Guide · Nairobi City County approvals · Updated 2026-10-19
Building plan approval in Nairobi
Before you build, extend or alter a building in Nairobi, Nairobi City County must approve the plans. They are submitted online through the county’s planning system, NPDMS, by registered professionals. The plans must fit the plot’s zoning, so check the plot before the drawings are made.
When you need it
- You are putting up a new building.
- You are adding floors or extending a building.
- You are changing a building’s structure.
- A building already put up without approval needs it — the county files this as regularization.
Who applies
A registered architect prepares and submits the drawings, and a registered engineer the structural design. The owner, or someone the owner authorises, is the applicant. Applications are made online on the Nairobi Planning and Development Management System (NPDMS).
Check the plot before you apply
Most of what decides an application is already on the map. Check these first:
| Check | Where | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| The plot and its number | Search the map by LR, block or FR number | The application is made against the plot’s number. Make sure the parcel on the map is the land you mean. |
| What the zone allows | Its zone page, or tap the plot on the map | The most floors, ground coverage, plot ratio and use. A proposal outside them is not approved as drawn. |
| Whether the use is allowed | The zone’s land use, on its zone page | If it is not, a change of use comes first. |
| The plot’s size | Tap the plot on the map | Each zone sets a smallest plot, and across Nairobi a plot under 0.05 ha can hold only one home. |
| Rivers and road reserves | The rivers and roads layers on the map | Land along a river or inside a road reserve is generally not built on. |
| Airport height limits | Airport height limits | Near JKIA and Wilson the airport can set a lower limit than the zone. |
| The survey | The plot’s survey plan (FR) and index map sheet, on the map | The drawings must sit on the land as it was surveyed. |
| Who owns it | An official search on Ardhisasa | The owner, or someone they authorise, applies. |
How the 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.
After approval
Once the plans are approved, building can start, and the county may inspect the work as it goes. When the building is finished, apply for an occupation certificate before anyone moves in.
Questions
How long does building plans approval take in Nairobi?
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.
Do I need a change of use before I submit building plans?
Yes, if the building’s use is not one the zone allows — for example offices on land zoned for homes. The change of use comes first; the building plans follow once it is approved.
What zoning limits must building plans meet in Nairobi?
The zone’s most floors, ground coverage and plot ratio, and its smallest plot. Every Nairobi zone’s figures are on its page in Nairobi zoning by zone, and tapping your plot on the Nairobi Maps map shows them worked out for that plot.
Is Nairobi Maps the county’s approval system?
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.
Keep going
- All Nairobi approvalsWhich approval you need, and how each one works
- Change of use (change of user)Permission to use land for a different purpose.
- Extension of usePermission to add a use and keep the existing one.
- Land subdivision approvalPermission to split one plot into several.
- Land amalgamationPermission to join plots into one.
- NEMA licencesThe environmental licence many projects also need
- Nairobi zoning by zoneFloors, plot ratio and plot size for all 123 zones