LIGJI NR. 2004/15 PËR NDËRTIMIN

This law sets out the purpose and scope of construction regulation in Kosovo.

This article sets the main requirements for design, construction, use of construction products, professional supervision, building permits, use permits, and construction inspection.

This article defines key construction terms used in the law.

Buildings and construction products must be used and managed so they do not endanger safety, public order, people, the environment, or nearby structures.

For implementing this law and rules based on it, the General Administrative Procedure Law applies unless otherwise provided.

Buildings must be designed and built so they can stand independently, and construction must not endanger nearby structures or the stability of adjacent ground.

Buildings must be designed to prevent fire and smoke spread, may not use easily ignitable materials, and certain buildings must have permanent lightning protection.

Buildings must be designed and built for their intended use and to avoid unreasonable risks and damage. Building products and equipment must be installed, connected, altered, and maintained to prevent risk or malfunction during use.

Building structures must be insulated for temperature, noise, and vibration control.

Rregulli për distancat mes objekteve duhet të respektohet, por nuk zbatohet kur ka plan urban rregullues të zbatueshëm me përcaktime për distancat.

Me mirëmbajtje të duhur, çdo objekt ndërtimor ose pjesë e tij duhet të plotësojë kërkesat e neneve 5–8 të ligjit.

For construction tied to buildings in a historic-cultural values register, an exemption from articles 5–9 may be allowed.

An administrative act is to set the technical specifications for building features covered by Articles 5–8, especially for use by persons with disabilities.

Construction products may be used only in construction and only if they meet recognized technical standards; the ministry also sets criteria, keeps a product list, and sets approval procedures for products not on the list.

Unusual construction techniques may be used only if general technical approval or approval for a specific case has been granted.

Construction works must be regulated and maintained so they do not create risks to public safety and order.

Construction work with public-space access requires the investor to apply for temporary use, and the investor must get the neighbor’s permission if the neighbor’s land will be used.

Kur ka leje ndërtimi, në vendndërtim duhet të vendoset dhe të ekspozohet një tabelë e miratuar; një investues fizik që ndërton shtëpinë e tij familjare duhet të paraqesë lejen e ndërtimit dhe lejet e tjera përkatëse.

Construction participants must review public-law requirements within their duties, and the designer, supervising engineer, and reviewer must have passed the professional exam.

People and legal entities may build and apply for a building permit in Kosovo, but investors must use qualified persons and meet permit-related requirements.

The designer must prepare the project with all required details, calculations, and instructions. If the designer lacks expertise in a specific field, qualified experts must be appointed, and the chief designer must coordinate all specialist designers.

The contractor/implementer must carry out the work safely and in line with the permit, keep required materials and quality proof available, and must not start work before the required project documents are on site.

The supervising engineer must oversee construction professionally, give necessary instructions, ensure safe technical operation and coordination, and inform the investor about defects or irregularities.

Investitori must engage a reviewer; qualified designers may do the reviewer’s work; the Ministry issues reviewer qualifications and authorization; and a reviewer must not review a project they helped prepare or that was prepared by their employer.

A project must be processed so that the object is built in line with this law’s requirements.

The preliminary project must include specified analyses and data about location, solution variants, natural conditions, environmental impacts, functionality, technical infrastructure, cultural-historical sites, and investment justification.

The conceptual project is technical documentation that must include the basic data needed for the main project, including location, environmental impacts, design and technical solutions, safety/stability assessment, infrastructure, historical-cultural data, technology schemes, estimated construction cost, transport, maintenance, and energy supply proposal.

A main project is a coordinated set of projects that provides the technical solution for a building or object, and it must be prepared according to the urban permit conditions; the construction permit is issued on that basis.

The execution project is used for constructing the building, and it sets out the detailed technical and implementation works for that building.

The construction project documentation must include all changes and additions made during the works.

The project must identify the object, include required project details, be prepared on suitable material that prevents alteration, and certain parties must retain copies.

The project reviewer must prepare a written report and certify the project parts reviewed. The reviewer may also ask for checks of completed project parts before certain construction work starts or at a later construction stage, and the Ministry sets the control rules by administrative act.

Projects made outside Kosovo must be nostrified, and the relevant report must be in the official language.

A building permit is issued for planned buildings or certain alterations only if all required rules and approvals are satisfied, including location requirements and any other required permits.

Komunat generally issue construction permits, except for cases listed in Article 35; if a project spans two or more municipalities, the municipality where the investor applied issues the permit and must coordinate with the other municipality. The relevant ministry handles permits for Article 35 projects.

This article lists categories of objects covered by the provision and says the Ministry may delegate permit powers to municipalities for those objects.

Komuna lëshon leje për ndërtim kur projekti është në përputhje me ligjin publik dhe planet e komunës, dhe investuesi duhet të paraqesë dokumentet e kërkuara për leje urbane.

