In brief
- From 26 August, the application for an urban planning certificate, the application for a building permit and the notification of works are all filed on new standard forms, the same across the whole country: 36 templates, grouped in four annexes.
- Every form carries a unique code and a version number printed on each page, and any change to a template moves the version up. All of them start at version 1.0.
- Paper remains valid. Town halls and county councils have until 30 December 2026 to adapt their online filing platforms.
Published: Official Gazette of Romania (Monitorul Oficial) no. 711 of 26 August 2026
In force from: 26 August 2026
Anyone filing a building permit application from now on fills in a standard form that is identical in every town hall in the country, with a code and a version printed on each page. Order no. 975/2026 of the Minister of Development, Public Works and Administration, published in Official Gazette of Romania no. 711 of 26 August 2026, approves 36 form templates for the urban planning certificate, for permitting and for notification. It is the implementing step of the new Code of spatial planning, urbanism and construction, which entered into force one day earlier, on 25 August.
The forms sit in annexes nos. 1 to 4, published separately, in Official Gazette of Romania no. 711 bis, across 62 pages. The Order splits them by the four moments of the procedure: the urban planning certificate, the permitting stage itself, the notification procedure and the related forms, namely the site board, the drawing title block, the official reports on the finding and sanctioning of administrative offences and the siting permit.
The legal basis is twofold. On one side, Articles 262 and 578(2) of Law no. 169/2026. On the other, an obligation under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, component 10, Local Fund, milestone 315, reform 5, on developing the planning system.
On 28 August 2026 the same ministry also published the full procedure for urban planning documentation: Order no. 1,022/2026 brings eight annexes over 407 pages and replaces the stack of separate approvals with a single integrated approval.
What it changes in practice
The first effect is standardisation. From 26 August, the 36 templates become mandatory and are applied uniformly by all public administration authorities. A file submitted in Bistrița and one submitted in Craiova now start from the same boxes.
The second effect is version traceability. Every form carries a unique code, of the F_CU_01 or F_A_04 type, and a version number, written on each page. Any change to a template triggers an update of the version, so it can be said exactly which form of the document an application was filed on.
The third effect concerns paper. The forms may be used both physically and digitally, and those completed on paper or sent electronically will be considered fully valid and will be processed as a matter of obligation, until the technical integration into the town halls’ IT systems is complete. Refusing a file on the ground that it was not submitted online has no support in the Order.
The fourth effect is a deadline for the administration. Local public administration authorities must update their IT platforms and filing interfaces by 30 December 2026 at the latest.
The fifth effect is the link with the National Register of Constructions, provided for in Article 415 of the Code. The identification fields in the forms are to feed the register automatically, and the technical specifications are published at registrulcladirilor.gov.ro, with the date and version number of each publication and with at least 30 days’ notice for incompatible changes.
The sixth effect is the protection of files already submitted. Applications filed before the Order entered into force are settled on the basis of the forms valid on the date of filing, so nobody has to redo a file already in progress.
The seventh effect reaches the building sites. The investment identification board, form F_02, has a minimum size of 60 by 90 centimetres and letters of at least 5 centimetres for the title, is placed where it is visible from the public road for the entire duration of the works and contains the identifier from the National Register of Constructions, the design team, the contractor and the site supervisor, with contact details.
What has changed compared with the previous situation
The first change is where the forms come from. Until now, the templates came from the methodological norms implementing Law no. 50/1991, repealed on 25 August when the Code entered into force. Order no. 975/2026 is the first set of forms built directly on the new Code, and the references in the heading of each application are to Law no. 169/2026.
The second change is the appearance of forms that did not exist as national templates. The modification permit, with application F_AM_01 and permit F_AM_02, and the regularisation permit, with F_AR_01 and F_AR_02, are new regimes introduced by the Code and now receive standard forms of their own.
The third change is the notification procedure, which gains a complete chain of seven forms: the notification, the registration confirmation, the request for clarification, the information that the works do need a permit after all, the reasoned refusal, the extract or the proof, and the notice that the works have been completed.
