Anyone planning to build a private house—whether a homestead, garden, or summer house—inevitably asks: what is required to start construction and ensure everything is done legally?
If the total area of your planned house does not exceed 500 square meters, and the building will not be taller than two stories and an attic, then you may legally proceed with the project by obtaining a Building Passport (будівельний паспорт) or a Development Intent Scheme (схема намірів забудови).
Both of these documents entitle you to submit a notice of commencement of construction works, granting you the legal right to build.
In the next article, I’ll explain the key differences between the Building Passport and the Development Intent Scheme, and help you determine which option is better suited for your project.
What Is a Building Passport?
A Building Passport is a document that defines a set of urban planning and architectural requirements for the placement and construction of an individual (homestead) residential house, garden or summer house with a height of no more than two stories (excluding the attic) and a total area of up to 500 square meters. It also applies to the construction of auxiliary structures such as utility buildings, garages, engineering protection elements, landscaping, and greening within the land plot.
A Building Passport can be issued for land plots located in cities or villages, as well as for those in garden communities or dacha cooperatives — the rules for obtaining a building passport are unified across all these categories.
The current form of the building passport, as most people know it today, was introduced in 2011, when the Law of Ukraine “On Regulation of Urban Planning Activities” came into force, along with the official Procedure for Issuing a Building Passport for Land Plot Development.
Before that, building passports also existed, but their issuance required a design or sketches signed by an architect, and the passport itself had to be approved not only by the local department of urban planning and architecture but also by sanitary-epidemiological services, fire safety authorities, and, in some cases, other agencies.
It is important to note that both “old” and “new” building passports are valid indefinitely — they do not have an expiration date.
Previously, building passports were issued only for houses with a total area of up to 300 square meters. However, starting from January 1, 2019, amendments to Article 27 of the Law of Ukraine “On Regulation of Urban Planning Activities” came into effect, increasing the maximum permitted area of buildings allowed under a building passport from 300 to 500 square meters. Despite this legislative change, for a significant period of time, some departments of urban planning and architecture continued issuing passports with the outdated 300 m² restriction, until corresponding updates were made to the Procedure for Issuing Building Passports.
Мінімальна площа ділянки під житлову забудову
Procedure for Obtaining a Building Passport
A Building Passport can be obtained offline through an Administrative Services Center (CNAP) — either by submitting documents in person or by mail — or online via the Diia Portal.
The passport includes both textual and graphical materials, the most important of which is the development scheme for the land plot.
⚠️ Note: In this article, the term “development scheme” refers to the document that is part of the building passport application package. It should not be confused with the “Development Intent Scheme” (a standalone alternative planning document discussed in the next article). To avoid confusion, I will refer to this one as the “site development scheme” going forward.
The site development scheme must show all the buildings and structures intended to be constructed on the land plot. Any construction of structures not included in the building passport (and therefore not mentioned in the notification to the State Architectural and Construction Control Authority) will be considered unauthorized, meaning carried out without the required legal documentation.
In addition to showing the layout of the planned buildings and structures, the site development scheme must also include:
- distances to the boundaries of adjacent land plots and nearby structures;
- locations of engineering networks and facilities;
- building facades and floor plans with overall dimensions;
- a list of utility systems (including autonomous ones) to be used;
- red lines and development control lines;
- vehicle access routes to the buildings and structures;
- connection points to utility networks.
As outlined in the regulations, the scheme must contain a substantial amount of detailed information — much of which the applicant may find difficult or even practically impossible to collect independently. While most of this information is considered open data and should be freely available to the public, in reality, this has not always been the case.
Even prior to the full-scale invasion, not all required data was made public. After February 22, 2022, many public resources were either restricted or taken offline for security reasons.
As a result, in order to obtain information such as red lines, the applicant must often submit formal requests to local departments of urban planning and architecture.
Additional challenges may arise when trying to determine the distances to engineering networks, especially underground utilities, since their locations are not always visibly marked on-site. Although current legislation does not require applicants to commission topographic and geodetic surveys with utility overlays, I strongly recommend that those planning construction in large cities consider ordering such a survey, particularly with utility lines shown.
For example, in Kyiv, obtaining a building passport will typically require a topographic and geodetic survey that includes both utility lines and land parcel boundaries.
📌 Until February 4, 2022, applicants were not required to submit a site development scheme — it was sufficient to provide a simple statement of development intent, which did not include critical information such as red lines or development control lines.
In my opinion, the responsibility for providing such technical data — especially when it is not publicly accessible — should still lie with the local departments of urban planning and architecture. However, the legislator has decided otherwise: the applicant is now responsible for including this information in the submitted scheme.
Should you include structures that you may build later — or might not build at all?
I recommend including all structures you are considering — even those you only might build in the future — in the initial site development scheme.
Constructing only some of the structures shown in the scheme does not violate current legislation. However, if you later decide to add any new buildings or structures that were not included in the original scheme, you will need to formally amend the building passport — and that process is almost identical to applying for a new one.
On Distances to Adjacent Property Boundaries and Nearby Structures
It is critically important to accurately indicate distances to the boundaries of neighboring land plots, as well as to any nearby buildings and structures, because many of these distances are legally regulated. There are minimum permissible distances established by law, and failure to comply with them may result in denial of your building passport application.
📌 It is essential to understand that this requirement applies not only to existing structures on neighboring plots (or those already under construction), but also to those that are only planned — provided that your neighbors have obtained the legally required documentation, such as a building passport, development intent scheme, or other relevant construction permits.
Information about planned buildings and structures on adjacent plots is available from local departments of urban planning and architecture, which are responsible for issuing or approving building passports or Urban Planning Conditions and Restrictions (UPCR) for land development.
