Information for foreign nationals who want to build in Serbia.

Laws and Rulebooks

The construction industry is covered by a series of laws and regulations that describe in detail the process of obtaining a building permit, the necessary contents and formats of projects, the organization of construction, as well as design standards and necessary housing conditions, etc.

Currently applicable:

The Law on Planning na Construction

Zakon o planiranju i izgradnji

Rulebook on the content, method and procedure of preparation and the method of control of technical documentation according to the class and purpose of the object

Pravilnik o sadržini, načinu i postupku izrade i načinu vršenja kontrole tehničke dokumentacije prema klasi i nameni objekta

Rulebook on Classification of Buildings

Pravilnik o klasifikaciji objekata

Categories and mandatory projects

According to the Rulebook on Classification of Buildings, buildings are divided into 4 categories according to type, purpose, area and number of floors.

For each category, there is a specified procedure for issuing an approval or building permit, i.e. what is the content of the project for each category of building.

The category of the building and the content of the project dictate the price and time required for the development of the project.

These are only some excerpts from the Regulations: (Po=basement, P=ground floor, 1=floor, Pk=attic, Ps=retracted floor):

Category A - "undemanding buildings"

… Detached houses for living or temporary stay: houses, villas, summer houses… up to 400 m2 and P+1+Pk (Ps)

… Residential buildings with two apartments… up to 400 m2 and P+1+Pk (Ps)

… Residential buildings with three apartments… up to 400 m2 and P+1+Pk (Ps)

… Bicycle storages

… Permanently covered outdoor warehouses… up to 1500 m2

… Garages, hangars, agricultural outbuildings… up to 600 m2

Category B - "less demanding buildings"

… Detached houses for living or temporary stay: houses, villas, summer houses… up to 2000 m2 and P+4+Pk (Ps)

…Residential buildings with two apartments… up to 2000 m2 and P+4+Pk (Ps)

… Residential buildings with three or more apartments… up to 2000 m2 and P+4+Pk (Ps)

… Housing in dormitories (home for the elderly, student residence…)… up to 400 m2 and P+2

… Hotels… up to 400 m2 and P+2

… Restaurants… up to 400 m2 and P+2

… Business and administrative buildings… up to 400 m2 and P+2

… Shopping centers, department stores… up to 400 m2 and P+2

… Industrial buildings, covered (workshops, slaughterhouses, breweries…)… up to 400 m2

… Closed warehouses (on at least three sides)… up to 1500 m2 and P+1

… Agricultural buildings (stables, stables…)… up to 4000 m2 and up to a height of 25m

… Garages, hangars, agricultural outbuildings… up to 4000 m2 and up to a height of 25m

Category G - "engineering facilities"

…Military, sports, spectacle facilities, infrastructural, engineering, industrial facilities.

Category V - "demanding buildings"

… Buildings that fall into uses that are not mentioned in the previous three categories.

… Facilities with larger capacities than the capacities specified for category B (if two conditions are specified, it is sufficient that the capacity exceeds one condition).

Content of the Project for a building permit according to the category of the building

"A" category building

1 – Architecture project with a statement from the responsible designer that the building has the appropriate load-bearing              capacity

… Energy efficiency analysis

"B" category building

1 – Architecture project (with technical descriptions of all installations)

2 – Construction project

… Energy efficiency analysis

"V" category building: (the project does not have to contain all stated)

1 – Architecture 

2 – Construction 

3 – Hydrotechnical projects (water supply, sewage system, sprinkler system, hydrant network) 

4 – Electro installation projects 

5 – Projects of telecommunication and signaling installations (surveillance, alarms, fire alarms, carbon monoxide detection, computer networks…) 

6 – HVAC and mechanical projects (heating, ventilation, air conditioning, smoke extraction, elevators) 

7 – Technology (kitchen, swimming pool) 

8 – Traffic and traffic signals 

9 – Exterior decoration, landscape architecture 

10 – Preparatory works (project of building demolition, project of securing the foundation pit…) 

… Energy efficiency analysis 

… Fire protection analysis 

… Geomechanics survey

Agreement with the architect

Before reaching a final agreement on the scope of the work and the price of the project, it is necessary to agree on all the details with the architect.

On the following link you can see the prices of the S’City studio’s architectural services.

Architectural services