The fourth change is the declaration on own responsibility for approvals deemed granted by default, form F_A_03. The beneficiary declares that no request for clarification was received and that the approval was not issued within the deadline, and the approvals for which default approval is invoked are listed in a box of their own.
The fifth change is the separation of notices by recipient. The start and the end of the works are announced through distinct forms, F_A_08 and F_A_10 to the issuing authority, F_A_09 and F_A_11 to the territorial construction inspectorate, the local arm of the State Construction Inspectorate (ISC), the last of them also stating the actual value of the works carried out.
The sixth change is the siting permit, with forms F_05 and F_06, built on Article 300 of the Code for bicycle and scooter racks, charging stations for electric vehicles, air quality measuring points, pre-collection systems for recyclable waste or road signage elements.
What does not change is the competent authority. Applications still go to the mayor of the commune, town or municipality, to the district mayor, to the general mayor or to the president of the county council, as the case may be.
Advantages and disadvantages
What it improves
- A single set of forms for the whole country, so a file prepared in one county no longer has to be redone in another.
- The code and the version printed on each page show exactly which form of the document was used, which helps in any challenge.
- Paper remains valid and must be processed, so the absence of an online platform does not block filing.
- Files already in progress are not redone, because they are settled on the forms valid on the date of filing.
- Incompatible changes to the fields come with at least 30 days’ notice, so designers and software developers have time to adapt.
- The site board has fixed dimensions and content, so anyone can check from the street who is carrying out the works and on what basis.
What remains a problem
- The forms arrive one day after the Code entered into force, so on 25 August the new regime was running without its own standard documents.
- The annexes are published only in the bis edition, which the issuer does not distribute electronically but sells through the Public Relations Centre.
- The Order does not expressly repeal the earlier templates, it removes them indirectly, by declaring the new ones mandatory.
- The reference in the notification form to the legal basis for handover indicates a law that is not the Code, which can mislead the beneficiary.
- The stamp templates carry the printed names of real authorities from a single county, with no mention that these are only examples.
- The 30 December 2026 deadline covers only the platforms, not the training of the staff who operate them.
Practical advice
- If you have a file submitted before 26 August, do not redo it. It is settled on the forms valid on the date of filing, under Article 3(3) of the Order.
- Before filling anything in, check the code and the version in the corner of the form. What is filed has to be the published version, and right now they are all at 1.0.
- Pick the right type of urban planning certificate: F_CU_01 for information, F_CU_02 for cadastral operations, F_CU_03 for an extension, F_CU_04 for building or demolition.
- If the town hall refuses a paper file on the ground that it was not submitted online, point to Article 2(2) of the Order: paper forms are fully valid and must be processed.
- When you rely on an approval deemed granted by default, use form F_A_03 and list exactly which approvals are covered. The declaration is given on your own responsibility.
- Announce the start of the works twice, on different forms: F_A_08 to the authority that issued the permit and F_A_09 to the territorial construction inspectorate (ISC).
- Order the site board to the dimensions in F_02, at least 60 by 90 centimetres, with letters of at least 5 centimetres for the title. Its absence from a visible spot is an administrative offence.
- If you are installing a bicycle rack, a charging station or a waste collection point, apply for a siting permit with F_05, not for a building permit.
Frequently asked questions
From when are the new forms mandatory?
How many forms are there and how are they split?
Can I still file the application on paper?
What happens to an application filed before 26 August?
Where do I find the forms?
What does the version number on the form mean?
By when do town halls have to adapt their platforms?
How do the forms connect to the National Register of Constructions?
Errors and inconsistencies in the published text
- Annex no. 3, form F_NOT_01, section 7 „Obligations”. The obligation to hold the handover inspection on completion of the works is based on „Article 298(6) of Law no. 196/2026”. The Code that was approved is Law no. 169/2026, cited correctly two lines above, in the same section, at Article 298(5), and throughout the rest of the Order. The beneficiary who fills in the notification is sent, for the obligation to hold the handover inspection and to register the report, to an act that is not the Code.
