Can I add a floor or extend my building in Lebanon, and what permit do I need?

Also asked as: “Can I add a floor to my building in Lebanon and what permit is needed?” · “Permit to build an extra floor in Lebanon” · “Can I build on my roof in Lebanon?” · “Extending a house in Lebanon: which permit?”

Which permit an extra floor needs#

Law 646 of 2004, the Building Law, requires a prior permit to build, convert, renovate or renew any building^[2]. A responsible engineer signs the application and plans, and they are registered with the Order of Engineers in Beirut or Tripoli. The permit is issued by the head of the municipality, or the governor or caimacam outside municipal areas.

Maintenance, retaining walls, plastering and renovation of lawful or regularised buildings need only an engineer's declaration, valid one year^[2]. That route is for renovating a flat. Structural changes and additions, extra floors included, go through the full permit.

For small buildings there is a second route under Law 294/2022. It lets the owner of a plot with an existing building use the model-design regime within that law's area and floor limits, with a structural engineer's report^[3]. The two routes compare like this:

More in the model-design fee discount.

How much you can add depends on the plot#

The floor area a plot can carry is set by its exploitation factors. According to a 2023 academic paper, the decrees implementing the Building Law define a surface exploitation factor and a total exploitation factor for each plot, and balconies may add up to 20%^[1]. The factors are fixed zone by zone in each area's planning rules. We found no published figures for any zone, and no source on height or floor limits per zone.

Ask the municipality and your engineer for your zone's surface and total factors, maximum height and number of floors, and how much of that the existing building already uses. If the existing floors already use the full allowance, there is nothing left to add. See what the exploitation factor is.

A permit is granted under the laws and zoning rules in force on the day it is granted. If errors are found later, only the part already built counts as an acquired right^[7]. A 2018 BAU Journal article names three bodies involved in a permit: the Order of Engineers, the General Directorate of Urban Planning and the municipality^[8].

Check the existing building first#

Al Jazeera reported in February 2026 that local officials, after the Tripoli collapse of 8 February 2026, said the 2023 earthquake had damaged older buildings, many of them weakened by irregular added floors^[9]. The owner must keep the building maintained, stable and sound, and must commission engineers to inspect it when needed or when the municipality asks^[2]. On the model-design route the structural report is a legal condition^[3]. On the full route, ask your engineer for a written assessment of the existing frame anyway, before anyone designs the new floor.

Structural strengthening and roof replacement are allowed only in lawful or regularised buildings^[2]. None of our sources says how to prove that an existing building is lawful before you extend it. Ask your engineer to compare the building with its permit and occupancy plans, and ask the municipality whether it holds any violation report.

A violation is written on the property's real folio only at the request of the municipality or the technical administration, so a clean Land Registry extract does not prove there is none^[2]. The municipality gives no clearance until fines are paid and the violation is settled. Older violations, built from 13 September 1971 to 31 December 2018, fall under Law 139/2019^[4,10]. See legalising a building without a permit.

Shared buildings and selling the new floor#

The top roof is a common part of the building, unless the building's own management regulation at the Land Registry allocates it differently^[5,6]. Under the co-ownership decree, the owners' association may add a building by at least 75% of the owners' votes, although acts of disposal otherwise need unanimity. According to the Lebanese Army magazine's summary of the decree, changing units' shares in the common parts needs every owner's vote^[5]. Our sources do not say which of these rules a new floor triggers, so ask a property lawyer before you commit. More in what the co-ownership law says.

The bar is high even for small jobs. In a subdivided building, a declaration for external maintenance or cosmetic works needs approval of the owners' association or 75% of the owners^[7,11].

To sell the new floor as its own flat, it needs its own folio. The Land Registry will not subdivide a building into units without an occupancy permit plus electricity and water connection certificates^[2]. A building's parts can be registered as separate units only if the construction complies with the building laws^[11]. A provisional occupancy permit allows connections and living there, but not final subdivision, sale or registration^[7].