In brief

  • Residential blocks damaged by explosions, fires or other technical accidents can now be included in the National Programme for Retrofitting Buildings at High Seismic Risk, without having to pass the usual selection criteria.
  • For these buildings, the state budget also covers demolition of the damaged structure, construction of a new building, design work in full and technical assistance, while the overall cost estimate may include relocation and rent for evacuated tenants, plus storage of their belongings.
  • All applications are filed exclusively online, with an electronic signature, and owners have 30 days after handover to register their homes in the land book. Every retrofitted building must carry a permanent plaque, fitted within two months of works acceptance.
Act: Order MDLPA no. 710/2026
Published: Official Gazette of Romania (Monitorul Oficial) no. 562 of 8 July 2026
In force from: 8 July 2026

A block left standing after a gas explosion no longer has to wait for a seismic risk assessment before the state will pay to make it safe. Romania’s Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration has amended the rules implementing Law no. 212/2022 and opened the National Programme for Retrofitting Buildings at High Seismic Risk to a new category of property: multi-storey residential buildings damaged by accidental actions or technical accidents, meaning explosions, fires and similar events. Order no. 710/2026, signed on 24 June 2026 and published in the Official Gazette of Romania on 8 July 2026, is the second major move this summer in which the state reshapes its funding tools for the ageing housing stock, after the „Lift for Life” programme, which pays for lifts and ramps in blocks without accessibility.

The substantive difference is that, until now, a building had to meet the criteria in article 5 of the rules to enter the retrofit programme: classification in a seismic risk class, age, and the absence of recent works. A block partly destroyed by an explosion could be in a severe structural condition without having any seismic assessment on paper, and therefore without any way of qualifying. The new article 51 of the rules addresses precisely that situation: inclusion in the housing sub-programme is made „without applying the criteria laid down in article 5 paragraph (1)”.

What it changes in practice

The first practical effect is that the municipality or authority administering a damaged block can file its application immediately, with a shorter file than under the standard procedure. The order lists exhaustively what must be uploaded to the investitii.mdlpa.ro digital platform: the application for inclusion for each investment objective, the report of a technical expert certified for the mechanical resistance and stability requirement, the report drawn up by the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations after its intervention at the accident, stating the probable cause of the event, and, if integrated financing including energy efficiency is requested, the energy audit report with the energy performance certificate.

The second effect concerns money. For buildings damaged by accidents, the list of expenses eligible from the state budget widens significantly compared with the general rule of the programme: it now covers demolition of the existing structure and construction of a new one, studies, supporting documentation for permits and authorisations, design work in full, technical assistance in full, as well as the budget margin and the implementation reserve for price adjustment. The last two are entered in the overall cost estimate as eligible, but only reach the financing contract through an addendum, on the basis of a detailed technical memorandum and an updated cost estimate approved by local council decision.

The third effect concerns the people forced out of their homes. The order brings into the overall cost estimate, under the „Land acquisition” sub-chapter, the costs of moving evacuated persons into and out of emergency housing, paying rent for the duration of the works, and storing their belongings. These costs were already provided for in article 10 paragraph (3) of the law, but had no clear place in the project’s financial documentation, which made them hard to settle in practice.

Finally, new buildings erected in place of demolished ones must be designed as nearly zero-energy buildings. The approval documentation gains a new mandatory item: the study on renewable energy sources and the NZEB compliance report, drawn up under the Mc 001-2022 methodology for calculating the energy performance of buildings. From 11 October 2026 the hazard assessment behind such projects starts from a common base: a single methodology for calculating earthquake damage, with a design ground acceleration for each of the 3,181 administrative units.

What has changed compared with the previous situation

  • A new entry route into the programme: blocks damaged by explosions or fires enter without the usual eligibility criteria, which required prior classification in a seismic risk class.
  • Demolition and rebuilding become eligible: previously the programme mainly financed works on the existing building; now, if the expert report recommends demolition, the state can also pay for a new building on the same site.
  • Tenants’ rent finally has a line in the budget: relocation, rent during the works and storage of belongings are explicitly entered in the overall cost estimate, under sub-chapter 1.1.
  • Applications are filed entirely online: requests are uploaded to the digital platform, signed electronically under Law no. 214/2024, and documents issued by third parties are uploaded as PDFs, certified as true copies.
  • Land registration can no longer be avoided: the agreement with owners must list all registered owners, the use of each space and the undivided shares, accompanied by land book extracts recording the state’s claim and the ban on disposal. For unregistered flats destroyed in the accident, the owners’ association records are used, but after handover registration becomes mandatory within 30 days, and beneficiaries may no longer plead that surveying is impossible.
  • Historical monuments get a clear exemption: listed buildings, those in protected areas around monuments and those in protected built areas are exempt from the obligation to reach at least seismic risk class RsIV after the works, where the Ministry of Culture’s approval does not allow it.
  • A permanent plaque on the facade: within two months of acceptance, the beneficiary must fit a permanent plaque next to the main entrance, at about 1.80 metres above the pavement, which stays in place for at least three years or permanently.
  • New time-based eligibility rules: the general allocation criteria require that no rehabilitation, modernisation, thermal rehabilitation or major renovation works were carried out in the previous 10 years, and no strengthening, capital repairs or seismic rehabilitation in the previous 20 years.
  • Two provisions disappear: article 9 paragraph (2) and article 91 of the rules are repealed.

