Legalization – what it is and how to do it

Illegal construction is any illegal, non-compliant or dangerous construction. The legalization procedure is carried out for each already built facility for which a building permit was not priorly required or was built contrary to its conditions.

With the legalization procedure, the facility obtains a building and use permit without which it is no longer possible to obtain a loan at the bank today, so legalization has been one of the most common administrative procedures since the adoption of new legislation in June 2018.

The new Construction Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, Nos. 61/17, 72/17 – amended, 65/20 and 15/21 – ZDUOP) defines the possibilities of legalization between Articles 113-118. procedures that have their own mandatory contents and are divided according to the time of the performed illegal construction.

TYPE 1: “APPLICABLE AUTHORIZATION FOR FACILITIES WITH PERMISSIBLE DEVIATION FROM DG”

In the event that a building that was built inconsistently with the building permit before 17 November 2017 does not have a usable permit, it can be obtained under Article 113 of the Civil Code. It is important that deviations from the building permit are permissible under Article 66; this means that the building in question does not interfere with another land, does not change the change of purpose, is in accordance with spatial acts, and the change does not affect the issued opinion of opinion givers and individual dimensions of the building do not increase by 0.30 m. The documentation for obtaining a use permit is prepared on the basis of acts that were valid at the time of construction or those that are valid at the time of issuing the use permit. The facility is not illegal or non-compliant after receiving a use permit and can be used.

TYPE 2: “NEW ILLEGAL CONSTRUCTION” – BETWEEN 1998 AND 2017 – ARTICLE 114

(the most comprehensive procedure)

In the event that the building was built to the roof before 17.11.2017 (but not before 1998) without a permit or. in contrast, such an object may be legalized under Article 114. This procedure is similar to obtaining a building permit for new construction. It is necessary to prepare a snapshot of the existing situation with photographs and technical drawings, make a geodetic plan and study for entry into the cadastre of buildings, obtain the opinions of competent opinion leaders and fill out some administrative and technical documentation and other forms for legalization. The administrative unit issues a decision on legalization in the event that compensation is paid for the degradation and usurpation of space and the municipal contribution. In addition, the building must comply with the current applicable spatial regulations or those in force at the time of construction.

When it is not possible to harmonize the facilities with spatial acts or renovate them in such a way that it meets the construction technical conditions, we can use location checks, according to which the municipality can grant individual deviations from spatial planning documents and thus approve the desired legalization. But such a process can take several years, and its success cannot always be guaranteed.

TYPE 3: “FACILITIES OF LONG EXISTENCE” – BETWEEN 1968 AND 1998 – ARTICLE 117

(medium-term procedure)

The second type of legalization, defined by Article 117 of the Civil Code, applies to facilities that were built before 1.1.1998 and are referred to as facilities of longer existence.

It is important to note that for long-term buildings, only those buildings are taken into account that has not changed in any way after 31 December 1998 in terms of their size (width, height), shape (roof slope), and/or purpose (garage-apartment). This legalization does not check compliance with spatial acts, so this type of legalization is much easier than the first. It is necessary to prepare a snapshot, prove that the building was built before 1.1.1998, and register it in the building cadastre.

However, we do not avoid the obligatory administrative fees, which include the payment of the municipal contribution and compensation for the degradation and usurpation of space.

TYPE 4: “FACILITIES WITH A CONCERN OF CONFORMITY” – before 1968 I – ARTICLE 118

However, if it is possible to prove that the building was built before 31 December 1967 and has not changed in any way after 31 December 1967 in its scope (width, height), shape (roof slope), and/or purpose (garage-apartment) – for which the necessary state proof is obtained from the Surveying and Mapping Institute of Slovenia, the building is merely registered in the land cadastre and a simple application form is issued for a decision on the allegedly issued building and use permit and submitted to the competent administrative unit.

However, it should be noted that not all facilities can be legalized. The facilities may be in conflict with various municipal spatial acts, which can be found in the location information, in areas where the construction is not allowed or the legalization is justifiably opposed by a potential side participant. Unfortunately, the legalization of the building is not possible in these cases.

Each legalization is unique and in order not to be a downer, it should be added that a lot can be done with the cooperation of experts.