Building by rules

Building regulations by the Muscat Municipality strives to ensure that the aesthetic appeal of the city is maintained
Charles Schofield

Building laws sit at the heart of development control. They can ensure that all buildings are built to accepted standards of safety, quality and aesthetics. Muscat, in particular, is well known in the Gulf region for being a city of beauty. Nestled among mountains and coastal plains, it wends its way along the coast, in and out of a dramatic landscape. Not only is the location of the city spectacular, but the unique Arabic character of its buildings and layout make it a special place to visit and live.

A key part of ensuring that the aesthetic appeal of Muscat is preserved, is the application of the city's building laws. In Muscat those laws are the responsibility of Muscat Municipality. Indeed, in each region around the sultanate, the local regional municipality has a similar role.

Oman, as with many of its neighbours, is experiencing a boom in the property sector. In Muscat, this has seen a number of large prop-erty development projects get underway. The growth is just not confined to the tourism sector, as approvals are regularly sought for new commercial, residential and shopping premi-ses. The pressure on town planning authorities has accordingly perhaps never been greater, with numerous development requests of increasing complexity.

It is, therefore, important to ensure that building approvals are delivered in a timely manner without compromising the role of planning laws in preserving the safety, quality and aesthetics of buildings.

Overview of laws
The power of granting building consents rests with each regional municipality. Municipalities are responsible for issuing detailed building regulations, which set out specific requirements for buildings built within the local area.

Those powers can, however, only be exercised within a framework established on a national level. Ministerial Decision 48/2000 sets out the national building regulations. That law has established the basic framework for obtaining building permits and some key requirements that apply to any building activity within the sultanate. A key principle that the Ministerial Decision is stated to uphold is the maintenance of the intrinsic character of the Arab and Islamic heritage of Oman. This means that any new development will need to complement existing buildings and fit with the current aesthetics of the surrounding area. All building permits are subject to laws protecting Oman's heritage.

Building permits
The main regulatory control over building activity in Oman is exercised through the requirement to obtain a building permit before any work is undertaken. The net is cast wide. Approval needs to obtained from the municipality before a building is constructed, demolished, altered internally or externally, have a door or window put in, changed in style or even painted in a new colour. Such broad restrictions mean that essentially any construction or building development has to meet the municipality criteria.

Building permits can be major or minor. Major building permits are granted for significant works, outside of limited alterations, and entail a more involved process to obtain and for supervising construction. They also have greater safety protections in place. For example, there is a requirement for an engineering consultant to provide an undertaking to supervise the construction and ensure compliance with the approved plan for any major building permit. The consultant must also report regularly to the municipality on the progress of construction.

Many key features of the Oman architectural landscape are found protected within the detailed building regulations issued by the municipalities. For example, there are certain restrictions on building heights and preserving the low-rise look of the cities.

Buildings must also be painted in certain colours (usually white). There are also restrictions on room heights, basements and the allocation of car parking spaces. There is even a requirement that slanted ceilings in buildings shall not be visible. These restrictions are put in place to ensure that the traditional aesthetic appeal of Oman is preserved.

Aside from architectural issues, the building laws also touch on how construction must be undertaken. There is a general prohibition on construction between sunset and sunrise. Construction within that time requires special approval. There are also guidelines on the maintenance of building sites. For example, sites need to be kept regularly cleaned of debris until the completion of construction. This is enforced by way of a compulsory bank guarantee up to a maximum of RO30,000, from which the director of the municipality may deduct the cost of removal of debris.

There are permitted exceptions to the rules. The building regulations expressly anticipate that there will be some construction work that will be permitted outside the strict guidelines. Indeed, this is a fundamental issue that any building law needs to balance – the need to preserve desired characteristics without stifling new developments.

As the sultanate continues on its economic progress, it is likely that more and more developments will be put forward to challenge the received wisdom of current building laws. Oman has, however, managed to find a happy balance of development and tradition which is reflected in the crafting of its current building regulations.