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The following question had already been asked many times by our clients from different countries: whether a building permit is required for the construction of a prefabricated house?! The Construction Act of Republic of Croatia does not recognize the term “prefabricated house”, and we are not sure what the official definition of it would be, although it often alludes to constructions without concrete, wooden structures, prefabricated buildings with typical projects and so on. Regardless of the design of the new residential house, whether it is a wooden house, a house made of stone, brick, reinforced concrete, 3D printed, or similar, that house must be designed and harmonized with the Spatial Plan, the Construction Norms and meet its regulations. In other words, regardless of the materials and method of construction, the building must meet today's basic requirements: mechanical resistance and stability, energy efficiency, hygiene, fire protection and other. As with any construction, the procedure starts with an assessment of the construction conditions on the land plot. This is followed by the creation of the main project, which is tied to the building permit, erection of the building, finally, the usage permit.
If you have got a ready-made house with project which you can not change as the houses are already in mass production in some other country – you should apply to a local Croatian architect who will adapt your existing project documentation to Croatian rules and submit it to regulatory authorities for building permit. It is up to relevant authorities to decide whether to issue building permit or not but the architect can give his professional opinion upfront, so that you do not wasye your time. He can also advise what type land and of what minimum size can be purchased for your ready-made house to obtain building permit. So, your investment project connected with prefab houses should start from the architect’s office, from where you get necessary land parameters and start searching land as per the architect’s recommendations.
Many clients get attracted by prices of 3-5-10 eur/m2 they see over Internet and which belong to agro (rural purpose) land. There are certain limitations that should be repeated: the construction of residential buildings, as everyone knows, is allowed on construction land, but exceptionally also outside construction land (e.g. agricultural land) in the event that an extremely large area is available (min. 20 ha) or that it is intended for rural tourism (min. 2 ha, at the seaside - 3 ha). Buildings on large terrains are also subject to certain regulations - they are only ground floors with basements and should have auxiliary elements, depending on usage, such as wine / olive producing or tasting rooms etc…
According to the definition of the construction law, a building is an assembly connected to the ground that was created by construction. Houses on wheels are therefore not buildings or houses (buildings) and should be viewed in the context of vehicles or other movable property (trucks, trailers, campers, etc.). As such, they are not subject to construction laws. However, you should know that even parking on certain lands is prohibited.
Everything that is used for housing must meet the basic standards of hygiene, safety, noise, fire protection and have appropriate properties in terms of energy conservation. Therefore, regardless of the home type, the requirements must be met, which is confirmed by the project and permit. Containers as a construction standing on the ground and created by construction can be used for housing. Equally, as it is possible to make a house, for example, from the wreckage of an airplane or any other raw material or material. However, the same rules apply to each version as for classical construction. Project and construction permit will be required in any case.
Mobile homes are not structures, and neither are truck campers. They should be used in designated areas (camps, tourist settlements, etc.). Mobile homes on wheels should be placed on T3 land plots (specially zoned for camping). T3 lands have special regulations in terms of water, electricity supply of every parking place for mobile home. You can not park houses on wheels where you want.
Construction can only be carried out by an authorized company that maintains proper technical documentation (work schedule, construction diary, etc.). All the installed equipment must have appropriate certificates. At least main engineering elements which require connection to the central network (electricity, water, wastewater) should be done by certified Croatian specialists – otherwise connection will not be possible.
Individuals who have completed undergraduate professional studies or undergraduate university studies in the field of architecture or construction and have passed the professional exam for jobs in construction can build for their own needs (qualifications should be confirmed in Croatia). Such a house, which is built by a qualified and authorized person for his own needs, must be entirely residential or at least 70% of the gross construction area must be intended for housing. Also, such a house must not have more than four residential units are usual as small object, under 400 m2 (three units if it is semidetached house). In that case, the investor who is also the contractor must entrust the expert supervision to another authorized person, and the contractor must be mentioned on the construction site information board as a natural person with first and last name.
Agricultural land are intended for agricultural purpose and buildings of such purpose can be built on it (greenhouses, farms, tool sheds, field houses, etc.). For example, some spatial plans allow field houses of up to 30 m2 (usual under 25 m2.) on an area of min. 1,000 m2, storage for tools of approx. 10 m2 on slightly smaller areas, etc. The listed buildings may NOT be used for housing or accommodation services, and a building permit is still required for them (with the exception of auxiliary building on a part of the main building and if it is located in construction zone and it is 25 m2, for instance garage), the main project is sufficient. If you really want to build a residential building on agricultural land, that land must have an extremely large area, min. 20 ha, or 2 ha if it is an OPG (rural tourism structure) in the hinterland or 3 ha if the OPG is on the coast.
Considering that "prefab houses" are often used as non-residential, i.e. as tool sheds, garages, etc., we draw your attention to the existence of the Ordinance on Simple Buildings, which enables the construction of such buildings without a permit, but with the main project. It is specifically about auxiliary facilities up to 50 m2 in operation and on the common part of the main building. Garages can be built without building permit up to 25 m2. Swimming pools up to 100 m2. just need official main project corresponding to all the rules, but do not need official building permit. In the aforementioned rulebook, temporary facilities for the needs of events, fairs, etc. are also defined.
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