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Architecture vocabulary · Professional Practice and Regulations

Building permit

Meaning in architecture, with examples

nounCore term

In architecture, building permit means: Official permission from the local authority to build, alter or demolish a building, given after the drawings have been checked against planning rules and codes.

In Turkish: yapı ruhsatı, inşaat ruhsatı

How it is used

Architects apply for and obtain a building permit, and work cannot start without it. In the UK the system is split: planning permission approves what is built, and building regulations approval covers how it is built. Permission to use a finished building is a certificate of occupancy.

Example sentences

  1. We submitted the drawings last month and expect the building permit in early spring.

  2. Work stopped because the contractor started before the building permit was issued.

Common collocations

  • apply for a building permit
  • obtain a building permit
  • permit application
  • planning permission
  • certificate of occupancy
  • building codeA set of legal rules for how buildings must be designed and built, covering structure, fire safety, accessibility, energy use and health.
  • zoningThe system of dividing a city into areas where only certain uses, such as housing, offices or industry, and certain building sizes are allowed.
  • working drawingsThe detailed, fully dimensioned set of drawings that a contractor uses to build a project, including plans, sections, elevations, details and schedules.
  • site supervisionThe regular checking of construction work on site by the architect or engineer to make sure it follows the drawings, specifications and quality standards.
  • clientThe person or organisation that commissions a building project and pays the architect, such as a homeowner, developer, company or public authority.

More terms: Professional Practice and Regulations

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