Permit exemptions do not exempt the owner or lessee from complying with all applicable regulations, nor do they exempt the owner or lessee from the obligation to have competent professionals or technicians.
On December 29, 2022, the Urban Development Division of Minvu issued a circular (DDU 474), regarding the entry into force of Supreme Decree No. 13 (V. y U.) of March 3, 2021, which amended several articles of the General Ordinance of Urbanism and Construction (OGUC).
Based on the above, Minvu clarifies the following points:
Regarding the incorporation of subsection 4° of art. 1.4.1. of the OGUC which explains the correlation that exists between the use or destination given to an urbanization or building work with its corresponding permit clarifies that, as a general rule, for purposes of modifying the use of land or destination approved by urbanization or building permit, prior authorization must be obtained from the Director of Municipal Works who will verify that the proposed new use is in accordance with that established in the corresponding Territorial Planning Instrument. Therefore, the modification of the use or destination without authorization constitutes a violation of the General Law and the Ordinance.
Likewise, it adds that those works exempted from permits, established in art. 5.1.2. of the OGUC, the owner or lessee must submit to the Municipal Works Department a file that proves compliance with the regulations applicable to the work, which must be accepted without further procedure, unless the presentation of any document or background information is omitted, and the Director of Works may not issue a record of observations. Failure to submit this file shall constitute a violation of the Ordinance. On the other hand, the fact of being exempted from the permit does not mean that they are exempt from being inspected by the Directorate of Works, so they may be exposed to a sanctioning process.
In the case of works carried out in buildings or areas of heritage protection, or works in units under the Real Estate Co-ownership Law, the file must have the pertinent authorizations in accordance with the corresponding regulations.
Broadly speaking, the DDU interprets that these permit exemptions do not exempt the owner or lessee, as the case may be, from complying with each and every one of the regulations applicable to these works, nor does it exempt them from the obligation to have the competent professionals or technicians required to execute the works.
For more information on these topics please contact our group azRealEstate:
Álvaro Rosenblut | Partner | arosenblut@az.cl
Valentina Palma | Associate | vpalma@az.cl
Raimundo Busquet | Associate | rbusquet@az.cl
