Any person who proposes to construct a building shall submit an Application for a permit to build. The owner, or an authorized agent acting on the owner’s behalf, shall submit to the office of the Central Building Authority the following documents/drawings:
- 1.An Application for Review submitted from the website for respective Building works such as Buildings, Fence/Pool/Piers, Towers/Towers Base, Retaining Walls, Demolition. To access the relevant forms, please click here.
- 2.A valid copy of an Identification (Social Security or Passport) for confirmation of Authorized Agent.
- 3.Proof of Payment of Application Fee must be presented in order for an Application to be submitted. Application fee payment is calculated in accordance to the Statutory Instrument 96 of 2011
- 4.Upon payment a Receipt is issued highlighting Agent name and Project Number.
- 5.A digital copy in Portable Digital Format (pdf) format of complete sets of Architectural and Structural Plans. The minimum paper size on which drawings are accepted is 11” x 17” (Tabloid).
- 6. A Digital copy of an approved Electrical design by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC)
- 7.An Architect and/or an Engineer, or a Technician must accept responsibility for ALL projects submitted for review. Therefore, any buildings less than one thousand (1,000) sq. ft., must be accompanied by a letter from the Technician of Record accepting liability for the drawings. EXCEPTION: Depending on the complexity and use of the building, the CBA reserves the right to require that plans and specifications for certain buildings less than one thousand (1,000) sq. ft. be prepared, designed, and accompanied by a signed letter by an architect who is a corporate member of the Association of Professional Architects of Belize (APAB), and/or a civil or structural engineer who is a corporate member of the Association of Professional Engineers of Belize (APEB) in lieu of stamping. For buildings between one thousand (1,000) sq. ft. and three thousand (3,000) sq. ft and up to two (2) storeys; the CBA requires that plans and specifications be prepared, designed, and accompanied by a signed letter by an architect who is a corporate member of the Association of Professional Architects of Belize (APAB), and/or a civil or structural engineer who is a corporate member of the Association of Professional Engineers of Belize (APEB) in lieu of stamping. For all public buildings, regardless of the size, and/or all buildings over three thousand (3,000) sq. ft and/or more than two (2) storeys, the CBA requires that plans and specifications should be prepared, designed, and accompanied by a signed letter by an architect who is a corporate member of the Association of Professional Architects of Belize (APAB), and/or a civil or structural engineer who is a corporate member of the Association of Professional Engineers of Belize (APEB) in lieu of stamping.
- 8.A scanned copy of their Land Document (Deed, Conveyance, Purchase Agreement, Notarized Letter, other)
- Where Applicable: A Fire Plan for buildings accessed by the Public, including but not limited to evacuation route, emergency lights, fire extinguishers, etc. Clearance Letters from the relevant Authority/ Government Department where applicable
The Director of Building Control or Technical manager shall:
- within fourteen days (14) in the case of buildings of 5,000 square feet or less, respond to the applicant in writing either by issuing a permit or refusing the application.
- within thirty days (30) in the case of buildings of over 5,000 square feet, respond to the applicant in writing, either by issuing a permit or refusing the application.
- within thirty days (30) or such other period as may be specified in Regulations made for that purpose, in the case of public buildings.
When the owner/ agent submits his documents/drawings for review the following occurs:
- The drawings/documents are received by email and All accompanied documents are prepared and filed with relevant Project Number in Digital System and Physical File. The project is assigned a project number in relation to its numerical position of the entry. All Documents submitted are labeled with assigned Project Number.
- The project is also logged into the Approved Plans Register Log Book and the Digital Log.
- The assigned Inspector who is assigned to carry review is then notified of submittal. The review will be conducted within timeframe specified by the Belize Building Act, Chapter 131, Revised Edition 2020 using a Plan Review Checklist as a review guide before conducting a detailed review of the documents/drawings submitted. Upon review the information on Status Sheet is also verified and added on.
- After each Review carried out by an Inspector A review is carried out with the Director so as to prepare Review Letter or preparation for Approval.
- After the review by Inspector and Director is completed and the project does not fulfill the requirements, a letter is prepared and a copy is sent via email to the owner/authorized agent. The letter will list the issues that need to be addressed before the process can be completed.
- After letter is sent it is required that a Resubmittal be in the done with a complete sets of Architectural and Structural plans in Portable Digital Format or any Suitable Digital Format clearly labeled 2nd Submittal.
- If after a resubmission and Review by Inspector and subsequently Director all requirements are not met, another letter will be sent via email to the owner/authorized agent informing them about the pending issues. If all issues are not satisfactorily addressed by the third ( 3 r d ) submission, then the entire application process will have to be restarted including the payment of the application fee.
- However, if all requirements are satisfied upon review by Inspector with the Director the project is approved.
- All Files and Relevant documents are overlaid with a Digital Signature from Both Inspector and Director.
- The owner/authorized agent is notified and the Permit Fees are calculated according to the Statutory Instrument No. 158 of 2022. The owner/authorized agent will then pay the permit fees and shall present proof of payment, at which time a receipt is issued.
- The Inspector assigned to the project prepares the permits and relevant documents for Administrator to process Digital Approval Stamp and QR code.
- There are three forms to be filled out for the permit.
- The No Objection to Proposed Development which is prepared with the corresponding project number and dates and then signed by the Director.
- The Application for Permit to Commence Building Works which is to be filled out by the owner/authorized agent providing the date of when the construction will start and when personnel from the Building Unit can conduct the first inspection.
- Subsequently, the Permit To Commence Building Works is filled out with the Project name and Project number and then signed by the Director.
- Despite the Digital transition the owner/authorized agent are reminded that an approved set of drawings must always remain on site to enable the Building Unit to conduct at minimal a first inspection (setting out), two random inspections.
- An Application to use and Occupy will be issued and within 7 days of completion of Structure for the final Occupancy inspection to be conducted and an Occupancy Certificate be issued.
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