Bundesportal | Applying for planning permission for the construction of an installation using the simplified procedure

More Information

Publisher

Hesse

Last update or date of publication

February 20, 2026

Contact

The government service telephone number 115 – your point of contact for questions related to the federal, state and local.

Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 18:00 (and beyond these times in some regions).

Call 115 now

Government service telephone number calls are charged at local rates.

The simplified procedure is used for all construction projects that:

are not special buildings
do not require planning permission and
are not subject to an exemption from approval.

In the case of building projects that are subject to the exemption from approval, the municipality can declare that a simplified building permit procedure is to be carried out. The client can request that the simplified building permit procedure be carried out.

In contrast to the full procedure, the scope of the building supervisory authority's review is significantly reduced in the simplified building permit procedure.

The subject of the examination is

the compatibility of the project with building planning law
Deviations, exceptions or exemptions applied for in accordance with § 73 HBO
other regulations under public law insofar as the building permit eliminates or replaces a decision under these regulations

The building owner is responsible for ensuring that public law regulations that are not examined in the simplified building permit procedure are also complied with. In individual cases, a deviation, exception or exemption from public law regulations that do not need to be checked must also be applied for. In the event of a breach of these regulations, the building permit authority can stop the construction or have what has already been built demolished.

The building permit expires if you do not start construction work within 3 years of the permit being granted or if construction work has been interrupted for one year after this period. The period can be extended by up to 2 years in each case, even several times, with a written application.

In addition to the building application, the documents required for the assessment of the project and the processing of the building application (e.g. site plan, extract from the official real estate map, building description, construction drawings, etc.) must be submitted to the lower building supervisory authority in analog/digital form.

The documents to be submitted can be found in the Hessian Building Submission Decree.

The structural engineering certificates must be submitted to the building inspectorate prior to the execution of the respective construction phases, the building documents not subject to mandatory inspection prior to the start of construction.

Preconditions

The following requirements must be met for your building project to be examined in the simplified procedure:

The project is not a special building.
Exemption from approval is not possible. This is the case if the project is not completely within the scope of a suitable development plan, an exception or exemption would be required, the development is not secured, a deviation is required or the municipality requires a regular approval procedure.
No extended exemption regulations apply to residential buildings in unplanned inner areas. The simplified procedure is only used if there are no requirements for exemption here either.
The building application is submitted in full in the building portal or analogously.

Hints

Firing systems may only be put into operation after the expert for energy generation systems (e.g. the authorized chimney sweep) has certified that they are safe to use and that the exhaust gases are properly discharged.

The amount of the fees is determined on the basis of the shell construction costs of the building. A minimum of 7 euros is set per 1,000 euros of shell construction costs. The respective local authorities may set different fees in their bylaws.

Basis for legal action

§ 2 Hessian Building Regulations (HBO): Terms

§ 57 Hessian Building Regulations (HBO): Author of the design, Author of the design, Authorization to submit building documents

§ 69 Hessian Building Regulations (HBO): Building application, building documents

§ Section 65 of the Hessian Building Code (HBO): Simplified building permit procedure

§ Section 71 of the Hessian Building Code (HBO): Participation of the neighborhood

§ Section 73 of the Hessian Building Code (HBO): Deviations

§ Section 75 of the Hessian Building Regulations (HBO): Start of construction

Legal Remedies

An appeal may be lodged against the authority's decision within one month of notification.

Procedure

- You complete the application digitally in the building portal or in analog form and submit it together with the required documents to the responsible building authority
- The building authority checks your application and the documents
- If all requirements are met, the building authority will grant you the permit

Processing time

The duration of the procedure depends on the individual case, including which agencies need to be involved. As a rule, the procedure takes a maximum of 3 months. The procedure can only be extended by 2 months if there are special circumstances.
The building application is deemed to have been approved if no decision has been made within this period.

Label

Selected region