Do I need a building permit to build a single family home?
Mr. Nguyen Duc Thanh, residing in Vinh Loc Ward (Nghe An Province) is planning to rebuild his old, dilapidated house. According to him, there has recently been information that the law has new regulations, allowing some cases of building individual houses to be exempted from building permits. So in Mr. Thanh's case, is it mandatory to apply for a permit to build a house or is it exempted according to current regulations?
Reply:
According to the 2014 Construction Law, as amended and supplemented in 2025, a construction permit is a legal document issued by a competent authority, allowing an individual or organization to carry out new construction, repair, renovation, or relocation of a construction work. There are four types of construction permits: new construction permit, repair and renovation permit, relocation permit, and temporary construction permit.
In principle, all construction works must have a permit, except for cases exempted under the provisions of Clause 2, Article 89 of the amended Law on Construction.
As for individual houses, there are only two specific cases exempted from construction permits. The first is individual houses under 7 floors located in urban or housing construction investment projects, with approved detailed planning 1/500. The second is individual houses belonging to level IV construction works, built in rural, mountainous, and island areas, not located in areas with urban planning or functional area construction planning; except for works located in conservation areas or historical-cultural relics.
Therefore, to determine whether or not a building permit is required, it is necessary to consider whether the house you plan to build falls into one of the two cases mentioned above.
If exempted, just notify the start time and submit the construction design documents to the local state construction management agency for monitoring and management.
In cases not eligible for exemption, it is mandatory to carry out procedures to apply for a construction permit at the People's Committee of the commune/ward level, according to regulations in Clause 1, Article 4 of Decree 140/2025/ND-CP.
