It is a service that aims to grant a permit to build a new building on land that has not previously been built on (Vacant land), the service request should be submitted by an engineering office licensed by The Council for Regulating the Practice of Engineering Professions.

• Bahraini Citizens
• GCC Citizens
• Real estate owners
• Commercial Entities
• Government Entities

1. Engage Engineering Offices

Property owners must engage an Engineering office licensed by Kingdom of Bahrain’s “The Council for Regulating the Practice of Engineering Professions”, to prepare all necessary drawings and documents required to apply for a building permit. The engineering office shall perform all necessary tasks to obtain a building permit on behalf of the property owners (Click here to view list of the licensed engineering offices).

2. Initial Request Stage

The engineering office should enter the initial information for the request in this stage, which includes:

• The applicant and the property owner or his representer details.
• Other owners or inheritors details (If any).
• The required addition details.
• Civil aviation details.
• Required documents.
3. Pre-Approval Stage (For special cases)

There are special cases in which applicants must first obtain a pre-approval before starting the process of applying for a new construction permit. These cases are outlined in the below table:

Entities	Special Cases Details	Government Processing Time
Urban Planning Development Affairs (UPDA)	Un-zoned lands Understudy Freezed zones Unplanned lands Mangrove Area Oil Fields Implementation Stage	Not applicable (Please consult UPDA offline)
	Special Projects National Heritage Buildings Mega Projects Hotels and Resorts Area Roads Pedestrian and infrastructure corridors Under Study Public Services Ministry of Housing Airport Zone Archaeological Infrastructure & Utilities Area Protected Area Preserved Area Green Spaces Area Natural Reserved Area Unplanned Area Future Development Area Transportation Services Area Car Inspection Center Area Food Security Planting Area Food Security Livestock & Fisheries Area Waterfront Area Community Services Area – Sports Community Services Area – Health Community Services Area – Educational Petrol Stations Area Commercial Malls	5 Working Days *After verifying the planning approval details and conditions entered in the building permit application, the request will be sent to UPDA for Pre-approval if the additional studies is required in the Planning Approval for these zones.
Roads Planning & Design Directorate	Un-asphalted roads Strategic Roads Roads under development Old areas	10 Working days
Supreme Council for Environment	Reclamation Jetty construction	10 Working days
Ministry of Oil and Environment	Only for parcels falling under zones specified by Tatweer that require special approvals.	10 Working days
Civil Aviation Authority	Pre-approval is required for buildings exceeding permitted heights	10 Working days
Bahrain Authority of Culture and Antiquities (BACA)	Pre-approval is required for specific parcels identified by BACA.	10 Working days
Ministry of Finance and National Economy	Pre-approval is required for the government projects.	10 Working days
General Directorate of Civil Defense	Pre-approval required for the following cases: 1. If the project contains any of the following dangerous materials: Natural or liquefied petroleum gas tanks Liquefied petroleum gas cylinders Compressed gases Hazardous Materials Insecticides or pesticides Laboratories Flammable liquid tanks 2. If the conditions below apply for each building type: For educational buildings: if the number of floors are 2 floors or more or total building area is more than 1000 m2. For care buildings: if the number of floors is higher than 6 floors or building height is more than 20 m or total building area is more than 1800 m2. For residential buildings (except for private residences): if the number of floors is higher than 6 floors or building height is more than 20 m or total building area is more than 1800 m2. For commercial buildings (Type A)* : if the number of floors is higher than 4 floors or total building area is more than 1800 m2. For commercial buildings (Type B)* : if the number of floors is higher than 5 floors or total building area is more than 1800 m2. Assembly buildings*: all requests. Industrial buildings: all requests. Warehouse buildings and car parking: all requests. Petrol Station: all requests. Laboratory: all requests. Gas units: all requests. *(Type A): Commercial stores are buildings or environments designated to serve the public. These include retail shops, shopping centers, hypermarkets, tailoring and barber shops, and others. *(Type B): Offices are buildings or parts of buildings that do not accommodate more than 50 users at the same time. This includes administrative offices, institutional offices, small banks, corporate offices, real estate offices, and engineering offices. *Assembly buildings: are buildings or parts of buildings designated to accommodate 50 or more individuals for the purposes of entertainment, culture, sports, or exhibitions.	10 Working days

4. Engineering data stage

The engineering office (Applicant) should enter the engineering information for the request in this stage, which includes:

• Thermal Insulation
• Electrical load
• Water and sewerage details
• Building entrance and building units
• Building point
• Required documents
5. Application review by another engineering office (Reviewer)

Before submitting a building permit application, the engineering office must first submit all required drawings and documents to another engineering office (Same category or higher) to review and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and standards. Choosing the engineering office should be through the building permit system “Benayat”.

Once reviewed and approved, the applying engineering office must upload the documents into the Building Permit system and must select the engineering office(s) that reviewed them.

Note: The engineering office that reviewed the documents has 7 working days to electronically verify that they have performed the review. Otherwise, the applying engineering office must re-upload the documents.

Uploading the documents into the system does not constitute a formal submission of an application. Only after the electronic verification of the reviewing engineering office will the application be officially accepted.

6. Service Connectivity stage - The comments of the service entities mentioned below must be obtained.
• Sanitary Engineering Planning and Projects Directorate (SEPPD): will receive an application to determine compatibility of connection and inform the applicant through the system on whether a Septic Tank is required or not.
• Water Distribution Directorate (WDD): will determine availability of water network:
  • If the network is not available: WDD will inform applicants of the estimated connection date in the issued building permit.
  • If the network is available but there is a mismatch in flow capacity: WDD will provide applicants with the expected connection date.
• Electricity Distribution Directorate (EDD): will determine electricity load availability and inform applicants through the electronic system the estimated connection date if the load is not available. EDD will also perform a site inspection to identify any cable network conflict, and inform applicants the following:
  • If a “Customer Request” (CR) is required
  • The cost of the CR.
• Approvals take a maximum of 5 working days.
7. Payment stage
• Building Permit Fees: These fees are to be paid online via the building permit system.
• Building Permit Insurance Deposit: The deposit fees are to be paid online via the building permit system.
• Civil Aviation Fees (If applicable): These fees are to be paid in the event the height of the building exceeds 30m from sea level. The fees are fixed at (BD 100).
• Building permit fees are being calculated as per building permit fee schedule click here
8. Issue New Construction Building Permit Electronically

Once the new construction building permit fees are paid, the system will instantaneously issue an electronic new construction building permit. The building permit is valid for one year from the date of issuance.

9. Auditing Building Permits Issued for New Construction

The permit is subjected to random audit at any stage of construction after the date of issuance.