Tacit Approval under GEO 31/2025: Green Light or Grey Zone?
In light of persistent delays in the process for approving the urban planning documentation and the issuance of building permits, and also considering Romania's commitments to finalise investments financed through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) by mid-2026, the Government has intervened and introduced important amendments to the approval process though the Emergency Ordinance No. 31/2025 (GEO 31/2025), which entered into force on April 30.
Besides establishing shorter and uniform deadlines that must be observed by the endorsing institutions, GEO 31/2025 introduces an important principle, intended as a remedy where the legal deadlines are not met – tacit approval. Although it may seem like a fix for delays in the approval process, the implementation of this mechanism is not risk free and shifts the responsibility onto investors.
1. Predictable and Shorter Approval Deadlines
GEO 31/2025 establishes shorter and clearer deadlines for issuing the approvals necessary in the process of approving the urban planning documentation (General Urban Plan/Zonal Urban Plan/Detailed Urban Plan - PUG/PUZ/PUD) and issuing the building permits. As a general rule, the approvals for PUG/PUZ/PUD must be issued within 30 days, while those required for the building permit must be issued within 15 days from the date of submitting the documentation. Certain exceptions apply to the approvals issued by specific authorities.
As regards the approval process for the urban planning documentation (PUG/PUZ/PUD), the ordinance establishes special deadlines for the following authorities:
environmental protection authority: 15 days from the completion of the applicable environmental procedures;
public authorities responsible for the protection of historical monuments: 30 days from the date the documentation is assessed in the special commission;
authorities that involve the analysis of documentation in a specialized commission: 15 days from the date the documentation is assessed in the commission;
inspectorates for emergency situations: 15 days from the date of documentation submission;
national defense, public order, and national security system: deadlines regulated by special procedures;
opportunity endorsement (for PUZ) issued by the Technical Commission for Landscaping and Urbanism (CTATU): 30 days from submitting the application for its analysis and 15 days from the analysis for issuing the endorsement.
As to the preliminary approvals required for issuing building permits, special deadlines are established for the following authorities:
environmental protection authority: 15 days from the date of completion of the special environmental procedures;
public authorities responsible for the protection of historical monuments: 30 days from the date the documentation is assessed by the special commission;
authorities that involve the analysis of documentation in a specialized commission: 15 days from the date the documentation is assessed in the commission;
Romanian Civil Aeronautical Authority: 30 days from submitting the documentation.
Greater predictability is also ensured by the obligation of the authorities to inform applicants of the date on which the documentation will be analyzed within special commissions, which may not exceed 30 days from the date of submission. Additionally, the approvals and endorsements must be delivered to the beneficiaries via electronic means on the day of issuance.
In the case of approval procedures that were ongoing when GEO 31/2025 came into force, the new deadlines run from its entry into force.
2. Tacit Approval for Lack of Response
A major change consists in the introduction of tacit approval in situations where authorities do not request clarifications, do not issue approvals/endorsements with or without conditions, or do not issue rejection solutions within the regulated deadlines. Authorities may submit only one request for additional documentation within the applicable deadline; after supplementing the documentation, in the absence of a subsequent response, tacit approval applies.
This mechanism also applies to authorities where significant and notorious delays are registered in practice, such as the Romanian Civil Aeronautical Authority. Tacit approval does not apply to approvals issued by institutions within the national defense, public order, and national security system, as well as for the opportunity endorsement, in the absence of which urban planning documentation may not be approved.
The concept of tacit approval is not entirely new in legislation, having been regulated since 2003 by Emergency Ordinance 27/2003 regarding the tacit approval procedure (GEO 23/2003) in another field, namely that of issuing authorizations necessary for carrying out certain activities, providing services, or exercising certain professions. However, the practical applicability of this normative act is almost non-existent given the cumbersome application rules: for example, the need for authorities to publish the list of authorizations to which the tacit approval mechanism applies, the obligation of authorities to issue a confirmation on the lack of response, and the need to resort to courts of law in case of failure to issue this confirmatory document.
GEO 31/2025 establishes a much more flexible application mechanism. In the event of a lack of response within the legal deadline, the applicant may continue the procedure for approving urban planning documentation/issuing building permits based on (i) proof of registration of the request for issuing the approval and (ii) an affidavit declaring the lack of response from the endorsing institution.
However, in our opinion, the implementation of this principle is not without risks and practical issues.
The scope of preliminary approvals for urban planning documentation/ building permits is not only to favorably endorse the respective investment but also to provide important information to the applicant that must be considered in the subsequent stages of investment implementation, such as the existence of underground infrastructures, the location of the land in an archaeological heritage area, the existence of protection/safety zones, or other applicable restrictions that must be considered in the design and execution stages. This information is particularly important in the case of key authorities such as the environmental authority, the Romanian Civil Aeronautical Authority, or the authorities responsible for the protection of historical monuments. Tacit approval does not exempt the applicant from complying with all such legal requirements and restrictions in implementing the investment. As expressly mentioned in GEO 31/2025, investors have the obligation to make all necessary efforts to obtain all publicly available information regarding these restrictions and limitations. Therefore, the absence of approvals places greater pressure on investors to identify the respective information through their own efforts.
At the same time, regarding information/restrictions that are not publicly available and should have been communicated through approvals, GEO 31/2025 states that the responsibility lies with the issuing institutions. However, it is unclear how this responsibility will be engaged and what it will cover, as well as the practical impact on the investment since the investors may find themselves in the situation of approving urban planning documentation or issuing a building permit for a project that does not comply with these legal requirements and, therefore, cannot be implemented.
3. Validity of Approvals
Currently, although most approvals are valid throughout the entire investment implementation period, until construction works completion, there are certain endorsers who issue approvals with a limited duration or who request periodic reconfirmation until the construction works start. Through the new amendments, it has been established that all approvals and endorsements are valid until the moment of approving the respective urban planning documentation, respectively until construction works completion (as long as no new elements intervene), regardless of the deadlines established by the internal procedures of the endorsers.
4. Priority Endorsement of Investments Financed through PNRR
The normative act also provides for the obligation of public authorities to analyze and endorse with priority projects financed through the PNRR.
5. Single Official Responsible
Throughout the entire process of endorsing urban planning documentation and issuing building permits, a single public official will be designated to avoid divergent interpretations and fragmentation of responsibility.
Conclusions
GEO 31/2025 marks a significant step towards unblocking endorsement procedures and speeding up the procedures related to investments funded by PNRR. The new tacit approval mechanism can be an effective remedy for the lack of reaction from endorsing institutions. However, the implementation of this instrument shifts part of the authorities' responsibility to the private sector, with investors needing to be proactive in identifying from publicly available sources all legal restrictions and limitations applicable to their own investment, and where this information is not publicly available, exposing themselves to the risk of approving documentation/obtaining a building permit in non-compliance with the law.
A practical positive effect that can be anticipated, however, is that endorsing institutions will be much more diligent in responding to approval requests within the legal deadline to prevent tacit approval.
Given that emergency ordinances are subject to approval in Parliament, it remains to be seen whether the approval law will bring any adjustments to the text of OUG 31/2025.
