Guide · NEMA environmental licences · Updated 2026-10-19
NEMA environmental audit in Nairobi
An environmental impact assessment comes before a project; an environmental audit comes after. It checks a running project or premises — a building, a factory, a hospital, a fuel station — against its licence conditions and the law, and sets out what to put right. A NEMA-registered expert carries it out, and ENVIS files it by the project’s risk.
When you need it
- A licensed project is running, and its licence conditions call for audits.
- A business or building was running before it needed an EIA, and must show NEMA how it manages its effects.
- NEMA asks for an audit, or carries out its own (a control audit).
Who prepares it and applies
A NEMA-registered environmental audit expert carries out the audit for the owner or operator, and submits the report on ENVIS. Applications are made online on ENVIS, NEMA’s licensing system.
Check the site before you apply
Most of what a NEMA report describes 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 | Every report and licence names the plot. Make sure the parcel on the map is the land the project is on. |
| Whether the site already has a licence | The NEMA layers on the map, then the seller’s papers | A licence on the site carries its number, its holder and its conditions. Buying the project means transferring it. |
| Where wastewater goes | The Trunk sewer layer, and connecting to the sewer | Into a public sewer, it is agreed with the water company. Anywhere else, it needs NEMA’s effluent discharge licence. |
| Rivers, wetlands and riparian land | The rivers and water bodies layers on the map | Work near a river or a wetland raises a project’s effects, and can need separate consent from NEMA and the Water Resources Authority. |
| Who lives around it | The census population layers on the map | The expert must consult the people a project affects; the census says how many live around it. |
| The right to the land | An official search on Ardhisasa | The proponent must own the land or have the owner’s consent. Reports usually include a copy of the title. |
How the application moves
- Gather the papers. The expert collects the licences, their conditions and the records the project has kept: waste, effluent, emissions, noise, safety.
- Visit and measure. An inspection of the site, interviews with the people who run it, and measurements where they are needed.
- Report. What meets the licence and the law, what does not, and a plan to put it right, with dates.
- Submit on ENVIS. The audit report is lodged online and its fee paid.
- NEMA follows up. NEMA reviews the report, may inspect the site, and may order the corrective actions.
How long it takes
An audit takes as long as the site and its records need, and NEMA then reviews the report. Keeping good records through the year is what makes it quick. Follow it on ENVIS.
After the licence
Carry out the corrective actions the audit sets, and keep the records: the next audit, or a NEMA inspection, starts from them.
On the map: the NEMA layers
Environmental audit records are in the map’s Audits layer, one of three NEMA layers. Each record carries its licence and application numbers, the proponent it was issued to, the kind of licence, and the plot or LR number where the report gave one. It sits where NEMA’s licensing system drew the site — a point, a boundary or a line. A record whose report states a position far from that site is flagged, as a prompt to confirm the plot. Applications with no drawn site are not on the map.
The NEMA layers are add-on layers: each is bought once, on any plan, and kept — see plans and pricing.
Why start on Nairobi Maps
Every NEMA report starts from the site: where it is, what may be built there, and what is around it. Nairobi Maps holds those facts for every parcel in Nairobi on one map — the plot by its LR, block or FR number, its zone worked out for the plot, survey plans, rivers and roads, airport height limits, census population, and what NEMA has already licensed nearby. The owner, the architect and the expert start from the same facts. The whole checklist is in built-environment due diligence in Nairobi.
Questions
How long does a NEMA environmental audit take?
An audit takes as long as the site and its records need, and NEMA then reviews the report. Keeping good records through the year is what makes it quick. Follow it on ENVIS.
What is the difference between an EIA and an environmental audit?
An EIA looks ahead, before a project starts, at the effects it could have. An audit looks at a project that is already running, against its licence and the law.
How often is an environmental audit done?
It depends on the project and its licence conditions — commonly once a year for a running project. NEMA can also carry out its own control audit at any time.
Is Nairobi Maps part of NEMA?
No. Nairobi Maps is an independent map of Nairobi’s land, its planning rules and the records around them, for checking a site before you apply. NEMA decides every licence, on ENVIS.
Nairobi Maps is not part of NEMA. This guide explains the usual route under EMCA and NEMA’s regulations; requirements, fees and steps change, so confirm them with NEMA on ENVIS and with a registered expert.
Keep going
- All NEMA licencesWhich report your project needs, and how each one works
- NEMA Summary Project Report (SPR)The shortest EIA report, for low-risk projects.
- NEMA Comprehensive Project Report (CPR)The fuller EIA report, for medium-risk projects.
- EIA study report and terms of referenceThe full EIA study, for high-risk projects.
- NEMA effluent discharge licencePermission to discharge wastewater into the environment.
- Building and planning approvalThe county’s half of the permission, on NPDMS