Consultation with the Department of Labour Inspection for issuing Planning Permits - Building Permits
Introduction
In accordance with the provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health at Work Law, where building plans and calculations are submitted of a building intended to be used as a workplace to obtain a planning or building permit, the Competent Authority (eg the Department of Town Planning and Housing, the District Administration Offices and the Cyprus Municipalities) before issuing the requested permit, requests the opinion of the Director of the Department of Labour Inspection (DLI), whether the buildings and facilities of the requested development are appropriate for use for the purposes proposed in the application.
To this end, a consultation should be contacted between the Competent Authority and DLI on occupational safety and health issues and other related matters falling within the DLI's competences.
Consultation with the TEE
1.
Consultation with Competent Authorities
In the context of the above consultation, the Competent Authority sends to the District Labour Inspection Office of the District where the requested development is or will be located, the application form along with the architectural plans (section plans and floor plans) and / or other relevant documents concerning the requested development (eg environmental study).
In this context, the DLI examines the plans and other documents / data relevant to each application and after the inspection of the existing premises, where applicable, DLI’s views are given and provisions are set for matters falling within the jurisdiction of DLI, which are sent to Competent Authorities.
For the purpose of simplifying, expediting and facilitating the Competent Authorities' consultation process with DLI, the DLI has prepared a Guidance Table entitled
«TABLE OF CONSULTATION WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR INSPECTION FOR ISSUING PLANNING PERMITS AND BUILDING PERMITS»
This table lists the categories of developments, in accordance with the respective classification of the Ministry of Interior and the Department of Town Planning and Housing and itdefines the following two groups of categories. These categories include developments for the construction of new and / or modifications of existing buildings / facilities that are used or to be used as workplaces.
Category A: Categories of developments for which the Competent Authorities and / or applicants / engineers can apply the corresponding standard provisions of the DLI without the need for prior consultation with the DLI.
Annex 1: Land Partitions
Annex 2: Demolitions
Annex 3: Apartment Buildings and Residential Units
Annex 4: Non-Industrial Buildings
Annex 5: Towers – Masts
Annex 8: Additional Special Conditions for Tall Buildings
Category B: Categories of developments requiring prior consultation of the Competent Authority and / or the relevant applicant / designer with the DLI in order to provide its views and set out the relevant DLI’s provisions. For these developments, the DLI has prepared Guidelines for Industrial Premises for the purpose of informing designer and project owners (landlords) and facilitating compliance with the relevant provisions of the Legislation.
Annex 6: Guidelines for Industrial Premises -
Occupational Safety and Health Legislation
Annex 7: Guidelines for Industrial Premises -
Legislation on the Industrial Waste Pollution Control
The compliance with the standard and/or guidance provisions is the responsibility of the landlords and/or designer and/or owners of the premises and is monitored during inspections carried out by competent DLI Officers. The information leaflet "Authorizations and Essential Requirements required by the Legislation Implemented by the DLI" contains information on the permits issued by the DLI and the essential requirements of the laws it implements.
Landlords and / or owners and / or designers of the premises are required to take appropriate action for the purposes of complying with these provisions.
2. Direct Consultation of Applicants / Designers
The consultation with the applicants / designers is done under the framework of the stakeholder consultation system implemented by the Department of Town Planning and Housing (DTPH). Under this framework, the project designer can obtain the required consultations from the Competent Departments / Services / Authorities for each development, so that they can be submitted together with the application for a Planning Permit. This process facilitates the acceleration of issuing Planning Permits.
It should be noted that in cases where the development category of the building falls into
Group A, according to the above Table, no consultation with the DLI is required but the provisions in the corresponding Annex according to the type of development requested apply.
In cases where the development category of the building falls into the above
Group B, according to the above Table, then the applicant / consultant, after obtaining the consultation number from the Planning Authorities, should submit the relevant application together with the architectural plans (section plans and floor plans) and / or other relevant documents related to the requested development (eg environmental study) at the relevant District Labour Inspection Office of the District where the requested development is located or will be implemented for the consultation required.
3. The Control of Major Accidents Hazards
In cases where the application concerns developments in an area covered by the Safety and Health at Work (The Control of Major Accidents Hazards Related to Dangerous Substances) Regulations 2015 (SEVESO III Directive) (R.A.A. 347/2015), the guidelines listed on the section for land use planning at DLI website should be followed.
For more information and / or explanations you can contact the relevant Officers at the DLI Headquarters at 22405612, 22405660, 22405601, 22405619, 22405615 and / or the relevant District Labour Inspection Offices:
Nicosia: 22 879191
Limassol: 25 827200
Larnaca: 24 805316
Paphos: 26 822715
Famagusta: 23 819750