Planning and Construction Act (Zakon o planiranju i izgradnji) in brief

What the Planning and Construction Act (Zakon o planiranju i izgradnji) covers

Zakon o planiranju i izgradnji, the Planning and Construction Act, is the basic statute governing the arrangement of space, the development and use of construction land and the building of structures in Serbia, together with supervision and inspection (Art. 1). It applies to anyone who builds, extends, reconstructs, adapts or removes a structure, from a family house or garden shed to a factory or motorway. Military complexes and mining facilities are governed by separate laws (Art. 1(2)).

The official citation is: Zakon o planiranju i izgradnji (Sl. glasnik RS Nos. 72/2009, 81/2009 - corr., 64/2010 - CC decision, 24/2011, 121/2012, 42/2013 - CC decision, 50/2013 - CC decision, 98/2013 - CC decision, 132/2014, 145/2014, 83/2018, 31/2019, 37/2019 - other statute, 9/2020, 52/2021, 62/2023, 91/2025 and 80/2026). The largest reforms came in 2014, which introduced the unified electronic procedure, and in 2023, which abolished conversion against payment and set up the Agency for Spatial Planning and Urbanism. The two most recent amendments date from October 2025 and 2026, so searches for "zakon o planiranju i izgradnji 2025" or "novi zakon o planiranju i izgradnji" lead to the same 2009 act, in the text in force today.

For a foreign buyer or investor the practical point is this: a property in Serbia is only as good as its permits. Whether a house has a building permit and an occupancy permit, or is registered under a legalisation act, decides whether it can be connected to utilities, mortgaged and sold without complications. Those questions are answered by this Act and by the cadastre extract.

How the Act is structured

The Act has more than 220 articles. For owners and investors the most relevant parts are:

• I Basic provisions (definitions in Art. 2, the unified procedure in Art. 8-8đ)
• II Spatial and urban planning (planning documents, location conditions in Art. 53a-57)
• III Construction land (land development contribution in Art. 97, conversion in Art. 102-106)
• V Construction of buildings (technical documentation, permit competence in Art. 133-134)
• VI Building permit (Art. 135-147, including the Art. 145 decision and the temporary permit of Art. 147)
• VII Building (notification of works in Art. 148, supervision, technical inspection, occupancy permit in Art. 158, maintenance)
• VIII Removal of buildings (Art. 167-171)
• X Supervision (urban planning and building inspection, Art. 172-184)
• XIII Penalties (economic offences and misdemeanours, Art. 202-211)

The most searched provisions of the Planning and Construction Act

Location conditions (Art. 53a-56). Location conditions (lokacijski uslovi) contain all the urban planning and technical requirements for the design and are issued for a parcel that qualifies as a building plot, on the basis of a conceptual design. They are not needed for investment maintenance, adaptation, repair, masonry fences and works that change neither the external appearance nor the capacity of utility connections (Art. 53a(8)). The authority issues them within five working days of receiving the public authorities' conditions, and an objection goes to the municipal or city council within three days (Art. 56).

Who issues the building permit (Art. 133 and 134). The ministry issues permits for the large and special projects listed in Art. 133: dams, power plants above 10 MW, state roads, airports, buildings over 50 m high, buildings in the protected surroundings of cultural property of exceptional importance and similar. For everything else the local self-government unit is competent (Art. 134(2)). If the municipality fails to decide in time, the ministry takes over at the applicant's request (Art. 134(7)).

Building permit (Art. 135-137). The building permit (građevinska dozvola) is issued to an investor who submits the building permit design, the design extract, the approval decision on the construction and demolition waste management plan, proof of an appropriate right to the land or building, and proof of paid fees. An appropriate right means ownership, lease and the other rights listed in Art. 135. The permit is issued by decision within five working days, with the location conditions, the contribution amount and the design as integral parts (Art. 136(3)). An appeal is filed within eight days; where the ministry decides, there is no appeal but an administrative dispute (Art. 136(4) and (5)).

Validity of the permit (Art. 140). The permit lapses if works are not notified within three years of the decision becoming final. It also lapses if no occupancy permit is issued within five years, except for Art. 133 projects, phased utility infrastructure, public-use buildings in public ownership and family houses the investor builds for personal housing (Art. 140(4)). The authority may extend validity once by two years if the structure is complete (Art. 140(5)), and after the deadline the investor pays a charge equal to property tax on the whole building (Art. 140(6)).

