in the original, because the Romanian text is the one that governs.