How do I check that a building has a valid building permit and occupancy permit before I buy or rent?

Also asked as: “How do I check that a building has a valid building permit and occupancy permit in Lebanon?” · “How do I know if a building in Lebanon has an occupancy permit?” · “Can I buy a flat in a building without an occupancy permit?” · “Where do I check a building permit in Lebanon?”

What each permit is and who issues it#

Under Law 646 of 2004, the Building Law, you need a permit before you build, convert, renovate or renew any building^[1]. The plans are signed by a responsible engineer and registered with the Order of Engineers in Beirut or Tripoli, and the permit is issued by the head of the municipality, or the governor or caimacam outside municipal areas. A building permit is valid for six years, renewable once for two years, and no slab or roof may be poured without a pouring permit signed by the responsible engineer.

The occupancy permit comes at the end. Once the building is finished, facades included, the owner applies to the technical administration for the occupancy permit (رخصة الإشغال)^[1], with as-built plans registered with the Order of Engineers. It can be granted for a whole project, for one building or block, or for part of a building whose facades and common parts are finished. Decree 15874 also uses the term completion certificate (إفادة إنجاز البناء), and which name your municipality uses is not confirmed.

The administration must grant or refuse the occupancy permit within one month^[1] of the application. If it does not answer, the owner may treat the building as licensed to occupy at his own responsibility and inform the administration in writing, provided the building conforms and fees for any extra area are paid within 2 months. The permit is granted only after all fees and fines for any area built without a permit are paid.

Why the occupancy permit decides whether a flat can be yours#

The Land Registry and survey departments may not finally divide a building into separate units unless the owner shows an occupancy permit plus electricity and water connection certificates^[1]. Without that division, a flat cannot get its own real folio. Once a building is divided, each unit gets a number added to the plot number and its own folio: common areas 1 to 3; units from 4^[3]. If you are offered a number of shares in the whole plot instead of a numbered unit, you are buying undivided shares, and no specific flat is marked out as yours^[4,5,6].

Decree 15874 of 2005 also bans selling or transferring parts of a building that has no final occupancy permit, except units under Law 539 of 1996^[2]. A provisional occupancy permit is renewed every year until the building permit expires. It lets people connect water, electricity and phone and live there, but it is not valid for final subdivision, sale or final registration. More in provisional and final occupancy permits and getting your own title deed in a new building.

Older buildings may have no occupancy permit at all, and the law accepts substitutes. One is an official statement from the municipality head, governor, caimacam or finance department that the building was completed before 13 September 1971^[1]. Another is a statement that the occupancy request was not decided in time, together with an engineer's conformity certificate.

What the Land Registry extract shows, and what it misses#

Start with an official extract (ifadeh aqariyeh). It describes the plot and lists the owners, mortgages, seizures, other charges and pending court actions^[7,8]. A building violation is recorded on the real folio until settled or removed^[1], but only at the request of the municipality or the technical administration, so a clean extract does not prove the building matches its permit. We found no source saying whether the building or occupancy permit itself appears on the extract.

Some building debts do show up there. Unpaid violations under Law 139/2019 stay on the folio, with their fees and fines as a privileged debt, until settled^[9]. A yearly fine of 15% of the permit fees per year^[1] for facades left unfinished after the permit expires is also entered on the folio as a privileged debt. The municipality gives no clearance until fines and fees for unpermitted work are paid and the violation is settled. See how to find building violations before you buy.

To order the extract you give the governorate, district, real estate zone, property number, section and block^[7,10], where they apply. You request it at the land registry office for the property's area^[7,11]. Legalmondo put the fee at USD 5^[7] in June 2025, and it may be collected in LBP, so ask the registry office before you go. Kallas Law Firm gave about 10 days; 2 business days^[8] in October 2025, the second figure being for a physical certificate. Copies viewed online or through OMT are unofficial and cannot be used for a transaction^[7,8,10,12]. Here is how to get an extract and what it costs.

Who will show you the permits#

No published source says which office gives a buyer or tenant a copy of a building or occupancy permit, or whether it will give one to someone who is not the owner. The building permit is issued by the head of the municipality, or the governor or caimacam outside municipal areas^[1], so start with the municipality where the property lies. If the property is outside any municipality, ask the caimacam's or governor's office. Occupancy permits are applied for at the competent technical administration, so ask the municipality which administration handled the file and ask there as well.

A 2018 Beirut Arab University journal article names three bodies involved in a building permit: the Order of Engineers, General Directorate of Urban Planning and the municipality^[13]. Ask the seller or landlord for copies first. If an office will deal only with the owner, ask the owner to get copies and hand them to you before you pay anything.