MOROCCO Law and Practice Contributed by: Loris Marghieri, Dounia El Aissaoui and Julien Nouchi, Gide Loyrette Nouel
4.3 Regulatory Authorities Overall responsibility for regulating the develop - ment and designated use of individual parcels of real estate lies largely with local authorities, including the urban agencies and the Region - al Investment Centres ( Centres Régionaux d’Investissement ) responsible for issuing build - ing permits. 4.4 Obtaining Entitlements to Develop a New Project A variety of authorisations and permits are necessary for the construction of a real estate project. Some of these requirements, which will depend on the nature of the project in question, are outlined below. • Law No 12-03 relating to environmental impact assessment sets out a list of pro - jects which must be subject to an envi - ronmental impact assessment ( étude d’impact sur l’environnement and an envi- ronmental acceptability decision ( decision d’acceptabilité environmentale ) from the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Environment in order to be authorised. • Law No 49-17 relating to environmental assessment has recently been published in the Official Gazette and should enter into force upon the publication of its imple - mentation regulations. It mandates that all projects that may have negative impacts on the environment will have to be subject to an environmental impact assessment. With regard to projects existing prior to the entry into force of Law No 49-17 and for which no environmental impact assessment has been made, an environmental assessment will be carried out. • Hazardous facilities ( installations classées ) – authorisation must be obtained from the relevant authorities (or a declaration has to
be filed, depending on the nature/class of the facilities) prior to beginning construction work. • A building permit must be obtained in order to carry out construction work. Generally speak - ing, the permit is issued once all the authori - sations and visas required by specific laws and regulations have been obtained. • Upon completion of the permitted construc - tion works, which must be declared by the architect, the owner must obtain another per - mit: the “permit to inhabit” ( permis d’habiter ) or, if the building is not dedicated to private housing, the “certificate of compliance” ( certificat de conformité ), confirming that the buildings erected are in accordance with the provisions of the initial building permit. This permit is a prerequisite to the use of the erected building. • By Order No 338-20 of 21 January 2020, a dematerialised procedure was set up for the submission and processing of applications for town planning authorisation, via an online platform known as Rokhas. 4.5 Right of Appeal Against an Authority’s Decision As an administrative act, any decision taken by the authorities must be justified and may be appealed before the relevant authority ( recours gracieux ) and/or the administrative courts ( recours contentieux ). A lawsuit may also be filed by third parties with a specific interest that deserves protection before the administrative authority or before the court, by asking for the decision to be annulled. 4.6 Agreements With Local or Governmental Authorities There is generally no need to enter into agree - ments with local or government authorities or
659 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook