How to check if a project has a construction permit in the Dominican Republic

Who issues the permit

Law 160-21, which created the Ministry of Housing, Habitat and Buildings (MIVHED), gives it the power to issue permits to build public and private buildings (Article 12). Its Directorate of Processing, Appraisal and Permits (Dirección de Tramitación, Tasación y Licencias) issues them, and applications go through the Single Construction Window (Ventanilla Única de la Construcción, VUC), which presents itself as the only channel for issuing construction permits and licenses that brings together the institutions involved in a project.

Under the Construction Code published by the MIVHED, the owner or the project director applies with the plans and with the prior approvals of the other institutions, among them:

• The city government, with the land-use approval and the plans approved by its urban planning office.
• The Ministry of Environment, with the environmental permit or license for projects that require one (Law 64-00).
• The Ministry of Tourism, for tourism projects.

The application also includes the cadastral plan and the land title. And under the Code, no work can start without its permit, except preliminary work the MIVHED authorizes provisionally.

The general side of buying pre-construction, like payment plans, your money and the contract, is in how to buy pre-construction safely. This guide covers only the permit.

How to look it up on Inteligencia MIVHED

Inteligencia MIVHED is the ministry's public platform for following applications for construction permits and licenses. You don't need an account:

1. Go to inteligencia.mivhed.gob.do.
2. Type the project's name or its code in the search box at the top, "Buscar código o proyecto" (search code or project). The code is the one from the Single Window: the letters VUC, a number, a hyphen and the year it was filed.
3. Open the application. You'll see its status, the permit type or "Sin licencia" (no permit), the filing and issue dates, the number of each permit issued and the institutions involved.
4. Check the cutoff date (fecha de corte), which is the date of the most recent information on the platform.

If you can't find it, try other names: the name it was filed under may not be the marketing name, and dozens on the list start with "Fideicomiso". The list of issued permits starts in January 2023. If it still doesn't show up, ask the developer for the permit number and a copy.

What each status means

The platform explains an application's statuses like this:

• Registrada (registered). It entered the system and has no technical reviews yet.
• En revisión (under review). It has documents pending technical review by the MIVHED.
• Con observaciones (with observations). The technical reviews left observations, and the next step is the applicant's.
• Emitida (issued). It has at least one issued permit that hasn't been canceled.
• Cancelada (canceled). All the permits issued for the application have been canceled.

Only "Emitida" means there's a permit. And, as the platform itself warns, how long an application has been open or how many institutions are involved don't prove a delay or a breach on their own.

Permit types

On the MIVHED list, each issued permit has a type:

• Nueva licencia (new permit). The project's construction permit.
• Modificación a licencia (amendment). The project changed after it was approved. Under the Construction Code, changes to the plans are submitted to the MIVHED for approval, and if they affect the structure or the building systems, work is suspended until they're approved.
• Renovación a licencia (renewal). It's requested when the permit expires (more on that below).
• Condicionada (conditional). It isn't the final permit: the MIVHED counts final and conditional permits separately. According to El Inmobiliario, the conditional authorization covers preliminary work, such as digging the foundations, setting up the equipment or putting up a shed for materials, which the Construction Code allows the MIVHED to authorize provisionally before the permit.

If all a project has is a conditional permit, it doesn't yet have the permit to put up the building.

How long a permit lasts

Under the Construction Code:

• A permit expires if work doesn't start within a year of its issue date, and also if work stops for a year. To continue, a renewal has to be requested, and the MIVHED checks that the conditions it was granted under still hold.
• A permit is considered void if the project doesn't get all the MIVHED inspections and the material test results aren't filed.

So it isn't enough that the project once had a permit: check the issue date, whether work started within that year and whether it has stopped.

What you should see at the site

If you visit the land or the site, the Code requires:

• An identification sign of at least 1.20 by 2.40 meters (4 by 8 feet), with the project's name, the MIVHED permit number, the environmental permit number, the engineer or company responsible with their number from the CODIA (the Dominican association of engineers, architects and surveyors) and the site address.
• A copy of the permit and of all the approved plans in a visible place, available to the inspectors.

Write down the permit number on the sign and look it up on the platform.

What to ask the developer

1. The permit number and a copy. Check on the platform that the number, type and date match. If it only has a conditional permit, ask where the final one stands.
2. The approved plans. Each sheet carries the MIVHED stamp with the approval, the permit number and the date. Ask to see the ones for your unit type.
3. The other institutions' permits: the city's land-use approval, the environmental permit and, for a tourism project, the Ministry of Tourism's authorization.
4. If there's no permit yet, the application code, so you can follow it yourself on the platform, and what the contract says if the permit doesn't come through: when and how much you get back.
5. If the project changed since it was approved, for example with more floors, the permit amendment.
6. If you want more than a copy, a certification of the permit: the MIVHED issues it through a form from its Directorate of Processing, Appraisal and Permits that asks for the project owner's details.

The permit is issued in the owner's name. That name has to make sense with the company selling to you and with the land title, which may be in the name of the developer, the landowner or the trust company if there's a real estate trust. If it doesn't, ask for an explanation in writing. How to check the title is in how to verify a property title.

Checking it with Instadigs

Digger AI Agent, the Instadigs AI agent, looks up each project's permit in the MIVHED data and tells you what it could verify and what's still to be confirmed. Asking it is free.

And before you pay the reservation, at Instadigs we check the MIVHED permit and the environmental permit, the land title and whose name it's in, the company that's selling and where your money goes.

See projects in the Dominican Republic. Instadigs gives you back 100% of the commission it earns, on every purchase: it's credited to your property after you pay the down payment (how it works).