Permits and Expert Review for Ventilated Facades in Georgia

The legal frame in one paragraph

Building procedure in Georgia is set by the Code of Georgia on Spatial Planning, Architectural and Construction Activities No. 3213-რს of 20 July 2018 and by Government of Georgia Resolution No. 255 of 31 May 2019, which regulates permits and acceptance of buildings into operation. The technical content of the review comes from the regulations: seismic and climatology (Government of Georgia Resolution No. 71 of 15 January 2014), fire (Government of Georgia Resolution No. 41 of 28 January 2016), energy performance (Government of Georgia Resolution No. 354 of 13 July 2021) and construction products (Government of Georgia Resolution No. 476 of 1 October 2018). A ventilated facade touches all of them.

Building classes (Code, Article 96)

The Code divides structures into five classes by technical risk:

Class	Risk level
I	Minimal
II	Low
III	Medium
IV	High
V	Increased technical risk, special regime

Annex 1 to Resolution No. 255 (as worded by Resolution No. 269 of 2019) sets the thresholds for buildings. The class is taken by the highest characteristic: any parameter above a threshold raises the class.

Class	Area	Height	Foundation depth	Span
II	up to 500 m²	up to 12 m	up to 4 m	up to 7 m
III	up to 6000 m²	up to 22 m	over 4 m	up to 12 m
IV	over 6000 m²	over 22 m	pile foundation	over 12 m

Class I covers small buildings (up to 50 m², 5 m high, non-residential). Annex 1 defines no class V for ordinary buildings. For a ventilated facade this means: a residential building up to 12 m and 500 m² is class II, 12 to 22 m is class III, above 22 m or above 6000 m² is class IV. For a facade designer the class decides three things: whether a detailed design is reviewed, which parts of the project go to an expert, and which fire provisions apply. The Building Safety Rules (Resolution No. 41) are applied to buildings of classes III, IV and V.

Does cladding work need a permit?

Resolution No. 255 (Article 4, paragraph 3, item "ე") lists repair and finishing work, including work on the facade and roof, without a significant change of dimensions and external appearance, among works that do not require a construction permit. Monuments of culture are excepted. In practice:

• Replacing worn cladding with a like-for-like system, no change of volume and no change of the look of the elevation: no permit under this provision.
• A new ventilated facade that changes the thickness of the wall, the proportions or the colour scheme of the elevation substantially, or that is part of a reconstruction: treat it as permit work and agree it with the municipality.
• Heritage buildings: the exception does not apply.

"Significant" is not defined by a number. If the answer is not obvious, ask the permitting body before the design is ordered, and keep the reply. An exemption from the permit does not exempt the facade from the technical regulations: wind, seismic, fire and energy requirements still apply, and so does liability for the design.

Permit stages

For new buildings the procedure has two stages (Code, Article 101). At stage I the conditions of use of the land plot are fixed. At stage II the construction permit is issued on the basis of the design. The permitting body is the municipality for classes I to IV; some cases are coordinated with the Ministry of Economy and other bodies. Where the facade sits in this chain, and how its documents map onto the stages, is shown in design documentation and in building permits under Resolution No. 255.

Expert review (Resolution No. 255, Article 21)

The review is mandatory for the following parts of the design:

• the detailed architectural design for classes III and IV;
• the engineering-geological and the structural design for classes II to IV.

The fire part of the review covers, among other things, the requirements for exterior walls under Resolution No. 41. That is where the facade is looked at most closely: insulation and cladding combination, barrier to fire spread at the height of the building, fire barriers in the air gap. See fire strategy.

The review is carried out by an accredited inspection body and/or a certified expert (Code, Article 99), who carries liability insurance. This is an independent review, not a state one, so the reviewer will ask you to justify every assumption that is not written in a regulation. Eurocodes, for example, are not mandatory in Georgia, and a design that uses EN 1999 or EN 1991 as a reference should agree this with the reviewer early. See Eurocodes in Georgia.

Who signs the facade design (Code, Article 98)

Document	Signed by
Architectural sketch and architectural design, classes II to IV	Architect
Structural scheme and structural design, classes II to IV	Design engineer
Class I	Any person

Responsibility for conformity with the technical regulations lies with the author who signed. For a facade this means that the structural calculation of brackets, profiles and anchors goes under the signature of a design engineer, and the elevations and cladding choice under the architect of the building. We prepare the calculations and drawings; the signing party for the building project remains the licensed author named in the permit documents.

Certification of specialists (Article 140)

The Code provides for mandatory certification of architects, construction engineers and experts. The operation of Article 140 has been suspended by amendment until 20 December 2026 (Law No. 1641-Vმს-XIმპ of 9 June 2026), and the date has moved several times. Until then, review and supervision are carried out by accredited bodies and by persons under the temporary procedure of Article 141. Check the current consolidated version on matsne.gov.ge before you write a certification requirement into a contract.

What the reviewer asks a facade designer

1. Where do wind and snow values come from? (Construction climatology, Annex 5 to Resolution No. 71; see wind and snow.)
2. Is the seismic action on the cladding and its supports checked as for non-structural elements?
3. Is the U-value of the wall within the limit of the climate zone, with bracket bridges counted?
4. Does the insulation and cladding set pass the exterior wall provisions of Chapter 14 of Resolution No. 41, and is NFPA 285 evidence available above 12 m where it applies?
5. Do the subframe and anchors have a Declaration of Performance or a European Technical Assessment?
6. Who is responsible for the facade after the permit: designer, supplier or contractor?

A facade package that answers these six questions on its first pages usually passes review without long correspondence. For the structure of that package, see structural calculation.

Practical order of actions

1. Determine the building class from Annex 1 and note it in the brief.
2. Decide whether the work is a permit work or a like-for-like cladding replacement.
3. Agree reference standards (Georgian regulation or Eurocode) with the reviewer.
4. Prepare the facade section of the design with calculations and evidence.
5. Pass the review; install under author and technical supervision.

Send us the class, address and elevations through the contact form and we will list the documents your project needs.

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