Permitting and Licensing: Object Permission versus Professional Licence
Two different instruments
A licence (լիցենզիա) is issued under the Law on Licensing to a person - a design office, a contractor, a technical supervision or expertise organisation, a surveying firm - and authorises that activity in general. A permit (թույլտվություն) is issued for an object - to build, to demolish, to occupy - and authorises that specific intervention at that specific address. Questions habitually swap the two, or imply that a licence lets a firm build anywhere.
The permit cycle
The application goes to the authorised body: usually the community head, and the Urban Development Committee or marz administration for larger, linear or specially regulated objects. The package normally includes proof of rights to the land, design documentation with a positive expertise conclusion where expertise is mandatory, the designer's and contractor's licences, and technical conditions issued by utility operators. The permit has a limited validity, can be extended, and can be suspended or revoked for breach. Construction may not start before it is issued.
On completion the object passes the acceptance procedure, and the occupancy permit (շահագործման թույլտվություն) makes use lawful. Utility connections and cadastre registration follow.
Traps
- Believing a licence covers a particular site; it does not.
- Beginning demolition or excavation "because the design is approved".
- Altering structural or fire-safety solutions on site without amended documentation and, where required, repeat expertise.
- Overlooking that building without a permit creates unauthorised construction (ինքնակամ շինարարություն), to be legalised or removed at the owner's cost.
Rule of thumb
No permit, no shovel; no occupancy permit, no use. Any change affecting structure, safety, fire compartments or facade goes back through design and, where mandatory, through expertise.