Change of use of buildings Approval
According to § 60 (2) of the Lower Saxony Building Code (NBauO), the change of use of a building is not subject to proceedings if the public building law does not impose any other or further requirements on the new use.
The change of use does not require a permit if, after the modification has been carried out, the building does not require a permit within the meaning of § 62 NBauO.
The required documents are set out in the Building Template Ordinance (BauVorlVO). Essentially, you will need:
- Application form on official form with all necessary signatures
- Description of the establishment (for commercial projects)
- Site plan (if applicable, excerpt from the real estate cadastre)
- Construction drawings with registration of previous and future use
- Calculation of construction numbers such as calculation of living or usable space
- Proof of parking space for additional demand
- Construction description and construction costs (insofar as structural changes are incurred)
If the change of use does not require a permit, the building owner must submit a written notification of the intended change of use to the municipality and attach the documents referred to in § 62 of the Lower Saxony Building Code (NBauO) (essentially the draft).
Fees may apply, please contact the relevant authority.
The change of use - even without structural changes - is subject to a building permit if the public building law imposes different or more far-reaching requirements on the building in the new use. This is usually the case. The procedure is the same as for the approval of new buildings.
In the case of changes of use that lead to the construction becoming a special building in accordance with § 2 (5) of the Lower Saxony Building Code (NBauO), an extensive building permit procedure must be carried out in accordance with § 64 NBauO.
For the remaining changes of use, a simple building permit procedure must be carried out in accordance with § 63 NBauO.
Deadlines may have to be observed. Please contact the competent authority.
For the registration, e.g. of a business, it is advisable to find out in advance from the competent authority whether the desired use of a building or a room constitutes a change of use requiring approval.
The text was automatically translated based on the German content.
Lower Saxony Ministry of Social Affairs, Health and Equality
The responsibility lies with the municipality, the joint municipality and the city. If the building supervisory authority is not itself a building supervisory authority, it forwards the building application to the responsible building supervisory authority within one week.
