Building your house from abroad

Start from a plot whose papers hold up

You do not build first and sort the paperwork out afterwards. Before anything is drawn, the plot must be in your name: an ACD (Arrêté de Concession Définitive, final concession order) published in the Livre foncier (land register), or a certificat de mutation (transfer certificate) if the property already had an ACD⁴.

The certificat d’urbanisme (planning certificate) is the document that tells you what you are allowed to build: it sets out the planning rules, the easements and whether the plot can be built on. It is not proof of ownership⁵.

Prerequisite

A title in your name

What the certificat d’urbanisme tells you

What can be built, not who owns the plot⁵

Have the plans drawn up by an architect registered with the Order

The Construction Code is clear: “Tout projet de construction doit être dressé par un architecte agréé” (every building project must be drawn up by a licensed architect)¹. No minimum floor area, no exemption for “a small house”.

Check that the architect is registered: the Ordre des architectes de Côte d’Ivoire (the national Order of Architects) publishes its register, which listed 238 architects on 17 September 2026³. From abroad, this is the first check you can do yourself, in two minutes.

Legal text

2019 Construction Code, art. 18¹

Register

The Order’s register, oarchitectes.ci³

Apply for the building permit at the one-stop shop

A building permit is required for any new building, any extension, any work on the main structure, any boundary wall, and for work that changes the use, the structure or the appearance of the building¹.

Applications are processed by the building permit one-stop shop (guichet unique du permis de construire)¹, replaced in April 2025 by the GUPCCU, the one-stop shop for building permits and planning control, created by the Council of Ministers².

A few cases do not need a permit (housing that follows standard plans approved by the minister, facade renovation), but they require a déclaration préalable (prior declaration) at the town hall or sub-prefecture¹.

Validity

One year; it lapses if work does not start¹

Interruption

It also lapses if work stops for two years¹

Choose a licensed building firm and sign a contract

You are the client (maître d’ouvrage), the person the building is for: the Code requires you to engage a builder under a contract¹. Each party then has its own share of responsibility: the architect for the design, the engineer for structural stability, the contractor for carrying out the work¹.

A building contractor must be licensed by the minister¹. Ask to see that licence before you pay the first deposit, not after.

Who does it

A licensed building firm

Basis

A written contract with the client (maître d’ouvrage)¹

Take out insurance before work starts on site

Every builder is liable for damage that undermines the soundness of the building: this is the ten-year liability, known as décennale¹. The builder must be insured from the day work starts on site¹.

That is not all, and this is the point most owners miss: the owner having the house built must take out damage insurance (assurance dommages) themselves, before work starts on site¹. Two policies, two policyholders.

Builder’s side

Liability insurance¹

Owner’s side

Damage insurance (assurance dommages)¹

Have the architect supervise the build

From abroad, photos sent over WhatsApp prove nothing: they show what someone chooses to show you. Design and site supervision (maîtrise d’œuvre) is the architect’s role, and the Code shares out responsibility between the designer, the engineer and the contractor¹.

Pay according to what has been checked on site, not what you are told has been done. It is the same reflex as for a purchase: the money follows the checks.

Who does it

The architect, on your behalf

Good habit

A written report at each stage

File the declaration of completion

A build is not finished when the workers leave. At the end of the work, a déclaration de parfait achèvement (declaration of completion) is filed, together with an end-of-works report¹.

This is the step that closes the administrative file opened by the permit, and that sets the starting date for any claims you may later bring against the builders¹.

Document

Déclaration de parfait achèvement (declaration of completion)¹

Attached

End-of-works report¹