Exemption procedure according to § 67 Building Code NRW

Hello everyone,

We are building in NRW in a new development area with a very current development plan that our construction project fully complies with. Now we are facing the question of whether we should build under consideration of the Freistellungsverfahren (according to the moratorium of the Landesbauordnung, surely possible until the end of 2018) or with a simplified building permit procedure.

From my point of view, the following advantages and disadvantages apply for us:

Freistellungsverfahren:
- After consulting with the municipality, we could receive a confirmation at very short notice that nothing stands against the procedure and could thus "start" very promptly.
- Risk: Our construction project will most likely extend beyond 2018. Not by long, but presumably 4-6 weeks. Low legal certainty for 2019.

Simplified procedure:
- Long processing time at the municipality
- The municipality has stated upon inquiry that due to the workload situation, the maximum processing time must be expected and has advised possibly building after the Freistellungsverfahren
- Our construction start will be delayed by several months
- Advantage: very clear legal certainty.

Currently, it is not foreseeable how the Freistellungsverfahren will proceed. The Landesbauordnung is to be revised again; possibly the procedure will remain afterwards, but that is by no means certain. There might also be another moratorium, but that is not clear either.

We have now considered initially "starting" with the Freistellungsverfahren and, if by then there is clarity about how things will proceed in 2019, possibly conducting a simplified building permit procedure by October 2018 at the latest if it becomes clear that the Freistellungsverfahren ends in 2019. If by then it is clear that the procedure will continue to exist, we would continue to use it accordingly.

That should be possible without any problems in my understanding, right?
How would you proceed, do you perhaps have any tips?

Thank you all in advance for your help!

We have now considered initially "starting" with the exemption procedure and, if by then there is clarity on how to proceed in 2019, to possibly carry out a simplified building application procedure by October 2018 at the latest if it is clear that the exemption procedure ends in 2019. If it is clear by then that the procedure will continue to exist, we would then continue to use it accordingly.

That should be possible without any problem as far as I understand, right?

I would do it exactly the same way if the municipality and architect cooperate.

Great, thank you very much for your reply!

At the moment, it is not foreseeable how the exemption procedure will continue. The State Building Code is to be revised again; possibly the procedure will remain even after that, but this is by no means certain. There may also be another moratorium, but that is also unclear.

The moratorium was imposed by the black-yellow coalition partly because the previous government wanted to scrap the exemption procedure in the new version of the State Building Code. The moratorium therefore serves, among other things, to reintroduce the exemption procedure into the State Building Code. See the coalition agreement; it is explicitly mentioned and agreed upon there.

We have now considered initially "starting" with the exemption procedure and, if by then it is clear how things will continue in 2019, possibly carrying out a simplified building application procedure by October 2018 at the latest if it is clear that the exemption procedure will end in 2019. If by then it is clear that the procedure will continue to exist, we would continue to use it accordingly.

Builders also like to use the exemption procedure in order to start quickly. Legal certainty is then obtained through a late or even subsequent opening of a simplified building permit procedure if the builder is no longer pressed for time. This is indeed one of the major criticisms of the previous government against the procedure – the authority is often not relieved as much as hoped. The file just does not arrive before construction begins, but later.

EDIT:
Here is the excerpt from the coalition agreement.

Furthermore,
we will suspend the State Building Code, which was revised in December 2016, by means of a moratorium
with the aim of bringing the revised State Building Code, in which building cost-increasing
regulations and requirements are to be abolished, into force as quickly as possible.
We will reintroduce the exemption procedure, proven in practice, unbureaucratic and appealing to personal responsibility,
into the State Building Code.