🗺️ Design rules for my area
The O.A.R. guide for Țara Făgărașului: roofs, pitches and fences
This is a translation. The Romanian version of the article is the reference text.
⚠️ These guides apply only to buildings in Romania. The laws, standards, deadlines, fees and values quoted (Law 169/2026, P 118, CR 1-1-3, the O.A.R. guides) are Romanian; in your own country other rules apply.
Țara Făgărașului (the Făgăraș Land) belongs administratively to Brașov and Sibiu counties. In Sibiu county, the guide covers the communes in the west of the area and the town of Avrig. For western villages with the character of Mărginimea Sibiului, the guide also refers to the guide for Mărginimea Sibiului.
ℹ️ About the source
This article summarises the design guide for fitting new buildings into the local character of rural areas – Țara Făgărașului, prepared by the Romanian Order of Architects (O.A.R.) and published on the O.A.R. website. The guides contain recommendations, not legal rules: whether they are binding depends on whether they were adopted into the local urban planning regulations (PUG) or required by a funding programme. We have not checked whether and where it was adopted; ask at the town hall.
Which places it covers
The guide applies to all villages of the following localities. Sibiu county: Arpașu de Jos, Cârța, Cârțișoara, Porumbacu de Jos, Racovița, Turnu Roșu and the town of Avrig, with its villages. Brașov county: Părău, Șinca Veche, Șinca Nouă, Hârseni, Recea, Lisa, Sâmbăta de Sus, Viștea de Jos, Drăguș and the towns of Făgăraș and Victoria. The guide notes that for villages in the west of the area with the characteristics of Mărginimea Sibiului, the guide for that area should also be consulted.
The roof
- as simple as possible, gabled with equal slopes, with horizontal eaves and ridges; shapes and pitches from other climate or geographic zones are not allowed;
- eaves as short as possible: 15-50 cm at the cornice and 2-20 cm where they meet the gable (the lower value for masonry or metal, the higher one for timber);
- a pitch of 45-60 degrees for ceramic roofing (beaver-tail tiles, clay barrel tiles) or timber roofing (shingles); if the neighbouring buildings are newer and have a lower pitch, the slope follows them;
- roofing of ceramic tiles, shingles or straw, keeping the local system of fixing the pieces;
- dormers on at most 15% of the roof slope, preferably facing the yard; balconies and terraces only within the roof volume;
- a setback of at least 20 cm between the main building and the annexes; annexes are no taller than the main building.
As negative examples, the guide shows roofs fully covered with photovoltaic panels, which end up replacing the roofing itself, and overly complicated roof volumes.
Fences
- towards the street: solid for buildings within the village core, semi-transparent outside it;
- towards neighbours: preferably semi-transparent, with privacy provided by a green fence or fruit shrubs; inside the plot, transparent;
- local natural materials: stone, timber, wattle, earth;
- the street fence is no higher than 2.00 m; no fences made of prefabricated metal panels, sheet metal, concrete, polycarbonate or plastic.
We did not find numerical values in the guide for plot coverage or eaves and ridge heights, unlike the newer guides.
Informational article summarising an O.A.R. guide. The values are the guide's recommendations for this area, not legal limits. It does not replace the local urban planning regulations, the specialist design or the required approvals, and it is not legal advice.
Do you have a plot in Țara Făgărașului or near Sibiu?
We check the local regulations and the applicable guide, at your address or remotely.
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