Guide · Nairobi City County approvals · Updated 2026-10-19

Building and planning approval in Nairobi

Building, changing what land is used for, splitting or joining plots, putting up a billboard — each needs Nairobi City County’s approval, applied for online through the county’s planning system, NPDMS. What decides most applications is already on the map: the plot’s zone, its size, the rivers, roads and airports around it. Check them here before the drawings are made, then apply on NPDMS.

Check your plot on the map Apply on NPDMS (Nairobi City County)

Check your plot before you apply

The plot and its number. The application is made against the plot’s number. Make sure the parcel on the map is the land you mean. Where: Search the map by LR, block or FR number.
What the zone allows. The most floors, ground coverage, plot ratio and use. A proposal outside them is not approved as drawn. Where: Its zone page, or tap the plot on the map.
Whether the use is allowed. If it is not, a change of use comes first. Where: The zone’s land use, on its zone page.
The plot’s size. Each zone sets a smallest plot, and across Nairobi a plot under 0.05 ha can hold only one home. Where: Tap the plot on the map.
Rivers and road reserves. Land along a river or inside a road reserve is generally not built on. Where: The rivers and roads layers on the map.
Airport height limits. Near JKIA and Wilson the airport can set a lower limit than the zone. Where: Airport height limits.
The survey. The drawings must sit on the land as it was surveyed. Where: The plot’s survey plan (FR) and index map sheet, on the map.
Who owns it. The owner, or someone they authorise, applies. Where: An official search on Ardhisasa.
Appoint registered professionals and apply. A registered architect and engineer for building plans; a registered physical planner for a change of use, subdivision or amalgamation. They submit the application on NPDMS.

Which approval do you need?

Approval	What it is for
Building plans	Permission to put up, extend or alter a building.
Change of use	Permission to use land for a different purpose.
Extension of use	Permission to add a use and keep the existing one.
Subdivision	Permission to split one plot into several.
Amalgamation	Permission to join plots into one.
Extension of lease	The county’s part in extending a lease before it ends.
Renewal of lease	The county’s part in renewing a lease that has expired.
Billboards and adverts	Permission for billboards and large signs.
Occupation certificate	Permission to live or work in a finished building.

Many projects also need NEMA’s environmental licence before work starts, applied for separately on NEMA’s own system — see NEMA licences in Nairobi.

How an application moves

Prepare. Check the plot against its zone, the rivers and roads around it and any airport limit, then have the drawings or the application prepared by the registered professionals the kind of approval needs.
Submit on NPDMS. The professionals submit online: the architect’s drawings, the engineer’s structural design, the physical planner’s application, each as a stage of its own where the kind of approval needs it.
Invoicing. The county bills the fees and the application waits until they are paid.
Circulation. The application is sent round the county’s departments for comment — planning, roads, water, environment and others as the plot needs. Each may approve it, ask for changes or add conditions.
Decision. The county approves, approves with conditions, or rejects. An approval carries a PLUPA number and its conditions; read them, because the work must follow them.
After approval. Build or use the land as approved, within the time the approval allows. Changes need approval of their own.

How long it takes

There is no fixed time. An application moves once it is complete and its fees are paid, and then waits on each department that must comment. Incomplete drawings, a plot that does not fit its zone, and unpaid invoices are the usual reasons for delay — so check the plot first, and follow your application’s stage on NPDMS.

What your plot may hold

What decides most applications is the plot’s zone. Every zone of the Development Control Policy 2026 has its own page with its floors, plot ratio and smallest plot, and every ward’s page says which zones it falls in.

NPDMS and Nairobi Maps: which does what

	Nairobi Maps	NPDMS (Nairobi City County)
Find the plot and its number	Yes, every Nairobi parcel	No
What the zone allows on the plot	Yes, worked out for each plot	No
Rivers, roads and airport height limits	Yes, on the map	No
Survey plans and index map sheets	Yes, per sheet	No
Submit an application and pay its fees	No	Yes
The decision and the approval	No	Yes
Check that an application is approved	Yes, by its PLUPA number (Platinum)	Yes

Use them together: check the plot here, apply there.

Questions

What is NPDMS?

The Nairobi Planning and Development Management System — Nairobi City County’s online system for planning and building applications, sometimes called e-construction or the e-permit system. Building plans, change of use, subdivision and the other approvals on this page are applied for there.

Can I apply for building approval in Nairobi online?

Yes. Applications are made on NPDMS (edev.nairobiservices.go.ke), usually by a registered professional for the owner — an architect for building plans, a physical planner for a change of use or a subdivision.

How long does building approval take in Nairobi?

What should I check before applying?

The plot and its number, what its zone allows (floors, ground coverage, plot ratio and use), its size against the zone’s smallest plot, rivers and road reserves, airport height limits near JKIA and Wilson, the survey, and who owns it. All but the last are on the Nairobi Maps map; ownership is an official search on Ardhisasa.

How can I check whether a planning application is approved?

A Platinum member can type the application’s PLUPA number — the permit reference written on it — into the Nairobi Maps AI assistant: if the application is approved, the answer is a tick and where the development is, and nothing more about it.

Is Nairobi Maps part of Nairobi City County?

No. Nairobi Maps is an independent map of Nairobi’s land and planning rules, for checking a plot before you apply. Applications are made to, and decided by, Nairobi City County on NPDMS.

Nairobi Maps is not part of Nairobi City County. This guide explains the usual route; requirements, fees and steps change, so confirm them with the county.