1. Stage 1: before design
Four checks precede everything else, and the fourth depends on the first three. They concern the register and the data.
| Check | Why here |
|---|---|
| See what the building register records and whether it matches reality | everything else rests on this |
| Check the volume data separately | they affect the type of procedure |
| Check the plot's restrictions | they follow from the location, not the building |
| Determine the type of procedure from the Annex 1 in force | not from memory |
The fourth check cannot be taken ahead of the first three, because the row in Annex 1 is found using exactly those data. The method is set out in the six questions article.
2. Stage 2: before submitting the application
Four steps depend on the type of procedure, and the second carries the greatest effect right now. The type must be settled before the steps.
| Step | Note |
|---|---|
| If the answer is a building permit, check the planning basis | it determines the schedule |
| Check whether design conditions suffice instead of a detailed plan | this can save years |
| Check the designer's competence in the register | before signing the contract |
| Allow for the state fee | mandatory with a permit, and charged per building |
The second step is rarely asked, because until now it often had no answer. Since 1 August 2026 it does, and the difference is up to three years versus one to two months.
3. Stage 3: during construction
Three tasks tolerate no postponement, and the first determines the whole ending. They concern gathering the documents.
Record every departure from the design when it arises, and prepare the amendment design as you go rather than at the end of construction. Check the validity of the building right as well, which for a building notice is now four years.
The first task determines whether occupancy goes smoothly, and no later procedure substitutes for it. A departure that was not documented during construction does not become easier in the occupancy procedure, it becomes more expensive.
4. Stage 4: occupancy
Three checks before initiating the procedure, and one requirement above them. The requirement concerns the accuracy of the data.
| Check | Note |
|---|---|
| Whether what was built matches the design and the amendment design | the real substance of the procedure |
| Whether an occupancy permit or an occupancy notice applies | changed on 01.08.2026 |
| Whether several buildings can be handled in one procedure | where there is more than one |
The amendment design must be submitted beforehand, not during the procedure. This is where stage 3 either pays off or exacts its price.
5. Five critical moments
At these moments a mistake becomes expensive, and the third of them is new. They are the decision points of the procedure.
| Moment | Why critical |
|---|---|
| Signing the design contract without checking the register | a wrong basis carries through the whole project |
| Determining the procedure from memory | the table changed on 01.08.2026 |
| Waiting on a detailed plan without checking whether design conditions now suffice | new, affects projects on hold |
| Starting work before the 10 days have passed | the building notice waiting period |
| Initiating occupancy without an amendment design | the procedure stalls |
The third moment concerns projects that were on hold before 1 August 2026, and there wrong inaction costs more than wrong action. Their position must be checked with the authority.
6. What applies to an existing building
Four steps where the building already exists, and the last is the one most often forgotten. The last concerns taking the building into use.
| Step | Why |
|---|---|
| Establish the construction date | it determines the requirements |
| Look for the building design | it replaces the audit and saves that cost |
| Gather evidence of the construction date | where the building predates 22.07.1995 |
| Submit the data submission notice | lawfulness is not the same as a register entry |
The consequences for sale and lending depend on the fourth step, and that is precisely the step left undone, because the first three look like a finished job. They surface only on a transaction.
7. One sentence that sums up the guide
Three statements that are really the same statement seen three ways. They all reduce to the register.
In Estonia a building permit is not a paper you obtain but a state of the register you reach. Every procedure begins in the register and ends in the register, and between construction and use lies a procedure whose substance is conformity, not completion.
The rest of the guide follows from this: if the measure of the procedure is conformity, then preparation is not a formality but the main work. The register is therefore the starting point.
Summary and four practical rules
The procedure divides into four stages: checking the register before design, checking the planning basis and the designer's competence before the application, documenting departures as they arise during construction, and checking conformity at occupancy. Of the five critical moments one is new, namely waiting on a detailed plan without checking whether design conditions now suffice. With an existing building the data submission notice is most often forgotten, although the consequences for sale and lending depend on precisely that step.
Four rules: check the register before every contract. Open the Annex 1 in force for every project afresh. Document changes during construction rather than at the end. Ask the local authority in writing where a boundary is unclear, because practice is still forming.
This article offers professional orientation as at the date of verification. It does not replace the assessment of the local authority.