Building permit

A building permit is a permit for construction granted by the municipal building supervision authority in accordance with the Construction Act. A building project notification is made on projects requiring a building permit, on which data content the statistics on new production of buildings are based.

Construction actions requiring a building permit are such as construction of a new building, renovation and repair work comparable to construction of a building, expansion of a building or addition of space calculated in its gross floor area, and essential alteration of the intended use of the building or its part. The current Construction Act entered into force on 1 January 2025. Unlike before, building permits are no longer required for new buildings of under 30 square metres with other intended use than housing. These include, for example, sauna buildings and outhouses.

One building permit may cover one or more construction actions. The construction action is directed at one building. The number recorded in the statistics is the number of construction actions.