Works approval decision (Art. 145). For the types of buildings and works specified in the rulebook under Art. 201(7)(13a), no building permit is issued but a works approval decision (rešenje o odobrenju za izvođenje radova). It requires an appropriate right, technical documentation, the waste management plan approval and fees. A final occupancy permit or a final legalisation decision serves as proof of the right to the building even if the building is not registered in the cadastre (Art. 145(3)). The deadline is five working days, the appeal period eight days, and after the decision the investor notifies the works (Art. 145(6)-(8)). A final decision is a basis for cadastral registration (Art. 145(10)).

Notification of works (Art. 148). It is filed with the permit authority before works begin, with proof that the land development contribution has been settled, the fee and, since the 2025 amendments, a third-party liability insurance policy. The authority immediately sends the permit and the design extract to the cadastre so that the building under construction is pre-registered (Art. 148(4)). Confirmation of the notification closes the permit procedure and works may begin (Art. 148(13)).

Land development contribution (Art. 97). The contribution (doprinos za uređivanje građevinskog zemljišta) is paid by the investor and set in the building permit decision: the average price per square metre of new housing in the municipality, multiplied by the net floor area and by the zone and purpose coefficients set by the local authority. It can be paid in at least 36 instalments with security, and a lump-sum payment before the notification of works earns a reduction of at least 30% (Art. 97(6)).

Occupancy permit (Art. 158). A building that needs a building permit may be used only after an occupancy permit (upotrebna dozvola). The same authority issues it by decision within five working days, on the basis of the technical inspection committee's report, the as-built design or statements that the design was followed, a geodetic survey and an energy performance certificate where required. If the application includes the technical inspection committee's finding that the building is fit for use and the authority neither issues nor refuses the permit within five working days, the building may exceptionally be used without it (Art. 158). The authority sends the permit to the cadastre ex officio, and the cadastre registers ownership (Art. 158).

Removal and inspection (Art. 167-184). The municipal authority approves by decision the removal of a dilapidated building that endangers people and traffic and, since 2025, also at the request of the owner of a lawfully built structure (Art. 167). The building inspector checks whether a permit was issued, whether the building follows the design and whether it has an occupancy permit (Art. 175). The inspector's powers are in Art. 176: stopping works, a deadline of up to 30 days to obtain or amend a permit, removal of the building. An appeal against the inspector's decision goes to the ministry within 15 days and does not suspend enforcement (Art. 184).

Conversion (Art. 102-106). The right of use on construction land is converted into ownership free of charge, registered ex officio. The owner of a building also acquires ownership of the parcel to establish unity of the property (Art. 105 and 106). Whoever acquired ownership of a building through legalisation must have the land for the regular use of the building determined (Art. 105(2)).

The building permit in practice: the unified procedure and CEOP

The unified procedure (objedinjena procedura) means the investor deals with one office. The competent authority sets up a unit that runs the entire process: location conditions, expert review, the building permit, notification of works, the occupancy permit, connection to utilities, cadastral registration and the house number (Art. 8). The conditions of public authorities, such as the electricity distributor or the waterworks, are obtained by the authority itself, ex officio and on the investor's behalf (Art. 8d(3)).

All exchange of documents is electronic, in the form of electronic documents; a paper document is digitised and certified, which a licensed designer or a lawyer signing the submission may also do (Art. 8a). Each authority keeps a public register of its cases (Art. 8v), and the Business Registers Agency keeps the Central Register of Unified Procedures, known as CEOP, which pools the data of all authorities in Serbia (Art. 8g).

Deadlines for the authority are short, and for these acts the Act expressly sets them in working days: five days for location conditions after all conditions are obtained, five days for the building permit, five days for the occupancy permit and five days for the Art. 145 decision; the notification of works is confirmed without delay (Art. 8d(1)). Public authorities respond within 15 days, or 30 days for Art. 133 projects; if they fail, the authority files a misdemeanour complaint against them (Art. 8b).

The authority does not assess the technical design or the authenticity of attachments. It checks only competence, who the applicant is, whether the application contains all data, whether all documents are attached and whether the fee is paid (Art. 8đ(2)). If it rejects the application, it must list every deficiency, and an investor who fixes them within 30 days does not resubmit documents or pay the fee again (Art. 8đ(6) and (7)). Damage caused by a defective design is the joint liability of the designer, the technical reviewer and the investor (Art. 8đ(9)).

The 2025 and 2026 amendments: is there a new act?

The answer to "zakon o planiranju i izgradnji 91/2025" is: that is an amending act, published on 23 October 2025 and in force from the next day. It is not a new act. The same issue of the Official Gazette also published the Act on Special Conditions for Recording and Registering Rights in Real Estate, the new legalisation act, so the two are often mixed up.

