In brief

  • The accreditation of bodies issuing technical approvals in construction is extended by operation of law for one more year, with no application and no new procedure, provided the expiry date on the certificate had not already passed.
  • For that period the Permanent Technical Council for Construction issues a new accreditation certificate, in two original copies signed by the council’s president.
  • The extension is not unconditional: keeping the accreditation depends on continuously meeting the criteria on which it was granted, reconfirmed by the surveillance audit report.
Act: Order MDLPA No. 918/2026
Published: Official Gazette of Romania (Monitorul Oficial) No. 662 of 10 August 2026
In force from: 10 August 2026

Technical approval is the document without which a new construction product or process that has no European standard cannot legally be used on a Romanian site. It is issued by accredited bodies, and their accreditation has an expiry date. The order published on Monday gives them all an extra year, automatically. Order No. 918 of 7 August 2026 of the Minister of Development, Public Works and Administration appeared in Official Gazette of Romania No. 662 of 10 August 2026 and adds a single new article to the procedures approved in 2021. It comes two weeks before the entry into force of the Code of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and Construction, which keeps in force, until it is amended, the very Regulation on technical approval in construction.

The mechanism is as direct as it gets. After Article 43 of Order No. 435/2021, a new Article 44 is inserted, providing that the accreditation period granted by certificate, whose expiry date has not passed, is extended by operation of law for a further year. The extension operates by way of derogation from Article 40(2) of the Procedure on the accreditation and surveillance of bodies issuing technical approvals in construction, set out in Annex No. 2 to the 2021 order.

There is a single condition, and it is temporal: the certificate must still be valid, under Articles 4 and 41. Anyone who let their accreditation lapse before this order entered into force falls outside the extension and must restart the ordinary procedure.

For the interval between the entry into force of the order and the new expiry date, the Permanent Technical Council for Construction issues a new accreditation certificate, following the model in Annex No. 2e to the procedure in Annex No. 2, in two original copies signed by the council’s president. The old document is not extended by endorsement; it is replaced.

What it changes in practice

Immediate continuity for the technical approval market. Accredited bodies may carry on without interruption, and manufacturers and importers of systems and products lacking a European standard are not left without an available assessor.

The extension is automatic, the certificate is not. The legal effect occurs by operation of law, without any application. What does not happen automatically is the document: bodies must obtain the new certificate from the Permanent Technical Council for Construction, in two original copies, in order to prove their accreditation to clients and authorities.

The surveillance audit remains the real filter. Article III of the order makes keeping the accreditation until the new expiry date conditional on continuously meeting the criteria on which it was granted, reconfirmed by the surveillance audit report drawn up by the assessment commission set up under Article 23 of the procedure. The extension suspends the deadline, not the scrutiny.

It expressly derogates from the duration rule in the procedure. Article 40(2) of the Procedure in Annex No. 2 laid down the ordinary regime for the accreditation period. The order does not amend it but creates a targeted exception, valid for certificates currently within their term.

What has changed compared with the previous situation

Until now, a body issuing technical approvals approaching the end of its accreditation had to go through the re-accreditation procedure within the deadlines in Annex No. 2, with documentation and assessment. From 10 August 2026, those still within their term get an extra year without doing anything.

The practical difference is one of administrative burden, not of technical requirement. The criteria stay the same, the assessment commission stays the same, the surveillance audit stays compulsory. Only the moment of restarting the full procedure is postponed.

The order sits in a wider context. The Code of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and Construction, entering into force on 25 August 2026, expressly provides that the annexes to Government Decision No. 766/1997, among them the Regulation on technical approval in construction, remain in force until they are amended. The one-year extension offers precisely the breathing space in which that regulation could be rewritten around the code’s new architecture.

Advantages and disadvantages

What it improves

  • It avoids a foreseeable administrative bottleneck: a chain of accreditation expiries at a time when the entire legal framework for construction is changing.
  • It spares bodies a full re-accreditation procedure for a year without lowering the technical bar, since the surveillance audit remains.
  • Extension by operation of law removes uncertainty: it does not depend on an application filed in time or on how fast an institution processes it.
  • Issuing a new certificate, rather than a mere endorsement on the old one, leaves a clear documentary trail for clients and for inspection.

What remains a problem

  • The exception applies indiscriminately, regardless of each body’s performance, the only criterion being that the certificate had not expired.
  • Anyone whose accreditation lapsed, even shortly before publication, falls outside the measure and must go through the full procedure.
  • The order sets no deadline for the Permanent Technical Council for Construction to issue the new certificates, which may create a window in which the accreditation exists in law but cannot be proved with a current document.
  • This is the second targeted intervention in the same 2021 order, a sign that the procedure needs a substantive review rather than successive postponements.
  • Nothing is said about what happens at the end of the extra year if the 1997 regulation has not been amended in the meantime.

Practical advice

  1. Check the expiry date on your current certificate first. If it had not passed on 10 August 2026, the extension applies to you by operation of law, without any application.
  2. Request the new certificate from the Permanent Technical Council for Construction. It is issued following the model in Annex No. 2e, in two original copies signed by the president. Without it, proof of accreditation to clients remains incomplete.
  3. Prepare for the surveillance audit. Keeping the accreditation until the new date depends on the assessment commission’s report, not on the mere passage of time.
  4. If your accreditation had already expired: do not rely on this order. Restart the accreditation procedure in Annex No. 2 to Order No. 435/2021.
  5. If you manufacture or import construction products without a harmonised European standard, check on the Permanent Technical Council for Construction’s website whether the body you work with is still listed as accredited, before starting an approval procedure.
  6. Keep the wider calendar in mind: from 25 August 2026 the new construction code applies, keeping the technical approval regulation in force only until it is amended. The year gained now may be the year the rules change.

Frequently asked questions

What is technical approval in construction?
The document certifying the fitness for use of new construction products, processes or equipment not covered by a harmonised European standard. Without it, such products cannot lawfully be incorporated into works.
Who benefits from the extension?
Bodies issuing technical approvals whose accreditation period, granted by certificate, had not expired when the order entered into force, under Articles 4 and 41 of the procedure.
Do I need to apply for the extension?
No. The one-year extension operates by law. You do, however, need to obtain the new accreditation certificate from the Permanent Technical Council for Construction, issued in two original copies.
Is the extension unconditional?
No. Keeping the accreditation until the new expiry date depends on continuously meeting the criteria on which it was granted, reconfirmed by the surveillance audit report drawn up by the assessment commission.
What if my accreditation had already expired?
The order does not apply. The extension covers only certificates whose expiry date had not passed, so the accreditation procedure must be restarted.
How long does the extension last?
One year, calculated from the expiry date on the certificate still in force, by way of derogation from Article 40(2) of the procedure approved by Annex No. 2 to Order No. 435/2021.

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. 662 of 10 August 2026 16 pages PDF, 221 KB the act starts on page 16

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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.