To get a building permit, the request must be accompanied by complete technical documentation.

The investor must submit a written building-permit application to the commune and attach the required supporting documents.

This article sets deadlines and procedures for issuing, refusing, and using construction permits, and requires the investor to notify the competent authority before starting work or after a long interruption.

Fqinjët near a building permit process have rights to participate, inspect documents, and object within 2 weeks after viewing them.

Building permits are not required for the listed small or temporary structures, but some of them still need location consent or an ideational project.

Ministria may expand the list of objects that do not need a building permit by administrative act.

Investuesi duhet të sigurojë që një objekt ndërtimi pa leje të përmbushë kërkesat kryesore të ligjit dhe, për disa ndërtime, duhet t’i paraqesë komunës projektin ideor 30 ditë para fillimit të ndërtimit.

In special cases like destruction from natural disasters or war, destroyed buildings may be rebuilt without a new building permit if the earlier permit is followed.

An investor may be issued a construction permit for additions, extensions, or other forms of reconstruction to an existing building.

Before a complete building-permit application is filed, the investor may request a prior permit in writing from the competent authority.

Temporary auxiliary objects need a special permit when they affect health, traffic, circulation, or the environment.

A construction permit expires if work does not start within 2 years of issuance or if work stops for 1 year in a partial construction permit. The permit may be extended for 1 year, and the extension can be repeated, if a request is submitted and it matches the permit’s conditions.

A completed building may only be used after the work is properly finished, it is safe for use, and the competent body has issued the required permits.

The investor must submit the listed construction documents and completion materials; a natural person investing in a family house must submit a similar set of documents.

Article 46.2 applies to private objects up to 150 m² and to buildings that need location approval or an urban regulatory plan.

The investor must submit written materials to the authority that issued the building permit, within one week after completion. The investor must also submit the written decision, and pays the costs for issuing the use permit.

Rregullon regjistrimin e ndërtesave dhe objekteve ndërtimore në kadastër, përfshirë raste para lejes së përdorimit dhe njoftimin e inspektoratit.

Building use must match the building permit, and changes of use require new urban and building permits.

The owner, possessor, or user of a construction object must maintain it during its service life and protect basic building requirements, public order, and especially human life, health, and the environment.

Demolition generally requires a demolition permit, but some demolition cases do not need one. The competent building-permit authority also issues demolition permits.

The demolition permit holder must submit the listed documents, and the investor must file a written demolition-permit application with all necessary documentation to the municipality.

Construction inspections are carried out by the ministry’s construction inspectorate and municipal inspectors/chief inspectors; inspectors must be qualified and equipped.

Inspectors supervise construction-related work and the use of construction products; construction control bodies may use an independent qualified expert to help carry out their tasks.

The inspector may inspect buildings and enter properties during inspections, and participants in construction must assist the inspector. The inspector must also keep inspection records, and the Ministry may set record-keeping details.

The inspector may choose among the measures listed in Articles 62-63 and 70, and must use discretion when doing so.

The inspector must enforce construction rules and can order stoppages, bans, repairs, deadlines, emergency measures, and notice to the competent cultural authority in protected cases.

The inspector must order construction to stop in listed situations and may take urgent site-safety measures.

Inspektori must order removal or restoration of a building when no other means can secure compliance; in certain cases, he may also order safety measures and must first order fencing of the construction site.

Nëse investitori, pronari i objektit ose pronari i ndërtesës banesore nuk zbaton vendimin e inspektorit, organi i inspektimit ndërtimor mund të vendosë gjobë ose ta zbatojë vendimin në emër dhe për llogari të tyre.

The inspectorate may allow postponement of execution of a decision in certain investor-related cases, and if the investor does not obtain the required permit(s) within 1 year, execution continues.

A decision cannot be executed after 10 years have passed from the inspection decision date or from when it was communicated to the party.

Inspectors must show authorization and identify themselves on request; inspector decisions must be written and notified; the Ministry may set payment details for administrative penalties.

A person affected by an inspectorate decision or measure may ask the Ministry to review its legality within one month of notice.

Ky nen parashikon gjoba administrative për persona fizikë dhe juridikë që veprojnë në kundërshtim me këtë ligj ose aktet e nxjerra prej tij.

Payments arising from applying this law are paid into the Consolidated Budget of Kosovo.

The Ministry must issue all administrative acts within 18 months, municipalities must adapt their activities within 6 months, and the Ministry must license qualified architects and civil engineers within 8 months. Construction started before the law continues under the old rules, while construction begun without a permit after the law starts is stopped.

This provision says the law applies throughout Kosovo and that central and local authorities enforce it with police assistance.

After this law enters into force, the previous law on investment buildings and any conflicting provisions stop being valid.

This article says the law enters into force after approval by the Kosovo Assembly and on the day it is promulgated by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General.