Interior modifications for constructions in protected areas

The Romanian legislation, through Law no. 50/1991 imposes the obligation to obtain the construction permit even in situations that refer to interior modifications for constructions in protected areas. The obvious question is why is there such a requirement when the law itself clasifies these works as being works that don not modify the resistence structure and/or the architectural aspect of the construction.

These works are: repair and replacement of interior woodwork, including the situation where the materials for the works are changed; repair and replacement of furnaces and heaters; painting and interior painting; painting and exterior painting, if building facade elements and colours are not changed, repairs to interior installations, the branching and external connections of any kind, related to the construction, within property limits, mounting local heating systems and approved domestic hot water boilers, and individual climate control device installation and / or metering of the consumption of utilities; reparation works representing interior finishes – plaster, plywood, others; repairs and replacements to the floor; maintenance on communication paths and facilities; investigative work, research, expertise, conservation and restoration of artistic components of the constructions provided in art. 3 letter b), with the approval of the Ministry Culture and Cults and the county government or local authority, as the case; non-structural provisional partition works.

This legislative gap appears evident, taking into account that for buildings not under protected areas it is not necessary to issue the building permit for such works, while for buildings in protected areas this appears as an obligation; especially since the main reason underlying the imposition of a building permit is protecting surrounding buildings and / or design of the protected area and, in the case of such works, the surrounding buildings and the design are not affected.

This distinction appears as nonsense, being obvious the need to change the law on this issue and eliminate the necessity of obtaining the construction permit for this type of works that refer to interior modifications for constructions in protected areas, because maintain the legislation in the current form only leads to unjustified bureaucracy.