The permit for landscaping and site works

What counts as landscaping and site works

The Codul urbanismului defines landscaping and site works as works that change how the land is used. The category covers:

• Civil site works.
• Land improvements and reclamation.
• Provisional or temporary structures: campsites, containers, summer camps, event tents.
• Planting and landscaping of green spaces.
• Development of public spaces.
• Land research and prospecting, boreholes, excavations, and research for natural deposits.
• Organising the execution of the works.

Which permit you need

It is still a building permit that is issued, but the request and the documentation have content specific to landscaping and site works. The technical documentation is called the proiect pentru autorizarea amenajării and its content is set by Annex 4 to the Codul urbanismului.

Two situations are resolved through a single permit:

• If the landscaping also involves demolishing existing structures on the site, the permit is requested and issued for both the landscaping works and the demolition works.
• If, alongside the landscaping, adjacent building works are also carried out, the permit covers both categories.

The permit for site organisation is issued for the provisional, preparatory works needed to set up the execution technology for the project, both on the investment land and on any space temporarily occupied outside it.

It can be requested together with the building permit or separately, at a later point, by the general contractor.

Who prepares the project

The proiect pentru autorizarea amenajării is prepared by specialist technical teams, put together according to the nature of the works: architects, landscape architects or engineers, who adopt and sign it.

For works that consist only of green-space landscaping, the project may also be prepared exclusively by landscape architects, within the limits of the competence set by special laws.

What the proiect pentru autorizarea amenajării contains

Three main components: the site location plan, the site plan and the landscaping project.

The site location plan shows the position within the locality's urban planning documentation, to identify the applicable regulations and any easements or restrictions.

The site plan shows the existing structures and landscaping, the existing planting, the public utilities serving the land, the accesses and enclosures, and the boundary of the intervention area, and is accompanied by at least two relevant photographs.

The landscaping project consists of the technical memorandum and the drawings.

The technical memorandum covers:

• A description of the initial state of the land.
• A description of the works to be carried out, indicating the elements that are kept.
• The applicable technical solutions, construction materials and finishes, landscape and vegetation elements, and street furniture.
• Providing and arranging access.
• Providing parking spaces, where applicable.
• Fitting the property with utilities and lighting.
• Providing for separate waste collection.
• Managing relations with neighbouring properties, including enclosures.

The drawings cover:

• A topographic plan in the Stereographic 1970 projection system, showing the existing situation of the property and its neighbours, the existing structures and planting, with dimensions, at an appropriate scale.
• A topographic plan showing the proposed situation, with dimensions, indicating heights, the proposed landscaping and the vegetation kept or newly created.
• Sections showing the profile of the land. If the existing profile is changed, both the current and proposed situations are shown.
• Graphic and photographic documentation illustrating the proposed solution and how it fits with the neighbouring properties and the landscape.
• For green-space landscaping or work on trees: planting and felling plans.

Additional studies and approvals, depending on the project

The supplementary documentation is obtained by the applicant. Depending on the specifics of the works, the following may be required:

• A geotechnical study.
• A geotechnical expert report: mandatory if the excavation exceeds 6 m in depth from natural ground level, if the works are carried out on land that is difficult to found on, sloped or prone to landslides, or if they involve retaining walls higher than 3 m.
• A dendrological study: for green-space or planted landscaping, identifying any monumental trees.
• A topographic study, indicating underground and overhead utility networks, connection and service chambers, poles, enclosures, roads and paths.
• An authorisation for removing dendrological material, under the relevant special law.
• An approval from the Ministry of Culture or its deconcentrated services, for sites located in protected zones around historic monuments, protected built-up areas or archaeological sites.
• A schematic geotechnical or structural project, for land prone to landslides where retaining walls or embankment works are carried out.

Additional rules for campsites, holiday camps and event tents

The documentation is supplemented with a technical memorandum specifying the traffic layout, evacuation and access, the measures for limiting the visual impact of equipment and installations, ensuring it fits with the landscape, and the seasonal period of operation.

The memorandum also describes how environmental and sanitary rules are met, for situations where an environmental impact study or environmental agreement is not required.

Overall or sectional plans and images of the layout and organisation are added.

When the request can be rejected

The permit can be rejected, or a change to the solution and a reworking of the project can be requested, if, through the size or type of works proposed, or through their purpose, architecture, external appearance or siting, the landscaping breaches the approved urban planning regulations or the applicable legal rules.

If rejected, the town hall issues a reasoned administrative act setting out the grounds for rejection.

If only a change to the solution is requested, this is agreed together with the applicant and the designer, in a consultation session to which the town hall convenes them.