Measures for the Administration of the Plot Ratio of Construction Land

(Issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development on February 17 2012 and effective as of March 1 2012.)

Jian Gui [2012] No.22

Article 1: These Measures have been formulated pursuant to laws and regulations including the PRC Urban and Rural Planning Law and the Measures for the Preparation, Examination and Approval of Detailed Regulatory Plans for Cities and Towns in order to regulate the administration of the plot ratio of construction land.

Article 2: These Measures shall apply to the administration of the plot ratio of construction land to which the state-owned land use rights have been provided by way of allocation or grant in zoned areas of cities and towns.

Article 3: The term “plot ratio” means the ratio of the gross floor area to construction land area within a specified plot of land.

The rules for the calculation of plot ratio shall be determined by the competent urban and rural planning department of the provincial (autonomous region), city or county people's government based on the state's relevant standard code.

Article 4: Where state-owned land use rights are provided by way of a grant, the competent urban and rural planning department of the city or county people's government shall, before granting the state-owned land use rights, make known the zoning conditions, such as plot ratio, based on the detailed regulatory plan, which shall serve as an integral part of the contract for the grant of state-owned land use rights. If the zoning conditions, such as plot ratio, for a plot have not been determined, the state-owned land use rights thereto may not be granted. If the zoning conditions, such as plot ratio, have not been included in a land use rights grant contract, such contract shall be invalid.

For a construction project to which the state-owned land use rights are provided by allocation, the owner shall submit to the competent urban and rural planning department of the city or county people's government an application for a construction land planning permit and the competent urban and rural planning department of the city or county people's government shall determine the control norms, such as the plot ratio of the construction land, based on the detailed regulatory plan and issue a construction land planning permit. The owner may apply for the use of the land to the competent land department of the local people's government at the county level and above only after it has secured the construction land planning permit.

Article 5: Entities and individuals shall comply with plot ratio norms determined in a lawfully approved detailed regulatory plan and may not revise the same without authorisation. If a revision genuinely needs to be made, the same shall be done in accordance herewith, and a revision may not be made by substituting the prescribed procedure by means such as governmental meeting minutes.

Article 6: If the plot ratio determined in a detailed regulatory plan needs to be revised before the allocation or grant of state-owned land use rights, matters shall be handled in accordance with Article 20 of the Measures for the Preparation, Examination and Approval of Detailed Regulatory Plans for Cities and Towns.

Article 7: Once state-owned land use rights have been granted or allocated, no owner (whether entity or individual) may alter the determined plot ratio without authorisation. A revision may be made only if:

(1) there is a change in the plot development conditions due to a revision of the urban and rural plan;

(2) there is a change in the size or relevant construction conditions of the granted or allocated plot due to the construction requirements of urban/rural infrastructure, public service facilities or public safety facilities;

(3) there is a change in the relevant policies of the state or of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the central government; or

(4) another condition as specified in laws or regulations applies.

Article 8: If, after the allocation or grant of state-owned land use rights, the proposed revised plot ratio does not satisfy the detailed regulatory plan for the allocated or granted plot, the following procedural requirements shall be satisfied:

(1) the owner (whether entity or individual) shall submit a written application to the authority that organised and prepared the detailed regulatory plan and explain the reasons for the alteration;

(2) the authority that organised and prepared the detailed regulatory plan shall seek the opinions of the relevant departments as to whether the state-owned land use rights need to be recovered and arrange for technical personnel, relevant departments, experts, etc. to conduct a justification discussion in respect of the necessity of revising the plot ratio;

(3) the authority that organised and prepared the detailed regulatory plan shall seek the opinions of the materially interested parties in the zoned area through the major media in the area and announcements on site, and, when necessary, shall pay them a visit, hold informal discussions or organise hearings;

(4) the authority that organised and prepared the detailed regulatory plan shall propose whether or not to revise the detailed regulatory plan, submit a dedicated report to the original approval authority and additionally provide the opinions of the relevant departments and the results of the justification discussion and announcements; it may arrange for the preparation of the revision proposal only after the original approval authority has given its consent;

(5) the revised detailed regulatory plan shall be submitted by the statutory procedure to the city or county people's government for approval; among the materials submitted for approval shall be the opinions of the materially interested parties in the zoned area and the handling outcome; and

(6) the competent urban and rural planning department may carry out the subsequent plan examination and approval only after approval by the city or county people's government and shall send a copy of the revised plot ratio to the competent land department in a timely manner.

