Apartment Renovation: In Accordance with the Law, In Peace with Neighbors

Since 2017, no permit is required in Ukraine for internal remodeling works in one’s own home. This significantly simplifies the procedure but does not remove responsibility for poorly executed work. How can you remodel your apartment without becoming an enemy to your neighbors and utility services? Read on for a helpful guide.

Let’s Remodel!

Today, most remodeling works in residential property are permitted, except those that involve load-bearing structures. These include exterior walls in buildings, walls that separate apartments, and those facing stairwells. They are thicker than regular partition walls, serve as the main framework of the building, support the upper floors, and act as a sort of skeleton for the structure. Damaging a load-bearing wall can lead to cracks in the walls and even pose a risk of collapse. So it’s not worth the risk—radical changes should be discussed with the capital construction department.

What can we safely do in our apartments?

• Increase living space at the expense of non-living areas.
• Combine rooms by creating openings in non-load-bearing walls and partitions.
• Combine bathrooms and increase their size by using corridor space.
• In a room with a balcony or loggia, convert a window into a doorway to the balcony.

What requires permits and subsequent commissioning?

• Merging several apartments into one.
• Increasing the area of non-residential premises at the expense of residential ones.
• Moving heating devices onto a balcony or loggia.
• Dismantling floor slabs between stories or altering floor structures.
• Eliminating or changing ventilation channels.
• Dismantling external walls.
• Excavating cellars on ground floors.
• Adding extra rooms to the first floor.

What awaits violators?

• Administrative liability in the form of a fine from 3 to 5 untaxed minimum incomes.
• Restoring the property to its original state at your own expense.
• If remodeling has damaged the general structure of the building, both the contractor and the person ordering the work are held liable. Costs are determined by court decision.

How to make your remodeling legal?

Contact the Bureau of Technical Inventory (BTI), order a remodeling project and technical documentation. In the future, if anyone wants to change this new apartment layout again, they will need to repeat this procedure. On average, this process takes about one month.

And finally, one last small but very important detail. When planning noisy work, remember that on weekdays it is allowed from 8:00 to 21:00, and on weekends and holidays only with the consent of all neighbors.

If you follow basic construction requirements and simple human considerations, you’ll be able to maintain peace with neighbors and services—and successfully finish any renovation project.