Construction permit: the act that lets a building rise
A construction permit (მშენებლობის ნებართვა) is the administrative act by which the competent authority allows a specific building, of a specific class, to be built on a specific plot; building without one, or beyond what it allows, is unauthorised construction.
Two texts govern it. The first is the Spatial Planning, Architectural and Construction Activities Code of Georgia, adopted on 20 July 2018, whose latest consolidated version is dated 25 June 2026. The second is Government Resolution No 255 of 31 May 2019, in force since 3 June 2019, on the rules for issuing permits and commissioning buildings. In Tbilisi the permit is issued by the City Hall's Architecture Service; for the highest-risk Class V buildings, the cases we found were decided by the national Technical and Construction Supervision Agency.
The Code's list of definitions in Article 3 does not define "construction permit" itself. It defines the surrounding words instead: "construction" covers site preparation, new construction, reconstruction, demolition, conservation and repair; "permit documentation" means the documents for obtaining a construction permit drafted under Georgian law; and "unauthorised construction" is construction "undertaken without the legal grounds established by the legislation of Georgia", including breaches of the construction documentation, a change of function and exceeding the gross floor area ratio. The permit is therefore best understood by what its absence makes illegal.
English translations of the Georgian term vary. Geostat calls the same documents "permissions granted for construction", and some sources say "building permit". On this site we use "construction permit" throughout.
The legal texts behind a permit
Stages, deadlines and validity are set out in our guide to construction permits and how to check one. The table covers the provisions around them.
| Provision | What it says | Why a buyer cares |
|---|---|---|
| Code, Art. 3 | Defines construction, permit documentation and unauthorised construction | Floors or uses outside the permit fall under the last definition |
| Code, Art. 107(5) | A negative expert opinion obliges the authority to refuse the permit | An expert review is part of the process, not a formality |
| Code, Art. 140 | Architects, civil engineers and design experts must be certified | The people who sign the drawings are themselves regulated |
| Code, Art. 141 | Permits issued before 3 June 2019 keep their legal force | An older project's permit is not void because the law changed |
| Resolution No 255 | Rules for issuing permits and commissioning buildings; 28 consolidated versions, the latest of 16 February 2026 | The procedure has changed often, so the version in force on the permit date matters |
| Law on the Public Registry, Art. 15(6) | A unit under construction is registered on the title document plus the construction documentation required by law | Without a permit, an off-plan flat cannot appear on an extract |
Resolution No 255's Georgian title, მშენებლობის ნებართვის გაცემისა და შენობა-ნაგებობის ექსპლუატაციაში მიღების წესისა და პირობების შესახებ, joins the two ends of a building's legal life: the permit to build and the commissioning that allows use. Only its initial 2019 text is free on matsne.
How many permits Georgia issues
Geostat publishes the number of construction permissions granted twice a year, based on what it calls "officially declared data". The counts include both new construction and reconstruction, and the releases do not say how many permits are for housing.
| Indicator | 2025 | January to June 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Permissions granted | 11,578 (4.2% fewer than 2024) | 5,391 (0.6% fewer than a year earlier) |
| Floor area permitted, thousand m² | 11,397.2 (5.3% less) | 5,275.7 (1.7% more) |
| Share in Tbilisi | 46.2% | 49.2% |
| Share in Adjara | 6.9% | 7.6% |
| Objects completed | 3,393 | 1,459 |
| Floor area completed, thousand m² | 3,509.1 | 1,546.2 |
Kvemo Kartli (10.1% in 2025, 9.2% in the first half of 2026) and Kakheti (9.8% and 7.3%) issued more permits than Adjara, which includes Batumi. Of the objects completed in 2025, 34.4% were in Tbilisi. The two counts cover different projects and years of work, so the ratio is not a failure rate, but it is a reminder that a permit shows building may start, not that it will finish.
Who signs the permit: city halls and the national agency
For most buildings the issuer is the municipality. In Tbilisi, the City Hall's Architecture Service handles permits, and the city publishes them in a searchable form on tas.ge. In Batumi we found no equivalent online lookup.
The largest projects are a different matter. In the two Class V cases we found, the permit came from the LEPL Technical and Construction Supervision Agency, which belongs to the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development:
- Batumi Riviera: the Agency ordered the permit for the Class V Silk Tower and Laguna buildings, which the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association announced in September 2020 that it would appeal.
- Ambassadori Batumi Island: in October 2024 the Agency issued the permit for two artificial peninsulas and one artificial island covering 102 hectares, as reported by Georgia Today.
These are individual cases. We could not confirm a general rule that the Agency issues every Class V permit, so ask which body signed it and check with that body. Tbilisi City Hall also launched a public map in November 2025 that marks commissioned buildings and construction sites where work has been suspended; the city presented it as a tool for buyers acting in good faith.
What a permit looks like on paper, and where its number reappears
A permit's details travel through every later paper in an off-plan purchase.
- The permit itself: a number and date, the issuing body, the building's class from I to V, its purpose, the number of floors or floor area, and the approved drawings it refers to. The guide to checking a permit lists which of these to compare with the building on site.
- The developer contract: recites the permit number and date and describes your unit as it appears in the approved drawings. See the developer contract guide for the clauses around it.
- The registry extract: a unit under construction is registered on the land title together with the construction documentation, under Article 15(6) of the Law on the Public Registry. Without those documents the building does not appear on extracts or cadastral plans. We could not confirm the exact wording an extract uses for a unit under construction.
- After completion: the commissioning act replaces the permit as the basis for registering the finished building, and the unit's entry in the Public Registry then rests on that act.
So the permit matters even to a buyer who never visits the site: it is what lets a flat that does not yet exist be registered.
Worked example: reading one permit against one offer
Our illustration with round figures; the plot, ratio and floor are not from a real project.
A developer's plot measures 2,000 m², and its permit allows a gross floor area ratio (K-2) of 4. That means up to 8,000 m² of total floor area. The local permit fee is capped at GEL 10 per m² of K-2 area under Article 6(2) of the Law on Local Fees, so the developer paid at most GEL 80,000 for this permit.
A buyer is offered a flat on the 14th floor. Two checks follow from the permit alone. First, do the approved drawings for this permit number actually contain a 14th floor? Second, does the total area the developer is selling fit within the 8,000 m²? Any floor or area beyond the permit is unauthorised construction in the Code's own definition until it is legalised, and our guide to unauthorised floors explains what legalisation involves.
For scale: this project would be one of 11,578 permissions Geostat counted in 2025, and almost half of them were in Tbilisi.
Permit, commissioning, zonal agreement: easily confused
| Document | What it allows | When it comes |
|---|---|---|
| Construction permit | Building may start, within the approved drawings | Before works begin |
| Land-use terms and design approval | Earlier stages on the way to the permit | Before the permit |
| Special zonal agreement | A higher K-2 than zoning allows, for a payment to the municipality | Separate from the permit |
| Commissioning act | The building may be used; no electricity or gas before it except for construction, for permits issued from 1 January 2022 (Code Art. 139.1) | After completion |
| Legalisation act | An after-the-fact route for unauthorised construction | After works done without a permit |
In short: the permit says you may build, commissioning says you may use. The Code bars operating a building before its commissioning act, and our handover checklist shows what that means on the day you collect the keys. The same word, ნებართვა, also appears in ბინადრობის ნებართვა (residence permit) and სამუშაო ნებართვა (work permit), so check which one a translated paper refers to.
The term in five languages
| Language | Word for the permit to build |
|---|---|
| Georgian | მშენებლობის ნებართვა |
| English | construction permit |
| Russian | разрешение на строительство |
| Hebrew | היתר בנייה |
| Arabic | رخصة البناء |
Georgian legal texts, starting with the title of Resolution No 255, use მშენებლობის ნებართვა, and that is the form a developer contract cites next to the permit number and date.
Warning signs around a permit
- A permit number with no drawings. The permit only means something together with the approved drawings it refers to; ask for both.
- A permit for a different plot or class. A permit is tied to one plot and one building class; a number borrowed from a neighbouring phase proves nothing about your building.
- Floors counted from a brochure. Count the floors in the approved drawings, not in the marketing images.
- No unit on the extract. If the registry shows only bare land long after sales began, ask whether the construction documentation was ever filed.
- Treating a zonal agreement as a permit. A paid increase in K-2 is a separate act; the permit must still cover the added floors.
- Relying on a translation that says only "permit". Make sure it is the construction permit, not another ნებართვა.
To be added by the team: items for the team to add: a redacted Tbilisi construction permit showing the number, date, issuer and class fields, a screenshot of the same permit found on tas.ge, and a redacted registry extract for a unit under construction so readers can see how the registry words it.
How to trace a construction permit step by step
Ask for the number
Permit number, date and issuing body.
Find the issuer
City hall, or the national Agency for some Class V towers.
Get the drawings
The approved set the permit refers to.
Match your unit
Floor, area and purpose against the drawings.
Check the registry
Is the unit under construction on the extract?
Plan for commissioning
Ask when the commissioning act is expected.
Frequently asked questions
What law governs construction permits in Georgia?
The Spatial Planning, Architectural and Construction Activities Code of 2018 and Government Resolution No 255 of 31 May 2019.
Who issues permits in Tbilisi?
The Architecture Service of Tbilisi City Hall.
Who issued permits for Class V towers in Batumi?
In the cases we found, the Technical and Construction Supervision Agency; a general rule is not confirmed.
Is a permit issued before June 2019 still valid?
Permits issued before 3 June 2019 keep their legal force under Article 141 of the Code.
How many permits were granted in 2025?
11,578, according to Geostat, 46.2% of them in Tbilisi.
Can an off-plan flat be registered without a permit?
No. A unit under construction is registered on the land title plus the construction documentation.
Is a permit the same as commissioning?
No. The permit allows building; the commissioning act allows use of the finished building.
What is construction without a permit called?
Unauthorised construction, as defined in Article 3 of the Code.
Sources
- Spatial Planning, Architectural and Construction Activities Code of Georgia (Articles 3, 107, 139.1, 140, 141), Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 28 October 2026)
- Government Resolution No 255 of 31 May 2019, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 28 October 2026)
- Law of Georgia on the Public Registry (Article 15), Legislative Herald of Georgia
- Permissions granted for construction and completed objects, 2025, Geostat, 30 January 2026 (accessed 28 October 2026)
- Permissions granted for construction and completed objects, January to June 2026, Geostat, 30 July 2026 (accessed 28 October 2026)
- GYLA to appeal the construction permit in the Batumi Riviera case, Georgian Young Lawyers' Association, 9 September 2020
- Construction permit for Ambassadori Batumi Island issued, Georgia Today, 25 October 2024
- Tbilisi launches map to verify construction project status, Georgia Today, 27 November 2025
Change log
- - Glossary entry published from the Spatial Planning Code, Government Resolution No 255, the Law on the Public Registry, Geostat, the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association and Georgia Today.