Illegal construction is spread throughout many areas in Lebanon, and particularly in the South and Southern Suburb of Beirut (Dahieh). Houses and buildings were built on private and public property without permits and the security forces were mere bystanders.

The search for the causes behind this political, social and economic phenomenon leads to one result: these buildings, similarly to the ones that preceded them, have become a reality and it is difficult to get rid of them in light of partisan and confessional protection. How are construction permits issued and how is the law violated?

The permit requirement

Article 1 of Construction Law No. 646 dated December 11, 2004 (amending Legislative Decree No. 148 dated September 16, 1983), stipulates that permits are compulsory: “the construction, conversion and renovation of all types of buildings cannot proceed without the prior obtainment of a permit granted according to the laws in force and based on the approval of the competent technical administrations following their examination of the request. The permit request and the building maps must be signed by the architect in charge according to the regulations in place at the Syndicate of Architects and it must be registered at one of the Syndicates of Architects (in Beirut or Trablous) (…) The permit is compulsory for all types of buildings even those belonging to public administrations and municipalities, except those related to the army…”

The areas (m2) of licensed constructions

The Syndicates of Architects in Beirut and Tripoli both grant building permits (they become legal only after the approval of the urban planning departments) and the licensed areas vary from one year to the other. It should be indicated that these permits are implemented either directly after their obtainment or a while after, and they are rarely unimplemented. Table 1 details the areas of licensed constructions in the last few years. It emerges that 2010 recorded the highest areas, increasing by 22.7% from 2009 and in the past 11 years (2000-2010) the increase has been 162%.   

Authorizing the displaced to build

In order to facilitate the return of the displaced, Law No. 322 was issued on March 24, 1994, and allowed the displaced to build without complying with the provisions of the Construction Law all the while respecting a certain number of conditions:

-     The applicant for a permit must be a displaced and this must be proved by a statement issued by the Ministry of the Displaced.

-     The building must be constructed on an estate he/she owns that must have existed prior to the issuance of this law and must not result from a screening process that followed the issuance of this law. 

-     The total number of floors, whatever the text allowing the building, must not exceed 2 floors above ground level. In addition, the area of each floor must not exceed 120m2, including the balconies.

-     The license is exempt from fees, including the registration fees of the Syndicate of Architects, which are given to the owner of the estate by an architect of the General Directorate of Urban Planning.

The law also allows the displaced to construct according to what he/she previously owned prior to destruction, without any additions or changes. If the building previously trespassed on public property, this violation should be removed.

This law was to be in place for only 2 years. In practice however, the law was violated in most cases as permissions were granted by the Ministry to individuals who were not really displaced. In addition, construction did not abide by the abovementioned conditions and what used to be small and modest houses in villages were replaced by big houses and buildings with several floors. In order to overcome these violations, the duration of the law was amended 5 times, the last of which was by virtue of law No. 110 dated June 26, 2010, for a period of 2 years. 

Settlement of building violations

In order to address the large number of building violations that occurred during the Lebanese civil war, law No. 324 dated March 24, 1994, was issued. It specified a variety of ways “to settle” the various types of violations, some by way of payment of fines and others, if they trespassed and could not be settled financially, by way of demolition. However, the enforcement of this law in practice was both partial and limited to certain areas only, namely cities. It remains to be said that this so called “settlement law” was an obligatory and convenient means for applicants who violated the Construction Law to obtain official real estate documentation. 

Building violations are numerous and include:

-                   Building on private property that meets the zoning requirement but the construction was done without obtaining a permit. This is the most common type of violation.

-                   Building on private property that does not meet the zoning requirement by exceeding the authorized built up area and was done without obtaining a permit.

-                   Building on private property that does not meet the zoning requirement and trespasses on public or private properties and was done without a permit.

-                   Building on public property without a permit.

-                   Building on private property with a permit but the implementation exceeds what was provided in the license (in term of area, design, planning). This is a violation that occurs by bribing those monitoring the building works.

Monitoring construction: whose responsibility is it?

The municipal police is supposed to do whatever is in its power to monitor building works, review the legality of the permit and ensure compliance with the provisions of the permit. However, the problem is the lack of human resources and so this task has been undertaken by the Internal Security Forces (ISF) or the police. This has not prevented flagrant violations in various regions. There is also consensus about the security forces allegedly accepting bribes to facilitate illegal building works.

When Zyad Baroud was appointed Minister of Interior and Municipalities in 2008, he issued a decree in which he asked the ISF not to follow up on building works and to leave this matter to the municipalities. This lead to a chaotic situation and the spreading of building violations due to favoritism and the incompetence of the municipal police. As a consequence, the Minister retracted his decision once tens of violating buildings were erected.

Latest violations

For political and electoral reasons, political figures in Saida asked the Director General of the ISF to resort to their members in the area of Baysariyyeh near Sarafand not to stop the building works that the residents of Hay Yareen were undertaking (they were displaced from their town of Yareen, near the border with Israel in 1978 and they built their houses on public property in the town of Baysariyyeh). The residents of the South and the Southern Suburb of Beirut used this as an excuse to conduct unlicensed building works, either on their private properties, on public property or by erecting additional floors to their houses. The number of violations increased in number and in kind and is estimated between 4000-7000 housing units (between the end of March and the end of May 2011).

A number of these illegal buildings, especially those close to Beirut Airport, present a danger to the safety of flights, which pushed politicians to grant their approval to the security forces to remove these violations whereas the majority remained intact. Those political forces who publicly refused the violations and trespasses and ordered the security forces to have them removed were secretively supporting these unlicensed buildings, especially by issuing statements like: “violations are everywhere in Lebanon, in the South, in Dahieh and in the Solidere area.”

Following the accentuation of this wave and the threatening of citizens in Lebanese regions to resort to building works without licenses, the Director General of the ISF requested (without having the authority to do so) the municipalities to grant building permits not exceeding 120m2, with the exception of the Mohafaza of the Matn.

It is obvious that each political group in one way or another is either supporting the illegal construction or looking the other way. Zua’ama of the Sunni would point to the Dahieh calling for the demolition of illegal buildings while supporting encroachment and appropriation of public land in A’akkar and by Solidere (Beirut Central District). On the other hand, Shia’a Zua’ama point to Solidere and A’akkar to justify what has taken place in the Dahieh. Private interest groups and individuals have taken advantage of this polarization and millions of dollars are being made illegally, while usurping public land and endangering lives and the environment.