Since autumn 2020, such data has gradually begun to appear on the national online platform: e-construction.gov.ua
The fact that an adjacent land plot is currently vacant does not mean that no construction is planned on it — and it certainly does not give you the right to build as close as 1 or even 5 meters from the boundary without consequences.
There are many situations where neighboring landowners have already received building passports, Urban Planning Conditions and Restrictions (UPCR), or have registered Development Intent Schemes that allow construction just 1 meter away from your property line.
Therefore, in most cases, to avoid violating legal requirements — especially those concerning fire safety setbacks — you will need to maintain a distance of 7 meters or more from the boundary when placing your building.
This is one of the key reasons why obtaining all the required planning and permitting documentation before starting construction is essential.
📐 Distances Between Buildings, Setbacks, and Fire Safety Gaps (2024)
List of Documents Required to Obtain a Building Passport
According to Clause 2.1 of the Procedure for Issuing a Building Passport for Land Development, the following documents are required:
- Application for the issuance of a building passport (or for amendments to an existing building passport);
- Copy of a document confirming ownership or use rights to the land plot, or a superficies agreement, or a will, in cases where the real property right is not registered in the State Register of Property Rights to Real Estate;
- Copy of a document confirming ownership of a real estate object located on the land plot, if the ownership right is not registered in the State Register of Property Rights to Real Estate (applicable in cases of reconstruction or major repairs);
- Consent of co-owner(s) of the real estate object located on the land plot (in cases of reconstruction or major repairs), if the property is held in shared ownership;
- Site development scheme (including location of buildings and structures on the land plot, distances to adjacent land plot boundaries and nearby structures, engineering networks and facilities, elevations and floor plans with dimensions, list of engineering systems including autonomous ones planned for use, etc.), using the template provided in Annex 2 to the Procedure;
- Project documentation, if available;
- Consent of co-owner(s) of the land plot for the proposed construction (in case of new development), if the land is held in shared ownership;
- Information about the presence of cultural heritage protection zones or any use restrictions within the land plot boundaries in the case of new construction (if applicable).
Copies of documents submitted for the issuance of a building passport must be certified by the applicant (or their representative). There is no requirement for notarization of these copies.
Notarized consents are required only when co-owners are involved. These consents are typically prepared in free form, but the signatures of all involved parties must be notarized.
In most cases, when building under a building passport, a full construction project is not developed. Even if a project has been prepared (or purchased), I recommend submitting only design sketches (schematic drawings) to the urban planning and architectural authorities. Any demand for full project documentation for the purpose of issuing a building passport is unfounded and has no legal basis.
⭕️ Despite the fact that the list of documents required to issue a building passport is exhaustive, urban planning and architectural authorities frequently demand additional documents, such as: extract from the settlement master plan or community development plan, topographic survey, charters of gardening or dacha cooperatives, extract from the State Land Cadastre, technical specifications, address assignment documents, and others. However, the Procedure for Issuing a Building Passport does not obligate the applicant to provide any of these documents.
📐Fence (Enclosure): Regulations, Requirements, Height Restrictions, and Permits — 2024
Building Passport and the Unified State Electronic System in the Field of Construction (USEDCC)
Since autumn 2020, information on building passports for land plot development must be entered into the Unified State Electronic System in the Field of Construction (USEDCC).
As a result, each building passport is assigned a unique USEDCC registration number (format: BP00:0000-0000-0000-0000) and a QR code is generated, linking directly to the passport on the public e-construction.gov.ua portal.
❗️If there is no registration number, or if the data entered into the USEDCC is incomplete or contains errors, it becomes impossible to register a Notice of Commencement of Construction Works!
It is critically important to verify the accuracy of the information entered into the USEDCC. In my practice, I have encountered multiple cases where the data was incomplete or contained mistakes — which later resulted in the DIAM (formerly DABI) authority refusing to register the documents granting the legal right to begin construction.
✅ There is a specific list of construction works that do not require a building passport, permit documents, or commissioning procedures. This list of exempted objects (more precisely, construction works) is defined by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolution No. 406 dated June 7, 2017.
Grounds for Refusal to Issue a Building Passport
Ukrainian law provides a limited and exhaustive list of grounds on which an authority may refuse to issue a building passport. According to Clause 2.4 of the Procedure, the package of documents for issuing or amending a building passport is returned by the authorized body of urban planning and architecture to the applicant in the following cases:
- failure to submit a complete set of required documents;
- inconsistency of the proposed land development plans with local urban planning documentation, construction norms, and regulations;
- submission by the applicant of a written request in free form to withdraw their application for a building passport.
📌 In practice, most refusals to issue a building passport are based on the absence of urban planning documentation (such as a master plan, detailed plan of territory [DPT], etc.) or non-compliance of the submitted documents (especially the design intentions) with the current urban planning legislation.
It is strongly recommended to check the possibility of obtaining a building passport and placing specific buildings or structures on a land plot before purchasing the land.
Timeframe for Issuance of a Building Passport
According to Clause 2.1 of the Procedure, a building passport must be issued free of charge by the authorized urban planning and architecture body within ten business days from the date of submission of the complete package of documents.
Right to Commence Construction Work
After obtaining a building passport, to gain the legal right to carry out construction, the applicant must submit a notice of commencement of construction work to the relevant body of state architectural and construction control (DIAM, formerly DABI), for projects being built based on a building passport.
✅ The notice can be submitted in paper form via the Administrative Services Center (CNAP) or by postal mail, but it is much faster and more convenient to submit it electronically via the Diia portal.
Currently, in most cases, automatic registration of the submitted notice is available (only if construction is based on a building passport, not a development intention scheme). This means you will typically receive the registration number for your notice of commencement within minutes.
For advice on specific cases or discussion of current norms regarding building passports or development intention schemes, you can join the Urban Planning in Ukraine community group.
Ⓒ 2025