You want to buy a plot of land, but a specific construction question determines the entire plan. Perhaps it concerns the intended use or the position of a building. A comprehensive detailed plan might be premature at this stage. In North Rhine-Westphalia a preliminary decision (Vorbescheid) can help to delimit individual questions before a building application is submitted. It is crucial that you know what was actually asked and later answered.
Do not put the whole desired house into a general question
“Can I build here?” is too vague for preparation. First describe your project and identify which uncertainty prevents the next decision. Perhaps the purchase depends on whether the intended type of use is fundamentally feasible at this location. Another person may need to clarify whether their design is possible at a particular spot on the plot.
Our editorial recommendation: Formulate the reason, the decisive question and the variant assumed for it on one page. Have the appropriate wording of the question and the required documents clarified with expert planning and the responsible building authority. A sentence you have formulated yourself is not yet a fully prepared application.
What NRW law regulates on this
§ 77 BauO NRW 2018 provides, on application, for a preliminary decision (Vorbescheid) on individual questions of the construction project prior to submission of the building application. The provision specifies a three-year validity and possibilities for extension. It also regulates requirements for construction documents and a limited exception for certain planning law questions. [VORAB] This regulation applies to NRW; other federal states must be checked independently.
Therefore do not derive the required cooperation for your application from someone else’s template. Which question is asked influences the level of documentation needed. The article does not claim that every application can be submitted without professional support, nor that your entire construction project will be automatically approved.
Link the answer to the correct version
Keep the application, the submitted plans and the decision together. Check which documents form the basis of the decision. If you later change the use, building form or location, it must be professionally assessed whether the received answer still applies.
After receipt, prepare a short comparison: question asked, actual decision, conditions or restrictions, points not dealt with. An untouched question is not implicitly answered positively. Ask for clarification if you cannot tell from the wording what leeway the next planning stage has.
Example: The question of use is clarified, the design is not yet
A buyer is interested in a plot and has a specifically delimited question about the intended use prepared. The issued preliminary decision refers to this matter. In the subsequent design, building arrangement, technical execution and other prerequisites are added.
He therefore does not enter the preliminary decision in his project overview as “house already approved”. Instead he notes the clarified question and has the remaining tasks classified by the design. A bank, a seller or an involved relative also receives the same limited description rather than a shortened promise of success.
Keep the next decision step realistic
Note the relevant dates and have the validity period, any extension and the consequences of changed documents checked concretely. An older positive decision from a sales folder does not become a current basis for your project merely by its heading.
A well-prepared preliminary decision can reduce a specific uncertainty in the project. The sensible working basis, however, remains precise: This question is answered on this documentary basis; these further points still need checking. Whether and how an executable plan results from this will be clarified separately.