⚖️ What changed in the law
Law 50/1991 and the 2026 Code (Law 169/2026): what changed, in one table
📅 ✍️ Eng. Ursac Andrei Daniel
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.
For more than 30 years, permits for construction works in Romania were based on Law no. 50/1991. Since August 2026 it has been replaced by Law no. 169/2026, the Code of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and Construction. The table below puts the rules side by side, with the article in each act. The old text is the one consolidated on 30 January 2020; the new one is the one in Official Gazette no. 661/10.08.2026.
⚠️ Law 50/1991 is no longer in force
The old text appears here only for comparison, to show what has changed. The rules that apply today are those of Law 169/2026. The Code provides a transitional regime for urban planning documents started earlier (art. 582 para. 1) and keeps issued urban planning certificates valid (para. 4).
Comparison table
| Aspect | Law 50/1991 (repealed, for comparison only) | Law 169/2026 (the Code) |
|---|---|---|
| Status of the act | Repealed by the 2026 Code (art. 576 para. 3 of Law 169/2026). | In force 15 days after publication in Official Gazette no. 661/10.08.2026 (art. 575). |
| Urban planning certificate | An information document, issued within at most 15 working days of registering the application (art. 6). | Several types, with their own deadlines: 5 or 10 working days for information, 10 for cadastral, 15 for construction; valid between 12 and 36 months, extendable by up to 24 months (art. 253-258). |
| Deadline for the building permit | At most 30 days from filing the documents; 15 days for annexes of agricultural holdings; emergency procedure of up to 7 working days, for a fee (art. 7). | 30 calendar days; emergency procedure of up to 7 working days, for a special fee (art. 273). |
| Validity of the permit | Valid for at most 24 months, during which the works must start (art. 7 para. 5); extension once only, up to 12 months, for a fee of 30% of the initial fee (art. 7 para. 7 and 19). | Valid for 3 years from issue; extending this term is prohibited (art. 309 para. 5). The construction period can be extended once, by at most 12 months, for a 30% fee (art. 310 para. 5); suspension is possible once, for at most 12 months (art. 309 para. 4). |
| Small works and annexes | Only small works, mainly repairs and finishes, plus demountable non-structural partitions, could be done without a permit (art. 11). Household annexes were temporary buildings that required a permit, based on simplified technical documents (art. 3 para. 1 letter h and para. 2). | Simplified notification, with tacit approval after 15 working days (art. 295-296), for annexes outside the home (garages, covered terraces, pergolas, summer kitchens, pools and similar) up to 50 sqm in total, in the rural built-up area, except localities in metropolitan areas; or for a single single-family home of up to 150 sqm, ground floor or semi-basement and ground floor, without a basement, only to a standard design or a design approved by the county chief architect (art. 294). No formalities: rural annexes up to 20 sqm, 2.5 m, without foundations, demountable (art. 299). |
| Approvals and one-stop shop | Approvals are obtained directly by the applicant or through the Single Agreement Commission, mandatory at county level and in county seat municipalities (art. 45 para. 11-13). | The Single Agreement Commission is mandatory at county, municipal and Bucharest sector level, optional elsewhere (art. 305). The National One-Stop Shop is introduced in stages, over 5 years from publication (art. 139 para. 8). |
| Classification of buildings | Importance categories and the notion of “buildings of low importance” (annex 2). | Consequence classes CC1-CC4 (art. 370 para. 5) and design check levels (art. 440-444). |
| Fine for works without a permit | From 1,000 to 100,000 lei for works without a permit; 5,000-20,000 lei for breaching the permit; no warning; amount updated yearly by government decision (art. 26 para. 2, 3 and 6). | From 50,000 to 1,000,000 lei, both for works without a permit and for breaching it; in addition, 50,000-500,000 lei for each storey built above the permitted height (art. 357 para. 4 letter b and para. 5). |
| Failure to notify the start of works | 1,000 lei (art. 26 para. 2 letter g). | 2,000 lei (art. 357). |
| Contribution for state control (State Construction Inspectorate) | 0.1% of the value of the permitted works (art. 30). | The 0.1% contribution is kept (art. 143 para. 4). Separately, art. 352 provides a contribution of 0.5% of the value of the works excluding VAT, paid to the State Construction Inspectorate. |
| Limitation periods | The right to establish the offence and apply the fine is time-barred after 3 years (art. 31). | Action for demolition or regularisation is time-barred 10 years after the works were actually completed (art. 357 para. 11). For applying fines, art. 357 sets no limitation period. |
| Legalising a building | After the sanctions are time-barred: a certificate attesting construction, based on a technical expert report and cadastral documents (art. 37 para. 6). Otherwise, the authority or the court decides whether to keep or demolish it (art. 28). | Regularisation permit (art. 301), with cumulative conditions and expert reports. Urban planning documents made only for legalisation are prohibited (art. 146 para. 2). The certificate attesting construction appears only among the duties of the authorities (art. 120-121), with no procedure. |
| Demolition | If the measures in the inspection report are not taken, the inspection body refers the matter to the court; the measures are carried out by the mayor, at the expense of those responsible (art. 32). | The same mechanism through the court (art. 358 para. 3-5). After the regularisation window, the mayor asks the court for demolition within 30 days of the deadline (art. 301 para. 12-13), and the ruling is enforceable (para. 15). |
| Criminal liability | Imprisonment from 3 months to one year or a fine: works without a permit on monuments, infrastructure, drilling and camps; continuing works after they were stopped (art. 24). | The same penalty for works without a permit on monuments, in their protection zones and in protected built-up areas, for continuing works after they were stopped and for breaking seals (art. 356). Infrastructure, drilling and camps are now administrative offences (art. 357 para. 2). Intentionally initiating legalisation documents is a criminal offence (art. 145 letter b). |
| Files in progress | - | Procedures for urban planning documents started earlier remain under the old law (art. 582 para. 1); issued urban planning certificates remain valid (para. 4). For permit applications already filed, the Code has no express rule. |
The fines in Law 50/1991 are those in the text consolidated on 30 January 2020; art. 26 para. 3 provided for their yearly update by government decision, so the amounts actually applied in recent years may differ.
What essentially stays the same
- the building permit remains the final act that allows works to start;
- the standard 30-day deadline for issuing it;
- the emergency procedure of up to 7 working days, for a fee;
- the 30% fee for the extension (now, of the construction period);
- the penalty of 3 months to one year for continuing works after the inspection bodies ordered them to stop.
What matters most in practice
- Sanctions rise sharply: the minimum fine for works without a permit goes up from 1,000 to 50,000 lei. Details in the article on regularisation and fines.
- Legalisation changes: the Code provides the regularisation permit and does not describe the procedure for the certificate attesting construction (only mentioned in art. 120-121); in the first year after entry into force, fees ten times higher apply to the categories added by exception.
- Small works are simpler: small rural annexes can go ahead with a notification or even with no formalities.
- Issued urban planning certificates remain valid (art. 582 para. 4); for permit applications already filed, check with the town hall which regime applies.
Informational article based on the text of Law 50/1991 (as consolidated on 30 January 2020) and Law 169/2026 (Official Gazette no. 661/10.08.2026). The table summarises and does not replace the official texts, and other acts may supplement the rules. It is not legal advice; for your case, consult a specialist and the town hall.
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