- Annex no. 3, form F_NOT_01, the numbering of the sections. The form has two sections numbered 7, „Liability” and „Obligations”, followed by 8 and 9. A request for additional information that points to item 7 does not show which of the two it refers to.
- Annex no. 2, form F_A_07, both pages. The eight stamp templates carry the printed names of real authorities from a single county: Bistrița-Năsăud County Council, the Municipality of Bistrița, the Town of Năsăud and the Commune of Budacu de Jos. Article 3(2) declares all templates mandatory and to be applied uniformly by all public administration authorities, and the form carries no mention that it is merely illustrative. By contrast, form F_01 in annex no. 4 states expressly that „the title block template shown is for information purposes”, which shows that the Order marks indicative templates when it wants to. A town hall in another county cannot establish from the text whether it reproduces the layout with its own name or whether the template requires something else.
Editorial analysis
The Order solves a real and urgent problem. The Code had entered into force on 25 August, with new permitting regimes, while local administrations were left with forms built on a repealed law. The set of 36 templates covers the entire path, from the urban planning certificate to the administrative offence report, and the decision to leave paper fully valid until IT integration is complete is what keeps the counters open. The versioning rule is just as useful: a form with a code and a version printed on each page ends the argument about which template was in force on the date of filing.
The Order does, however, fall short in three places. The first is the calendar: the forms appear one day after the Code became applicable, so on 25 August the new regime ran without its own standard documents, and the Order says nothing about applications filed on that very day. The second is access: the annexes with the forms are published in a bis edition that the issuer points to for physical purchase, from the Public Relations Centre on Panduri Road, while Article 2(4) refers for technical specifications to registrulcladirilor.gov.ro. The third is the relationship with the past: the Order does not expressly repeal any earlier template, it removes them indirectly, by declaring the new ones mandatory, which leaves room for interpretation where the old forms were still used for related procedures.
The 30 December 2026 deadline for local platforms also deserves a remark. It is the only deadline in the Order, but it covers only the IT infrastructure, not the publication of editable forms by the ministry. Without official downloadable files, every town hall will rebuild its own layouts, and the standardisation the Order was issued for will be lost in 3,228 local variants.
What should be changed
- Publishing the forms as editable files on the ministry’s website, with the code and the version in the file name. That would remove the need for every town hall to rebuild the layouts and would make the match between the completed form and the official template verifiable at a glance.
- Correcting the reference in F_NOT_01 to Law no. 169/2026 and renumbering the two sections 7. That would remove the only place in the Order where the beneficiary is sent to a non-existent act precisely for the handover obligation, that is for the step that closes the works.
- Marking form F_A_07 expressly as an indicative template, with empty boxes instead of real names. That would use the same wording already present in F_01 and would spare every authority the question of whether it has to reproduce the layout exactly as printed.
- Publishing the annexes in a free electronic format as well, not only in the bis edition sold over the counter. A set of forms declared mandatory for every town hall in the country should not depend on a trip to a counter in Bucharest.
- An express list of the templates the Order replaces. That would end the argument about what still applies from the methodological norms of Law no. 50/1991 in the related procedures that did not receive a new standard form.
- A transitional rule for applications filed between 25 and 26 August. That would cover the single day on which the Code was in force without its forms, and the natural solution is for those applications to be treated as filed on the forms valid on that date.
Original text of the legal act
The text below is reproduced in Romanian, the official form of publication.
The full text, as published in the Official Gazette of Romania
Official Gazette of Romania no. 711 of 26 August 2026 16 pages PDF, 126 KB the act starts on page 14
Open the official PDFDownload the PDF
The other editions cited: nr. 711 bis/2026
The viewer is not shown on small screens. Use the buttons above to open or download the file.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific situations, consult a licensed attorney or tax advisor.