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

Extension of use in Nairobi

An extension of use is the county’s permission to add a use alongside the one the land already has — for example offices or a shop on part of a residential plot — without giving up the original use. Like a change of use, it is applied for through NPDMS by a registered physical planner.

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

When you need it

You want to add a second use to the land and keep the first.
An added use has already started without permission — the county files this as regularization.

Who applies

A registered physical planner prepares the application and submits it for the owner. 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.
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.
The lease and its term	The title, and an official search on Ardhisasa	Many leases say what the land may be used for and for how long.
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 it is approved, any building work for the added use needs building plan approval.

Questions

How long does extension of use approval take in Nairobi?

Is extension of use the same as change of use?

No. A change of use replaces the land’s use; an extension of use adds one and keeps the original. Both are applied for through NPDMS by a registered physical planner.

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.