Checking the Building Permit and PUZ Before Buying a Home in Romania: What Will Be Built Around You and How to Find Out

Most buyers check the house itself: rooms, materials, price. But the value of a home, and especially of a home with a view or in a quiet neighbourhood, depends no less on what may be built on the surrounding plots. In Romania the answer to this question is not held by the broker. It is found in official planning documents, most of which are open to the public.

This guide deals with the check from the buyer's side: how to verify that a project has a valid permit, and how to understand what is likely to be built next to it. We have written separate guides on the planning route from the developer's side and on acquiring land for development.

1What changed in Romanian planning law in 2026?

Romania has moved to a new planning code. The Code of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and Construction, Law 169/2026, was published in the Monitorul Oficial (Romania's official gazette), issue 661 of 10 August 2026, and entered into force on 25 August 2026.

The code repealed the two laws on which the field had been based for about thirty years: Law 50/1991 on building permits and Law 350/2001 on spatial planning and urbanism. The practical meaning: a checklist, guide or legal opinion written before August 2026 may rely on time limits and procedures that are no longer in force. When someone advises you on a project in Romania, ask under which law they are checking.

2Which documents show what may be built on a plot in Romania?

There are three levels: the plans, the urban planning certificate and the permit. Each answers a different question, and it is important not to confuse them.

The definitions and time limits in the table appear in Articles 253, 254, 257 and 309 of the code. One point requires particular attention: under Article 309 a building permit cannot be extended before works have started. If building has not started within three years, the permit lapses.

A common mistake is to present an urban planning certificate as an "approval". An urban planning certificate describes the planning regime and the required approvals. It does not permit anything to be built. Only a building permit does that.

3What are PUG, PUZ and PUD, and what do POT and CUT mean?

• PUG (Plan Urbanistic General): the general plan of the locality. It determines which areas are designated for housing, commerce or green space, and the boundary of the built-up area (intravilan, the area within the building perimeter).
• PUZ (Plan Urbanistic Zonal): a plan for a defined area that details the PUG rules and may also change them. Under Article 66 of the new code, where the PUZ is intended to change existing rules, POT and CUT may be increased by no more than 20%, and in protected areas by 10%.
• PUD: in the new code it is defined as a "detailed urban project", a tool that operates at the level of the individual plot.

POT is the percentage of the plot area that may be covered by construction. CUT is the ratio between the total built area on all floors and the plot area. These two numbers are the key to the question of what will rise opposite you: an empty plot in an area with a high CUT can carry a building far larger than what is visible from the window.

4How do you check what may be built on the plot opposite?

This can be checked without being the owner of the plot. This is the order we recommend:

1. Identify the plot. The cadastral number appears in the land book extract (Extract CF). With it, locate the plot on the geoportal of ANCPI, the National Agency for Cadastre and Land Registration.
2. Check the PUG. Many authorities publish it on an online map. At the local authority of Balotești, for example, the GIS portal displays the general plan, and notices of intention to prepare a new PUZ are published on the authority's website.
3. Apply for an urban planning certificate for information. Under Article 254, any person or company may request it, and the content is identical for all applicants. Attach the cadastral number, or a location plan if the plot is not registered. The certificate is issued within 10 working days, and within 5 days at an authority that has a computerised system.
4. Go through the permit lists. Under Article 314, the authority updates the list of urban planning certificates on its website every month. Within 30 days of issuing a building permit it publishes its details: number, POT and CUT, distances from the plot boundaries, areas, height, site plan and elevations.
5. Look on the ground. Before works begin, the developer must register the permit in the land book, publish it in a newspaper and place an identification sign on the site. An active construction site without a sign is a reason to ask questions.

The question worth asking is not "will something be built next to the house", but "what does the plan permit to be built there". The second question can be answered in writing. In an area where the PUG permits only low private houses with a low POT, even if the plot opposite is built on, a similar house is likely to rise on it. In an area with high building rights, your view is not protected. In addition, the new ceiling in Article 66 limits the ability to increase building rights through a PUZ.

5Buying an apartment or house off-plan: what should you demand from the developer?

In a project that has not yet been built there are two separate questions: whether the project itself is lawful, and what will rise around it. For the first question, these are the documents worth requesting before signing any contract:

• The building permit with all its annexes, including the site plan. Compare the number of floors and the areas with what appears in the marketing presentation.
• The notice of commencement of works. The execution period is measured from it, and it determines whether the permit is still valid.
• The 10-year liability insurance policy. Under Article 556, developers and contractors must carry civil liability insurance for damage discovered in the ten years following acceptance, and must present it as early as the start of construction.
• The acceptance report on completion of works (recepție la terminarea lucrărilor), when construction is completed. Under Article 280, construction that has not passed acceptance is not considered complete, and construction that deviated from the permit cannot pass acceptance. A representative of the authority that issued the permit takes part in the acceptance, and it is this document that opens the way to registering the home in your name.

6How is this similar to the Israeli "information file" (tik meida), and how does it differ?

Anyone who has built or renovated in Israel knows the idea of obtaining planning information from the local committee before a permit. In Romania the logic is similar, with two differences in the buyer's favour: the urban planning certificate for information is open to any person and not only to the owner of the property, and the code requires the details of permits granted to be published. The difference to the buyer's disadvantage is the language: a large part of the documents is available only in Romanian, and at some authorities the maps are not up to date.

Therefore the reading of the plans and the applications to the authority are best done with a lawyer or architect licensed in Romania. Actions under local law, such as official applications, land book checks and signing contracts, are carried out by locally licensed lawyers and notaries.

7What should you do before signing?

Before a contract, and certainly before paying an advance, it is advisable to have four things in hand: a current urban planning certificate for the plot and the adjoining plots, a copy of the permit with its annexes, confirmation that works started within the permit period, and a written answer from the developer on the insurance and the acceptance date. We accompany Israeli buyers in this check together with local lawyers and architects, and translate the findings into concrete questions before signing.

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The information in this guide is general in nature and does not constitute legal or tax advice on any specific transaction. Every transaction is assessed on its own facts.