Article 9: If, after the allocation or grant of state-owned land use rights, the proposed revised plot ratio satisfies the requirements of the detailed regulatory plan for the allocated or granted plot, the following procedural requirements shall be satisfied:

(1) the owner (whether entity or individual) shall submit a written application report to the competent urban and rural planning department of the city or county explaining the reasons for the revision and providing the revision proposal; the revision proposal shall indicate the general layout schemes for the land, the main economic and technical norms, the construction space and environment, the relationships with adjacent land and buildings, traffic impact assessment, etc. before and after the revision;

(2) the competent urban and rural planning department shall seek the opinions of the relevant departments as to whether the state-owned land use rights need to be recovered and arrange for technical personnel, relevant departments and experts to conduct a justification discussion in respect of the necessity of revising the plot ratio;

the makeup of the fields of the experts and the number of such experts for the justification discussion by experts shall be determined based on the circumstances of the project, relevant experts shall be chosen randomly from the established pool of experts, the justification discussion opinions shall include the list of experts and their signatures, and the impartiality and scientific nature of the justification discussion by the experts shall be ensured; if an expert has a material interest in the entity or individual applying for revision of the plot ratio, he or she shall recuse himself or herself;

(3) the competent urban and rural planning department shall seek the opinions of the materially interested parties in the zoned area through the major media in the area, announcements on site and other such means, and, when necessary, shall pay them a visit, hold informal discussions or organise hearings;

(4) the competent urban and rural planning department shall propose revision or not in accordance with the law, and submit the opinions of the relevant departments and the results of the justification discussion and the announcements to the city or county people's government for approval;

(5) the competent urban and rural planning department may carry out the subsequent plan examination and approval only after approval by the city or county people's government and shall send a copy of the revised plot ratio to the competent land department in a timely manner.

Article 10: The competent urban and rural planning department of the city or county shall post information such as the plot ratio revision procedure and the responsible departments at each stage at its office premises and on the government website. After the justification discussion, it shall post the list of experts who participated therein.

Article 11: When effecting planning administration of a construction project, the competent urban and rural planning department must strictly adhere to the plot ratio determined in the approved detailed regulatory plan.

With respect to a construction project, the plot ratio accorded by the competent urban and rural planning department in the course of giving the zoning conditions, construction land planning permit and construction project planning permit, and verifying the construction project completion plan, shall conform with the plot ratio determined in the detailed regulatory plan and be consistent throughout; the competent urban and rural planning department shall publish the approval results at each stage until completion of the final acceptance check of the project.

With respect to a construction project developed in phases, the total of the gross floor area determined in the construction project planning permit for each phase shall comply with the plot ratio requirements determined in the zoning conditions and the construction land planning permit.

Article 12: When verifying a construction project, the competent urban and rural planning department of the local people's government at the county level and above shall strictly examine whether the construction project satisfies the plot ratio requirements. The owner may not arrange for final acceptance of the construction project if it has not undergone verification or if it has undergone verification but been found not to satisfy plot ratio requirements.

Article 13: With respect to a project the construction of which cannot commence on schedule as a result of the submission of an application for revision of the plot ratio due to a reason attributable to the owner (entity or individual), matters shall be handled in accordance with provisions on the disposal of idle land.

Article 14: If an owner (whether an entity or individual) violates these Measures by proceeding with construction after revising the plot ratio without authorisation, the competent urban and rural planning department of the local people's government at the county level or above shall investigate and handle the matter in accordance with Article 64 of the Urban and Rural Planning Law.

Article 15: If a revision of plot ratio is carried out in violation of these Measures or if the provisions on publication or announcement are violated, the relevant responsible persons shall be disciplined in accordance with the law.

Article 16: These Measures shall be effective as of March 1 2012.