The Moment We Finally Got the Permit
I’ve been avoiding writing about this topic here, mostly because I didn’t want to reopen old wounds. But today I finally have a reason—because we officially have our building permit! After months of waiting, chasing, and stressing, we’re holding that piece of paper that says we can finally break ground.
And let me tell you—it did not come easily.
Preparing the Preliminary Project
Back in March, we had our preliminary house project ready to go. All we needed were some signatures, but that dragged on for various reasons (mostly neighbor approvals). By April, our folder was neatly prepared when we suddenly discovered a note on the municipality’s website: “As of April 1st, all building permit applications must be submitted digitally.” Excuse me, what?! (Yes, that’s exactly how we felt). We had already lost so much precious time, because the plan was to get the permit in a month or two and at least have the foundation done while the weather was warm and dry.
Digital Submission and Overwhelming Guidelines
We started by looking at the official guide that came with the new digital requirements. Together with Mr. Right, we went through it line by line—how to name files, how to organize them into folders, and so on. Honestly, the system might make sense for massive projects like shopping centers, but for a simple family home it felt like complete overkill.
Our project was about 20 pages with drawings included. But after reformatting it for the digital system, we somehow ended up with eight separate title pages, just as many folders, and in some of those folders only a single page. On top of that, the filenames were made up of endless combinations of numbers and letters, which meant we had to create an additional index just to keep track of what code referred to which document.
Facing Errors and Delays
When we finally tried uploading everything, we got hit with 28 errors. For example: “Between underscores 2 and 3, the letter combination KP is not allowed.” The instructions said it was fine, but the system said otherwise. We spent a week pulling our hair out, calling the municipality—only to hear that they didn’t know either. They were just learning the system themselves.
Eventually, a new version of the guide came out, much longer but finally clear enough for us to fix the errors. Success!
Or so we thought. Because then came digital signing, and we discovered one of the signers had expired ID certificates. That meant another delay. By June, we finally managed to upload and sign everything, and we waited. The official processing time was 30 days, but a month later, they told us it had only just started. Then the deadline was extended because of vacations. Then more silence. No one picked up the phone.
Taking Matters into Our Own Hands
Mr. Right ended up going to the municipality in person, where he discovered piles of unprocessed projects, missed deadlines pinned to the wall, and our project buried in the stack. They told us to fix errors and resubmit, but they hadn’t even officially rejected the old version yet. More delays, more calls, more waiting.
By November, after endless back-and-forth, we finally submitted version 2. But by then, winter had already come and gone, and our building plans had to be postponed to the next year.
In January 2017, we got yet another rejection—this time from the fire department, because our roof design didn’t include a walkway. We fixed it quickly and submitted version 3. At that point, we had finally gotten used to the system, so it went smoother.
After another month of waiting and yet another in-person visit, we were told the permit was coming “any day now.” A week later, the secretary confirmed it was granted—but there was still no record in the register. More waiting. Until today. Today, Mr. Right marched back to the municipality, and this time he came home with the paper in hand. Finally, the building permit is ours, and the register updated!
Lessons Learned: Patience, People, and the Process
All in all, it took 9 months, the best construction season, and a lot of our nerves. But this chapter is finally closed. Here’s hoping the usage permit process won’t be such a nightmare.
Looking back, this whole process taught us a lot. In this digital age, systems may be designed to make things more efficient, but at the end of the day, people still want to put a face to what otherwise feels like a faceless project. And the people working in government offices are just that—people. They get sick, they change jobs, they take vacations. Life happens, and so do delays.
What we really learned was patience. We had to let our carefully made timelines fly out the window and accept that building a house is not for the faint of heart. It’s not a fast, ready-to-order product that arrives the next day. It’s a process—one that depends on weather, people, laws, regulations, and countless other moving parts. We never imagined that getting our building permit approved would take so long, but in the end I learned to let some things go, and not to stress so much when plans don’t unfold exactly the way I thought they would.
Now that this chapter is behind us, we can finally focus on building our home, savoring each step, and enjoying the process, no matter how long it takes.
Learn more about our building plans in this post.
