It is compulsory under the Lagos State Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law 2010 for any intending developer to process and obtain a Planning Permit before embarking on construction. The Lagos State Planning Permit Regulation also emphasized that” Any person, Corporate Body, Federal, State, and Local Government or its Agencies intending to carry out any development on any land within the state shall apply to the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority for the grant of Planning Permit for such development”.
However, not all the owners or developers of buildings are conversant with the procedure of obtaining the Planning Permit in Lagos State. By so doing, they engaged the services of quarks or non-professionals to undertake the Procedure for them. Failure to follow the procedure to ensure quick delivery of the Planning Permit at the right time usually leads to the commencement of buildings that invariably constitute and add to the existing illegal structures.
The procedure for obtaining the Planning Permit can be manually or electronically done through the use of the Lagos State epp platform which will be discussed later. Here are the stages involved in the manual processing of obtaining the Planning Permit.
STAGE A: Pre– Screening of the drawings.
Applicant’s or representative takes the Architectural and Structural drawings, Survey Plan and the Title document (click) to the Planning Office where the land is located for pre-screening exercise which commences with the following:
- Chatting of the Survey plan on all relevant maps to confirm whether it is free from any known Government acquisition and zoning compatibility with the proposed development. (click to know about types of a title)
- Site visit with the officials for visual appraisal to confirm site Location, Beacons position with numbers, proximity to both Natural and Artificial features, and Accessibility. The officer will prepare the detailed site location sketch and takes necessary photographs with the date.
- The Architect and the Structural Engineer (where applicable) will vet the drawings in line with the regulations, standards, and approval order. (click)
- Once items 1 (a-c) are found to be okay, the processing continues to the second stage. If not, the applicant would be informed to amend accordingly.
STAGE B: Calculation of assessment.
The assessment fees payable for the Planning Permit application processess to the Government coffers in line with proposed development will be calculated. The calculation is usually based on the volume of the building i.e Lenght X Breadth X Height X a constant (based on the Local Government Areas of the State) (see the post on how to calculate the assessment fees).
The Bank payment advice (containing the State Government account number, Revenue Code and the Agency Code) will be given to the applicant or the agent as well as the application form. Applicant’s or the agent’s proceeds to any of the designated banks to pay and collect the Lagos State Government official receipt immediately. He or she completes the vital part of the application form and swear to an affidavit therein accordingly.
STAGE C. Registration of the application
The applicant takes all the documents (click here to know the documents) with the payment receipt back to the District Planning office for registration and further processing to the approval stage. It is important to mention here that the applicant or agent is mandated to have obtained other clearances from other MDA’s (click) necessary for the Planning Permit application process before registration to forestall any delay in the processing. Please ensure a follow up to attend promptly to any query that could arise.
STAGE D. Officials responsibilities
The officials responsibilities towards the Planning Permit processes includes but not limited to:
- Site inspection report;
- Charting report;
- Engineer’s clearance with approval;
- Clearance of all payments;
- Vetting and recommendation of the application;
- Concurrent approval if applicable; and
- Final approval by the District Officer.
STAGE E: Notification and Collection
The applicant will be notified of the approval, and the Tax status for clearance and confirmation before the Planning Permit granted can be released. (click to know about revocation)