What the 2025 amendments changed:

• Cultural heritage protection study is prepared only for buildings within, or in the protected surroundings of, cultural property of exceptional importance and World Heritage sites (Art. 2(78)), and projects of special importance for Serbia are exempt (Art. 46(10)).
• The unified procedure now also covers expert review and building removal decisions (Art. 8); until CEOP is upgraded, that documentation is filed on paper (Art. 42 of the amending act).
• Notification of works requires a third-party liability insurance policy (Art. 148(2)).
• Trial operation of class I state roads is allowed before the occupancy permit, under conditions set in a rulebook (Art. 157(2)).
• Unlawful building: a building erected without a permit or an Art. 145 decision is removed at the builder's expense or passes, with the land, into public ownership of the Republic of Serbia (Art. 176(3)-(5)); inspectors continuously monitor changes in space and report them weekly to the Republic Building Inspectorate (Art. 176(1)(6a)).
• Appeals against inspectors go to the ministry within 15 days, decisions of the republic inspector are final, and an appeal does not suspend enforcement (Art. 184).
• Disposal of state-owned land by the Republic Property Directorate requires prior Government consent (Art. 99(2)).
• Planning documents adopted before 1993 cease to apply 12 months after the amendments entered into force, that is on 24 October 2026 (Art. 39 of the amending act).
• Additional window for occupancy permits: for all buildings whose deadline has passed, the permit may be issued within an additional two years, until 24 October 2027 (Art. 41 of the amending act).

The 2026 amendments (Sl. glasnik RS No. 80/2026) are smaller and technical: the rule that all deadlines are counted in working days was deleted, solar plants of up to 1 MW for own use in industrial complexes are exempt from location conditions (Art. 53a(8) and (9)), an approval decision on the construction and demolition waste management plan is attached to Art. 145 applications and removal applications (Art. 145(2) and Art. 168), and forest land destroyed by fire keeps its designation (Art. 88).

Relationship to the legalisation acts

The Planning and Construction Act governs how to build lawfully and what follows when there is no permit. It does not govern legalisation, the subsequent recognition of buildings erected without a permit. From 2015 that was the job of the Legalisation of Buildings Act (Zakon o ozakonjenju objekata), and since 24 October 2025 it is the job of the Act on Special Conditions for Recording and Registering Rights in Real Estate (Sl. glasnik RS Nos. 91/2025 and 80/2026), known as "Svoj na svome". On that day the Legalisation of Buildings Act ceased to apply and pending municipal procedures were terminated. How the application works, what it costs and what to do if the deadline was missed is explained on the pages about the legalisation procedure, what to do if you own an unpermitted building and the cost of legalisation (Serbian only).

The two acts meet at three points. First, buildings erected after 24 October 2025 cannot be registered under the new legalisation act; only this Act's rules on unlawful building apply to them, that is stoppage, removal or transfer to public ownership (Art. 176). Second, whoever registered a building under the legalisation act and also acquired the land beneath it forms the parcel for regular use under this Act (Art. 105). Third, a legalisation decision under the old act still serves as proof of the right to the building when an Art. 145 decision is requested (Art. 145(3)).

Where to read the official text

The official consolidated text is available in the Legal Information System of the Republic of Serbia: Zakon o planiranju i izgradnji at pravno-informacioni-sistem.rs (Serbian only). Before relying on any article, check the implementing rulebooks, above all the rulebook on the unified procedure and the rulebook on the types of buildings and works that do not need a building permit, because they determine the exact documentation and which works fall under Art. 145. Connection conditions and the contribution amount are set by your municipality or city.

Sources

• Planning and Construction Act (Zakon o planiranju i izgradnji, Sl. glasnik RS Nos. 72/2009 ... 62/2023, 91/2025 and 80/2026)
• Proposal of the Act Amending the Planning and Construction Act with explanatory memorandum (National Assembly, 2025)
• Act on Special Conditions for Recording and Registering Rights in Real Estate (Sl. glasnik RS Nos. 91/2025 and 80/2026)
• Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure
• Republic Geodetic Authority (cadastre)
• Act Amending the Planning and Construction Act (Sl. glasnik RS No. 91/2025), Art. 1, 2, 20, 23, 26, 31, 32 and 37-43, and Act Amending the Planning and Construction Act (Sl. glasnik RS No. 80/2026), Art. 1-7 (paragraf.rs, not an official source)