Apply for initial ruling

Before you officially submit an application for an environment and planning permit, you can first apply for an initial ruling. The municipality will assess:

• whether your plan is advisable and feasible at the location: does it fit with the wishes and goals in the local vision
• under which conditions will the municipality approve your plan
• if you need any other permits in addition to the environment and planning permit

The municipality will assess your building plan in the same way as a regular application for an environment and planning permit. It will only skip over the things which cannot yet be assessed. The initial ruling helps you find out if the municipality will allow a building in a certain spot. You provide construction drawings for the building with the measurements. You do not yet have to submit any architectural information and calculations. These things will however be required for an application for an environment and planning permit.  

The municipality will not consider any information you do not provide for the initial ruling. The municipality will assess this additional information only when you apply for an environment and planning permit.

You are not yet allowed to start building or renovating with an initial ruling. But the initial ruling does help you figure out how feasible your plan is. Afterwards you can decide to apply for the environment and planning permit.

An initial ruling is for everyone who:

• has a complex building plan that does not fit with the rules in the Omgevingsplan
• wants to apply for an environment and planning permit

Do you have a common type of building plan, such as the construction of a roof dormer or an extension? Then you usually do not have to apply for an initial ruling.

Send any information which is important for the assessment of your plan. Check the list on Begin link: Beginseluitspraak omgevingsvergunning aanvragen: bijlagen, end link. (in Dutch).

Use the form below to apply.

• For initial rulings on plans with building costs up to € 1,000,000: € 130.
• For initial rulings on plans with building costs of € 1,000,000 or more: 20% of the fees for an environment and planning permit will be charged. If you later, within 2 years after the initial ruling, apply for an environment and planning permit, the fees you paid for the initial ruling will be deducted from the costs of the environment and planning permit. 

The amount of time it takes before you get the initial ruling depends on how complex your building plan is. It can take up to 4 months for highly complex plans.

Have you submitted an environment and planning permit application before an initial ruling has been given? Then the procedure for the initial ruling will stop. You will still have to pay the processing fees for the initial ruling.