Buildings or facilities can only be constructed or modified with a building permit. The building permit is an administrative act through which the municipal authority verifies that there are no public law impediments justifying an objection to the proposed work outlined in the application..

According to Article 1 of the Legge edilizia (LE), a building permit is specifically required for:

  • new constructions
  • reconstructions
  • transformations (including changes in use)
  • demolition of buildings and other structures
  • significant modifications of land configuration
  • interventions involving energy modifications to buildings
  • technical installations (heating, ventilation/climate control, solar panels, antennas, etc.)

Other works for which a building permit is required are described in Article 4 of the Regolamento di applicazione della legge edilizia (RLE).

According to Article 1 of the Legge edilizia (LE), a building permit is not required for:

  • construction projects specifically governed by other laws
  • maintenance work, small structures, and temporary structures (which must still be notified, as a municipal authorization is required)
  • work exempt from cantonal jurisdiction under federal law

Other work not subject to a building permit is described in Art. 3 of the Regolamento di applicazione della legge edilizia (RLE).

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Building procedures are divided into:

  • ordinary procedure (art. 4 and 5 RLE)
  • notification procedure (Art. 11 LE and 6 RLE), applicable to minor works. The Municipality may waive the requirement for publication and notification to neighbors if the involvement of specific public and private interests is excluded.

Construction projects must be prepared in accordance with the provisions of the Legge edilizia and in particular Articles 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 12a, 13, 14, 15 and 16 RLE (subject to any additional requirements by the cantonal authority). Projects must also comply with the norme di attuazione del Piano regolatore.

The application for construction, accompanied by the necessary documentation, must be submitted by the person who serves as the applicant (who will become the holder of the building permit) and must be signed by the landowner and the designer.

The plans and attached documents must be prepared and signed by an architect or an engineer and, depending on the nature of the work, both must be registered with the OTIA-Ordine Ingegneri e Architetti del Canton Ticino (Art. 4 LE and 7 RLE).

Administrative fees

Entering into force on January 1, 2009, the amendment to Article 19 of the Legge edilizia cantonale on administrative fees for the examination of building applications stipulates that:

"for the examination of building applications, a fee of two per thousand of the estimated expenditure, maximum CHF 10,000 and minimum CHF 100, is due. The City Parliament shall levy this fee and remit half of it to the Dipartimento [del territorio]."

The City also levies an administrative fee for each notice it will have to request from the Canton's departments within the framework of construction procedures (excluding the ordinary procedure); the amount will be fully remitted to the Canton.

Further information regarding administrative fees can be obtained from the Finanze Division.

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Ordinary procedure

  • cantonal tax 1‰ of the construction cost
  • municipal fee 1‰ of the construction cost

Notification procedure

  • municipal fee 1‰ of the construction cost

Preliminary application under ordinary procedure
(binding on the authority)

  • cantonal fee 50% of the basic fee (ordinary procedure)
  • municipal fee 50% of the basic fee (ordinary procedure)

Informative preliminary application
(without special legal effects)

  • municipal fee 50% of the basic fee (ordinary procedure)

Building permit renewal

  • Cantonal fee 50% of the original fee (license issuance)
  • Municipal fee 50% of the original fee (license issuance)

Occupancy fees

  • CHF 100.- per housing unit
  • CHF 100.- per common rooms or parking spaces

Building permits

  • basic fee CHF 50.-

Cantonal service preliminary opinions

  • basic fee CHF 50.-
  • confirmation of land buildability: CHF 30.-
  • information on the Land Use Plane: CHF 50.-
  • confirmation of destination: CHF 30.-
  • confirmation of suitability of premises for public establishments: CHF 60.-
  • plan extracts from the Land Use Plan: CHF 10.-

The English version of this page was created with the aid of automatic translation tools and may contain errors and omissions.

The original version is the page in Italian.

Construction
Contacts

Città di Lugano
Edilizia privata
Via della Posta 8
6900 Lugano
t. +41 58 866 76 20

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