As is implied from its name, Ramat Gan, which literally means “garden height”, Ramat Gan is Israel’s city of gardens, and it is one of the largest and most established cities in Israel. This City has unique assets like the Compound of the Diamond Exchange, the National Park and the only Safari in Israel.
The quality of life, its proximity to other cities in the center of Israel and the development of cultural and industrial areas in it have turned Ramat Gan into one of the cities that Israelis most seek to live in. This demand increased the need for the construction of residential buildings by various entrepreneurs, which will preferably be built in areas that are more in the center, or alternatively in areas which are undergoing an urban redevelopment.
An Urban Redevelopment in Ramat Gan
Ramat Gan is one of the leading cities in Israel in development and urban regeneration, and last year it came in third place in this field after Haifa and Tel Aviv. Therefore, you can see more and more developed and modern neighborhoods that are being built in Ramat Gan, which change the City’s overall appearance. The Municipality of Ramat Gan allows its residents to improve their quality of lives by upgrading the old buildings in which they reside through an NOP 38 project, or through a vacation and reconstruction project that allows entrepreneurs to build a new and larger building than the original building in such a way that everybody comes out benefited- the tenants who enjoy larger and/or newer apartments, the Municipality of Ramat Gan that improves the City’s appearance, and of course the entrepreneurs who benefit from the occupation of a building that was built in a central and attractive city.
In the recent years harsh criticism was raised against the previous mayors of Ramat Gan, since they have more easily allowed witihn the NOP 38 the provision of building permits while granting excessive construction rights to entrepreneurs, which resulted in hurting the characteristics of the City’s neighborhoods, in creating a load on the infrastructures, in creating a shortage of educational institutions, and no betterment levies were collected in return to that.
The current mayor of Ramat Gan, Carmel Shama HaCohen, decided on a policy that there will no longer be any urban redevelopment that does not match a neighborhood master plan that was approved by the City’s department of planning.
A particular plan for one plot will be approved in an extraordinary manner due to reasons that will be recorded only if it does not hurt the possibility of planning a future or existing compound in accordance with the condition of the public infrastructures while taking into consideration the condition of the construction sites in the area and the development budgets.
What Types of Urban Redevelopment do we have?
NOP (National Outline Plan) 38/1 is a plan in which you strengthen the existing building when it stands in its place by strengthening its foundations against earthquakes, improving its façade from the inside out, adding balconies and protected areas in the existing apartments, and by adding a renovated lobby, parking spaces, storages and an elevator. The idea is that the tenants stay to live in the structure while the work is being done and the entrepreneur will build new apartments through which he will finance the project, and that way both parties will win.
NOP 38/2 is a plan in which the existing building is demolished and a new building is built instead. This allows the owners of the existing apartments to receive new apartments instead of their existing ones, which will enjoy the addition of a balcony, protected area, parking spaces and storages in a new building. During the construction of this new building the tenants move on the expense of the entrepreneur to another residence until the construction is completed. The idea is that the entrepreneur will build new apartments and through their sale he will finance the project. This is the preferable possibility of the tenants because then they do not have to live during the project in a construction site. A project of vacation-reconstruction is a project in which the residential area or compound is totally vacated from its tenants, the existing buildings are demolished and new towers with new infrastructures, public areas and etc. are constructed. The disadvantage in this possibility is the prolongation of such a project because it deals with many tenants and the project needs to be approved by a district committee and not just by the municipality.
The tenants receive throughout the duration of the construction work an alternative accommodation that is supplied by the entrepreneur, and when the work is completed they return to a new compound and new building, which includes a balcony, a protected area, a storage, a parking space and public areas that serve the tenants of the project.
How is the process of an application for a building permit done?
According to the law in Israel whenever you construct a house or building for accommodational, industrial or commercial purposes, the entrepreneurs are required to obtain an appropriate license, which is called a building permit. The process of requesting such a permit includes four stages till its final approval.
- The first stage is the preparation of an application for a permit by an expert. Such an application can be prepared only by a professional in this field, like an architect or building engineer/practical engineer, depending on the scope of the project. The preparer of the application also actually plans the construction and he provides ongoing services with regard to it.
- In the second stage the preparer of the application for a building permit submits a request to receive information regarding the licensing process through a system called “Available Licensing”. This system assists the submitter of the application, entrepreneurs and regular people who are interested in building a new building to receive current information regarding the execution of such a project. The information is supposed to pass between municipal and external parties and to be received within 45 days.
- The third state is the planning of the structure – after the relevant information is received you can start planning the designated structure according to the information and guidelines that appear in the system. You need to remember with regard to that that the information and instructions, which are received, are valid for only two years, and therefore, as time passes by, they are no longer relevant and you need to submit another application in order to receive information for planning the structure.
- The fourth stage is submitting a request for a building permit- after the architectural design of the structure is completed the preparer of the application submits an application for a building permit through the system of “Applicable Licensing”.
Submitting an Application for a Building Permit in Ramat Gan with the Aid of a Professional Office for the Advancement of a License
If in the past an architect would have invested 95% of his time in planning the project and 5% of his time in dealing with the municipality, today it is the other way around and handling the municipality takes 95% of his time, while 5% of his time goes to the project. Therefore, talented architects will find themselves facing licensing officials and complicated bureaucracy without any end.
Throughout the passing of the years and due to progress the policies of the municipalities regarding this process of obtaining a building permit have changed a number of times, the requirements of the planning committees became more stricter, and they made it impossible to issue such a permit within a reasonable time. As a result many projects went down the drain, the planning work of architects and consultants, which costs the entrepreneur thousands of NIS, were paid in vain because the project was declined at the municipality.
The solution for this is a professional office for the advancement of construction licensing that the one who heads it will be registered in the application for a permit as an additional applicant so he will be able to directly deal with the municipality and the parties who are involved in the project.
Even if you succeeded after a weary journey to obtain an affirmative decision from the committee, your rejoicing may sometimes be too early!. The validity of a committee’s decision is for one year in which you need to comply with about 50 requirements of the municipality and of external parties, such as the Homefront Command, the water corporation, NTA, development, traffic and parking consultants, elevators, electricity, organization of the site and etc…..while every such requirement needs to be signed, and sometimes by a number of parties, which is almost impossible.
If you were lucky and succeeded in the mission then you won, but what if not?. Many don’t know that you can renew a decision of the committee for one more year!!!, and therefore choosing an office that has experience with the authorities saves a project. The office Gil Klinger Project Initiation identified the need of entrepreneurs and real estate companies for this service, and it addressed the banks that finance these projects and caused them to add an article of advancing the licensing within the financing of the project, therefore the payment for such an advancement will come from the financing of the bank and not from the equity of the entrepreneur.
Why to Choose Us?
The office of “Gil Klinger Project Initiation” has a credibility mark of Dun & Bradstreet Israel, and it specializes in the municipal field and in the advancement of building permits at the authorities. After twenty years of acquaintance with the planning institutions in Israel, with the relevant licensing officials and with their requirements, we have succeeded in learning all the parameters that are involved in the submission of an application, while maximumly exploiting your rights, and this gives us, and it will give you, a significant advantage, so we will be able to assist you in whatever is required and in certain cases we may even save your project!.
Our office’s team of experts consults, plans and handles the process of issuing a building permit at the various planning authorities and officials starting from the stage you envision the construction and up to the stage the dream comes true and the building permit is actually received.
Our office works in full transparency throughout all the stages of the process, as well as discretely and with an orientation towards maximumly shortening the timetables while providing a top-rate service to our clients.
You need us! Contact us even today for a consultation meeting
