Where occupancy permits actually get stuck
An occupancy permit is not won at the end of construction — it is decided by the choices made when the building permit was issued. The four places we see projects stall.
Construction is finished, the flats are ready to hand over, and the occupancy permit will not come through. On the consultancy side, that is the most common phone call we get. Yet almost every occupancy problem originates not in the final month of construction but back at the permit stage.
The most common blocker is the gap between drawings and what was actually built. If a wet-area wall shown on the permitted drawings moved 40 cm on site, that alone is a non-conformity that halts the permit. The municipality measures it during the final inspection and requires an amended permit — which means the project architect's approval again, and fees again. Our advice is to compare the site against the architectural drawings once, as the structural shell is finishing. Fixing it then takes days; fixing it at occupancy stage takes months.
Second is the energy performance certificate. The building's energy calculation is based on the values in the insulation design. If insulation thickness was reduced on site, or a different material substituted, the calculation no longer holds and the certificate cannot be issued. A material change looks like a saving, but the cost of the resulting delay is usually higher.
Third are the agency approvals. The fire department report, lift registration, gas compliance letter and the social security clearance are independent processes, each on its own clock. They need to be started in parallel, not in sequence. The social security clearance is the usual straggler: if subcontractor filings are incomplete, resolving it takes weeks.
Fourth, the common areas have to be genuinely finished. If the shelter is being used as storage, a partition has been thrown up in the car park, or the fire escape door is locked, the permit is withheld. These are temporary arrangements made for practical reasons during construction — and easy to forget about until the final inspection.
In short, occupancy is not a separate work item. It is the day the decisions made at permit stage get tested. On a project built faithfully to its drawings, the occupancy permit becomes a formality.