Ministry of Municipalities and Housing: The "Baladi" platform allows for the electronic issuance of occupancy certificates for buildings.

The Ministry of Municipalities and Housing confirmed the availability of the occupancy certificate issuance service for buildings electronically through the "Baladi" platform, enabling beneficiaries to complete the building completion procedures and obtain the certificate without the need to visit municipal authorities, as part of the Ministry's ongoing efforts to develop digital services, raise the efficiency of municipal services and improve the beneficiary experience.

The ministry explained that the occupancy certificate is an official document that confirms the actual completion of the building in accordance with the license and approved requirements, and represents one of the basic stages in the construction journey, as it allows the beneficiary to complete the procedures related to the property and benefit from the related services with ease and convenience.

She explained that obtaining an occupancy certificate is done through the "Baladi" platform through easy electronic steps that begin with selecting the user's status and submitting a new request, then specifying the type of owner and applicant and selecting the building permit for which the occupancy certificate is to be issued, followed by selecting the accredited engineering office and sending the request to it to complete the technical requirements, prepare the necessary engineering report and upload it electronically through the platform.

She added that the Secretariat reviews the application and verifies it on the ground and approves the certificate after the completion of the technical procedures and payment of fees, after which the occupancy certificate is issued directly and made available to the beneficiary to print and use without the need to visit the headquarters of the municipalities or secretariats.

The ministry indicated that among the most important requirements for issuing an occupancy certificate is the existence of a building permit that was issued six months ago or more and for which no occupancy certificate has been issued before, payment of service fees and outstanding debts, in addition to contracting with an accredited engineering office for non-residential uses, and fulfilling the insurance policy against latent defects in accordance with the regulations governing this.

She emphasized that “Baladi” allows for the proactive issuance of a building compliance certificate as soon as the occupancy certificate issuance procedures are completed and the fees are paid, without the need to submit a separate application, which contributes to shortening the procedures, speeding up the beneficiary’s journey, and enhancing the efficiency of the services provided.

The “Baladi” platform provides proactive notification services to beneficiaries via text messages and email, in addition to the ability to track requests and services through the beneficiary’s control panel, which enhances transparency and enables tracking the stages of the request on a regular basis.

This service comes as part of the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing’s efforts to facilitate procedures, raise the quality of municipal services and improve the beneficiary experience, in line with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 to raise residents’ satisfaction with municipal services, and contribute to building more efficient, higher quality and more sustainable cities.