The reconstruction of a building in Georgia is not governed by a separate "reconstruction permit" regime: it falls under the general rules of the Spatial Planning, Urban Development and Construction Code, under which the legal basis for carrying out construction is a construction notification or a construction permit — and which of the two your project needs is determined by the class of the building. In reconstruction the class often changes, and precisely for this case the Code lays down a special rule: where the class increases or decreases, the assignment is made according to the final characteristics and parameters. This page explains how a reconstruction project is assessed, when it is covered by a notification, when it requires a permit, and within which timeframes the proceeding runs.
The legal basis for reconstruction and the issuing authority
Under the Code, the legal basis for carrying out the construction of a building is a construction notification or a construction permit. For reconstruction the rule on insignificant changes is of particular importance: making an insignificant change to a building or to the construction documentation determined by Georgian legislation requires neither a notification nor a permit, whereas a change exceeding the threshold of insignificant changes requires obtaining the legal basis anew. The characteristics and parameters of insignificant changes are determined by a government decree — which means that at the very first stage of reconstruction it must be established whether your plans fit within the bounds of an insignificant change. The administrative authority competent to agree a construction notification or issue a construction permit is the executive organ of the respective municipality, or a public-law legal entity founded by the municipality.
Building classes and reconstruction
The Code divides buildings, for the purposes of protecting human health and the environment, and of permit issuance and acceptance for operation, into five classes: class I is characterized by insignificant risk, class II by low risk, class III by medium risk, class IV by high risk, and class V by excessive technical danger. Where, in reconstruction, the class of the building increases or decreases, the assignment to a class is made according to the final characteristics — what matters is not the existing building but the one resulting from the reconstruction. Where a building or a combination of buildings has characteristics determining different classes, the highest apply.
The class decides the legal basis: the construction of a class I building is, apart from cases provided by the Code, subject to a simple notification, while class II–IV buildings require a permit. A municipal assembly may, within its boundaries or a part of them, prescribe a detailed notification for class II instead of the permit, and for class I a detailed notification or a permit instead of the simple notification. For this reason the local rules must be checked before drafting a reconstruction plan: the same object may fall under different legal regimes in different municipalities. Remember the sanction boundary too: construction subject to notification but begun without it is unauthorized construction, and so is construction which, in breach of the notification, exceeds the characteristics of the class for which the notification obligation was determined.