Advantages and disadvantages

What it improves

  • It solves a real deadlock: after an explosion, a block could be uninhabitable and, at the same time, ineligible for the only national programme that funds making homes safe.
  • It covers the hidden costs of a retrofit, rent and relocation, which in many projects were the reason residents refused the works.
  • It allows the radical solution when it is the only rational one: demolition and a new building, built to NZEB standard, instead of repairs to a compromised structure.
  • Full digital filing shortens an administrative route that until now meant paper files travelling between town hall and ministry.
  • The permanent plaque creates a public record of the investment, useful both for transparency and for buyers who want to know whether a block has been retrofitted.

What remains a problem

  • The order allocates no new money. It opens a new category of applicants to the same programme budget, so competition for funding increases, and the shortlists are still approved by ministerial order.
  • The obligation to register the property within 30 days of handover is strict, and failure triggers the penalties in article 14 paragraphs (6)-(12) of the rules, including where the delay is not the owner’s fault.
  • The text expressly states that beneficiaries „may not plead that surveying and land registration are impossible”, shifting the entire legal risk onto the local authority and, indirectly, onto residents.
  • The 30-day period for the ministry to check an application runs from registration, but the order sets no maximum deadline for actually approving the shortlist and the financing.
  • The criterion excluding buildings rehabilitated in the past 10 years may leave out blocks that were recently insulated but never structurally strengthened.

Practical advice

  1. If you live in a block damaged by an explosion or fire: the first step is not yours to take. The application is filed by the municipality or the authority administering the building, not by the owners’ association. Ask the local administration in writing to file the request on the investitii.mdlpa.ro platform, and check whether it already holds the emergency inspectorate report from the intervention, because the file is incomplete without it.
  2. If you sit on an owners’ association board: check the land registration status of every flat early. The agreement with the state requires land book extracts for each dwelling, recording the state’s claim and the ban on disposal, and unregistered flats complicate the entire file.
  3. If you are to be evacuated during the works: ask explicitly whether rent, relocation and storage costs were entered in the overall cost estimate. The order allows them but does not impose them automatically; the designer has to write them in.
  4. If you are a mayor or work in a technical department: arrange the legal representative’s electronic signature or a delegation, because paper filing is no longer an option, and third-party documents must be certified as true copies before upload.
  5. If you manage a listed building: obtain the Ministry of Culture’s approval early. It determines whether you can be exempted from reaching seismic risk class RsIV after the works.
  6. If you represent a public-utility NGO: a sworn statement that you carry out no economic activity, within the meaning of the de minimis aid scheme approved by Order MDLPA no. 4.355/2024, must be filed together with the application.

Frequently asked questions

What counts as an „accidental action or technical accident”?
The order defines it broadly: all categories of negative events that create risks to human life and material damage, such as explosions caused by gas leaks or fires, which required the intervention of the authorities responsible for emergency response. The list is not exhaustive.
Does my block need a seismic assessment to enter the programme?
For buildings damaged by accidents, the usual criteria in article 5 paragraph (1) do not apply. What remains mandatory is a report by a technical expert certified for mechanical resistance and stability, who assesses the real condition of the structure and may recommend demolition.
Who pays the rent if we are evacuated during the works?
The costs of moving into and out of emergency housing, rent for the duration of the works and storage of belongings are entered in the project’s overall cost estimate, under the „Land acquisition” sub-chapter, and are borne by the programme. The condition is that the designer actually included them.
What happens if the expert report recommends demolishing the whole building?
The programme can finance demolition and the construction of a new building on the same site, including design work and technical assistance in full. The new building must meet the nearly zero-energy standard, proven through the renewable energy study and the NZEB compliance report.
What are my obligations once the works are finished?
If your home was rebuilt, or if your flat was not registered at the date of the accident, you have 30 days from handover by written report to register the building and the dwelling, recording the ban on disposal and the state’s claim, and to send the land book extracts to the ministry. Missing the deadline triggers the penalties in article 14 paragraphs (6)-(12).
What is the permanent plaque on the facade?
It is a mandatory information panel, fitted within two months of works acceptance, on the main facade next to the main entrance, at about 1.80 metres above the pavement. It stays up for at least three years or permanently and shows publicly that the building was retrofitted through the programme, with the year the works were completed.
Where is the application filed?
On the investitii.mdlpa.ro digital platform, in electronic format, with an electronic signature under Law no. 214/2024. The ministry checks whether the application is compliant within 30 days of registration, in chronological order of registration.

Original text of the legal act

The text below is reproduced in Romanian, the official language of publication.

The full text, as published in the Official Gazette of Romania

Official Gazette of Romania no. 562 of 8 July 2026 16 pages PDF, 514 KB

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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific situations, consult a licensed attorney or tax advisor.