Simplified Approval Procedures for Construction Projects in Shanghai

When the property owner applies for the Demolition Permit upon granting of land use rights, the Land and Housing Administration should complete the examination and approval process within 20 working days.

Approval of the Layout Plan

When the Layout Administration Authorities receives the layout plan submitted by the property owner, it should hold a meeting with, or solicit written opinions from, the other Relevant Administration Authorities. The Relevant Administration Authorities should give the Layout Administration Authority their opinions about the layout plan within 10 working days. The Layout Administration Authority is required to complete the examination and approval of the layout plan within 20 working days after it accepts the plan.

Approval of the Feasibility Study Report

Upon approval of its layout plan, the property owner must submit its feasibility study report to the Planning Administration Authority. The Planning Administration Authority must complete the examination process within 5 to 15 working days depending on the nature (residence or non-residence) of the construction project.

Approval of the Preliminary Design

After the approval of the feasibility study report, the property owner should then submit the preliminary design to the Construction Administration Authority. The Construction Administration Authority should examine and approve the preliminary design within 20 working days by examining the preliminary design together with other Relevant Administration Authorities in a meeting or by soliciting their written opinions. The Construction Administration Authority should forward the approval documents to the Planning Administration Authority upon the approval of the preliminary design.

Approval of the Engineering Design

Based on the preliminary design, the property owner should further submit the engineering design to the Construction Administration Authority and the Public Security Authority. These two authorities should complete the examination and approval process within 20 working days, and should forward their decision to both the Layout Administration Authority and the Environment Protection Authority. The Reformation Plan also authorizes the Construction Administration Authority, in this process, to entrust professional design examination entities to examine engineering designs.

Issuance of the Construction Project Layout Permit

The Layout Administration Authority examines the application simultaneously with the examination of the above engineering design by the Construction Administration Authority and should complete its examination within 23 working days after the examination of the engineering design.

Upon the above approval, the property owner should record the construction project layout permit with the construction quality supervision authorities, and must apply for a review of the construction site. The Layout Administration Authority should complete a review of the Construction Project Layout Permit within three to five working days from the date the property owner applies for such review.

Issuance of the Engineering Permit

After the property owner passes the above review, it should apply to the Construction Administration Authority for the engineering permit, and the latter must complete the examination within four working days.

Inspection of Completed Projects

After the completion of the construction project, the property owner should apply for inspection and acceptance of the completed project to the Layout Administration Authority, Environment Protection Administration Authority and Fire Control Administration Authority for acceptance of the completed project.

The Layout Administration Authority should examine the project with the other relevant authorities to complete its acceptance process within 10 working days.

Upon receipt of the report for acceptance of the completed project and depending on the nature of the construction and engineering project, the Relevant Administration Authorities should complete the acceptance formalities within 12 to 17 working days.

After the project has been accepted, the property owner shall submit an acceptance report to the Construction Commission for records. Should the agency find defects in the completed project, it must give a notice to the property owner within 13 working days. For non-residence projects, the whole examination and approval procedure for a construction/engineering project is completed after the submission of the records. In the event the project is a residence project, after submission for records the property owner must further apply to the Residence Administration Authorities for the New Residence Delivery Permit, which should take less than 15 working days.

By Vincent Wang and Ron (Rongwei) Cai,

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP^{?/SUP>,
Shanghai}