1. Construction permits in Latvia Sanda Putnina, international expert, IFC April 28, 2004

2. Construction approval process B) Design Stage: Preparation and approval of sketch design Preparation of technical design Approval of technical design Adoption of design A) Pre-design stage: Initial application for construction Statement of the construction board Gathering the documents Public hearing, if required Issuance of the Planning and Architectural Task. C) Construction Stage: Receipt of construction permit Construction process D) Formal acceptance of the building upon completion of the construction

4. Recent reform measures A uniform set of fees and duties related to construction has been introduced in the General Construction Regulations Requirements of technical regulations clarified and number of institutions issuing these decreased (Sanitary, Labor, Fire, etc. Inspectorates; now mostly concentrating on utility hook-ups and environment) No technical regulations containing only recitation of laws should be issued Liability of designer strengthened

5. Recent reform measures GCR introduced the principle the concentration principle (or one-stop-shop principle) Information offices set-up in key municipalities General (state) expertise requirement abolished Differentiation for coordination of small and larger scale objects introduced BUT MUCH MORE REMAINS TO BE DONE!