SUBMISSION PROCEDURES

There are certain fundamentals you need to be aware of which will determine whether the request for Permits can even accepted for processing or not. These are:

1. You need to have proper title over the piece of land that you want to process plans for approval. The body charged with the responsibility for grant of title over land in the FCT as at today is Abuja Geographic Information System otherwise known as AGIS. Therefore any title over a piece of land for which plans have been prepared and submitted for piece of land for which plans have been prepared and submitted for approval and are not from AGIS will not be accepted for processing in Development Control Department. So, persons that obtain titles either from Local Chiefs or other sources will normally be rejected for processing in Development Control.

1. You need to be certain of the specific use for which the title is granted. It is important to let you know that there is a Master Plan which guide the orderly development of the territory and it set out broad land uses for the entire FCT Space. The Department of Urban and Regional Planning is its custodian. These land uses are categorized as Residential, Commercial, Religious, Recreational, Institutional, Educational, Health, Industrial and Green trees. So you need to be sure of the specific use of a space before embarking on building plan preparation, otherwise the Department of Development Control will reject proposals that are not consistent with the land use as expressed in the detailed land use plan of the area.

• The Department of Development Control accepts plans that are prepared by Registered Professionals only for processing. This implies that persons wishing to embark on development in the FCT must engage the services of registered professionals in the production of their proposals because such submissions will normally bear the seal and stamps of the designers before it is accepted for processing. Such professionals include Towns Planners, Architects, and Engineers etc.

1. Every construction site must have in its team a Registered Structural Engineer or Builder or Architect who must be available on site during construction work. Otherwise such sites will be sealed or prevented from carrying on with its works. Therefore persons wishing to carry out development within the FCT must engage the services of registered professionals that will be liable for any default in the construction

1. Throughout the duration construction works, both the approved building plan and development permit must be kept on site for purposes of guiding the work and for sighing by officer carrying out routine inspection.   

PROCESSES FOR OBTAINING BUILDING PLAN DEVELOPMENT APPROVALS IN FCT

As earlier stated the current edition of the FCT Development Control manual is divided in to three parts and the third deal with investor Guide. This part of the manual provides a guide to the issuance of permit development in the FCT. It provides guidance on when planning permission is required, how to make planning application and what happen thereafter.

All prospective developers are strongly advised to obtain a copy of the manual as more detail than this paper  can offer an contained in it.       

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

• Title Documents:

1. Offer Letter
2. Right of Occupancy (R of O)

• Certificate of Occupancy (C of O)

For Transfer of Ownership

1. Power of Attorney
2. Registered Deed Assignment

• Design:

1. Architectural
2. Electrical

• Mechanical

1. Structural

• Other Documents (where necessary) :

1. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
2. Soil Test