Obtaining a planning permit
Flughafen Zürich AG's building administration handles legally compliant and customer-friendly planning permit procedures in accordance with Swiss aviation law. This involves coordinating all of its own procedures and third-party procedures within the SAIP perimeter of Zurich Airport.
Rough project drafts and a description are sufficient for an initial consultation, which includes information on the procedure and on the scope of the application documents, as well as advice on important, open questions and necessary clarifications, or the departments to be involved and possible regulations.
Different procedures
Every construction project at Zurich Airport requires prior planning permission. As the supervision of airport construction and operation is a federal matter, the planning permit process is governed by the Swiss Aviation Act.
A distinction is made between the following three procedures:
- Rulings for planning approvals by FOCA/DETEC
- Consent from the Canton of Zurich (Office of Mobility and Transport)
- Issuing of planning permits by the local authorities for "secondary structures"
The decision as to which procedure is required for a construction project is taken by the Procedural Review Commission (PRC). The PRC meets around every eight weeks.
The process of the planning approval procedure at Zurich Airport is presented in detail in a leaflet from the Canton of Zurich:
Planning approval procedure
A planning approval procedure is undertaken for major construction projects. To this end, FOCA/DETEC – after consulting with the local, cantonal and federal authorities – produces a planning approval order with regulations. There are two different procedures:
Ordinary procedure (Art. 37 of the Aviation Act, AviA) – duration approx. 6 to 12 months
An ordinary procedure is undertaken for all construction projects that may affect the interests of third parties (e.g. residents, environmental protection, etc.) and are thus publicised and profiled, e.g. new-builds.
Simplified procedure (Art. 37i AviA) – duration up to 6 months
Consent from the canton
For tenant fit-outs and smaller renovations in particular, federal approval is not required, but approval by the canton is a must. A distinction is made between the following two procedures:
Construction projects requiring consent (Art. 28 of the Ordinance on Aviation Infrastructure, AvIO) – duration approx. 2 to 3 months
Construction projects requiring consent in a circulation procedure (Art. 28 AvIO) – duration approx. 2 to 3 weeks
Planning permits from the local authorities for secondary structures
The erection and changing of structures and facilities that do not or do not predominantly serve airport operations (secondary structures in accordance with Art. 29 AvIO) are subject to cantonal construction law. There are two different procedures for local planning permits.
Ordinary planning application – duration 2 to 3 months
Notification procedure – duration 1 to 3 months
Do you have any questions?
The Building Administration will be happy to help.
Flughafen Zürich AG
Bausekretariat – MBO
Postfach
8058 Zürich
