Do you need a planning permit to renovate your home?

You have decided on a home renovation and chosen the right construction company. What remains is to schedule the works and obtain the permits required to start, such as a planning permit.

The new law clarifies the cases in which a small-scale works permit is required, or none at all.

According to paragraph 2 of article 29 of Law 4495/17:

Approval for small-scale works is required for the following works:

• External painting, replacement of railings, repair of render or repair of façades using scaffolding
• Cladding of façades and replacement of curtain walls using scaffolding
• Building a pergola larger than fifty (50) m² in open areas, front gardens or ground-floor verandas. On roof terraces, open-air spaces and open balconies, small-scale building works approval is required regardless of size
• Ventilation ducts, chimneys, solar system installations
• Interior layout changes
• Green roofs and planted surfaces
• Installing external thermal insulation or passive solar systems on the external façades
• Maintenance and repair of roofs using scaffolding
• A simple stone wall up to one (1.00) metre high, or fencing of plots with lightweight material in areas outside the town plan and in settlements without a town plan
• Fencing with a makeshift structure, such as wire mesh, on plots not affected by street alignment within the town plan
• Building hearths and ovens with their chimneys for professional use
• Building fireplaces with their chimneys in independent properties used as homes
• Rebuilding a roof
• Functional merging of spaces
• Installing external thermal insulation or roof insulation under the "Exoikonomisi kat' Oikon" programme
• Installing an independent heating system
• Canopies and awnings
• Interventions on building façades to modify or open new openings.

On the other hand, according to article 30 of the same Law (4495/17):

No building permit or small-scale works approval is required for the following works related to a home renovation:

• Interior painting, minor repairs to doors and windows, or individual repairs for reasons of use and hygiene
• Small-scale interior repairs or alterations that do not change the load-bearing structure of the building, as well as constructions required for the movement or any other kind of assistance of people with disabilities or reduced mobility. This does not include installing a lift
• External painting, replacement of railings, repair of render or repair of façades without scaffolding
• Maintenance, repair, alteration and/or partial replacement of building installations and ducts
• Replacing interior or exterior window/door frames and glazing in the same opening
• Maintenance and repair of roofs or roof terraces without scaffolding
• Minor ground levelling up to ±0.80 metres from natural ground level
• Installing air conditioners and wall-mounted gas boilers for heating and hot water in existing buildings; installing a bank of wall-mounted gas boilers for heating or hot water in ground-floor outdoor areas of homes; installing natural-gas supply, regulation and metering systems, such as regulators, meters and service pipes; installing High-Efficiency Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems and above-ground natural-gas distribution or metering and regulation stations
• Installing solar water heaters
• Installing passive solar systems, replacing external window frames, or installing or replacing chimneys on the external façades of existing buildings without scaffolding, as well as thermal insulation on roof-terrace surfaces without scaffolding
• Placing or installing equipment in buildings such as cabinets and planters; changing, placing and/or removing balcony dividers; and placing small permanent decorative and functional elements such as statues, fountains, shrines, benches, tables or makeshift animal shelters of up to 3 m² in the open areas of plots

Also:

• Building hearths, ovens and fireplaces with their chimneys in the open areas of plots, provided there is a building used as a home, or a building that has a building permit or exists legally, as long as the load-bearing elements of the residential building are not affected
• Building a pergola, with or without temporary shades, of up to 50 m² in open areas, front gardens or ground-floor verandas, unless prohibited by special local regulations
• Constructions such as stairs, ramps, buttresses and low walls in the open areas of plots
• Installing temporary shades, louvres, canopies and awnings.
• Paving the floor of an open area, provided it does not exceed 1/3 of the open area
• Ground shaping up to 0.80 m from natural ground level to improve its natural relief, using natural unbound materials such as soil and dry-stone masonry, without altering the general natural landform, the natural drainage gradient of rainwater or the benchmark stations for measuring elevations
• Constructions within a plot to create entrance areas up to 2.50 m high, 2.50 m wide and 1 m deep
• Constructions for installing electricity meters at the boundaries of plots or within their open areas, in accordance with the applicable specifications.

Calculating workers' social-security stamps

Note that, whether or not a permit is issued for the home renovation, for certain works the relevant IKA (EFKA) branch must be notified so that the Analytical Periodic Declaration (APD) for building works can be submitted.