Engineer Certificates

Any legal transactions concerning the transfer of buildings or land must be accompanied by a declaration by the owner and a certificate given by an engineer.

Contract Notaries, legal persons, real estate agents, lawyers, cadastre representatives, unless the engineer’s certificate and owner’s declaration are appended, and the engineer who gave an incorrect certificate are punished with imprisonment of at least six months and a fine of 30,000 to 100,000 euro, depending on the property’s value.

Owners are advised to pay particular attention to the choice of engineer who is going to be responsible for certifying their property because, along with the engineers certificate, a statutory declaration document is given, certifying the property’s legality.

At Geotopo we have all types of skilled engineers, who are very experienced with property legislation. We take full responsibility for inspection of your property and, in case of any unlawful developments, we let you know immediately, and advise the total cost of legalisation.

• The above mentioned engineer certificates are valid for two (2) months.. These are submitted electronically, before drafting the contacts, and are given a unique identification number. Both the certificate and the property’s identification number are appended to the contracts. Certified copies can be issued for as long as these certificates are valid. The unique identification number is electronically documented as required by law 3843/2010 and 4178/2013.

In order for the engineers certificate to be given the following supporting documents are required:
  • The building permits (if applicable)
  • Surveying plan
  • Approved plans for the property (if any)
  • Property titles
  • Statutory declarations certifying that: a) There are no unapproved developments that affect the height, the ground covering or structure of the property b) any unapproved constructions or uses fall under one of the exceptions of paragraph 2 of article 1 of Law 4178/1313 and do not fall under any of the cases of article 2 of Law 4178/1313 c) No unapproved developments exist that alter the building’s height, ground covering and structure permits.
If you do not have the building permits or any other surveying plans, we will be able to obtain them for you, for a small fee.
"The engineer’s certificate must be accompanied by a surveying plan, according to law 651/1977 (A’ 207), using the Hellenic Geodetic Reference System 1987, and must include a description of the triangulation method used. Where another Geodetic Reference System has been used, the triangulation method used must also be noted accordingly." Therefore, from this point forward, every surveying plan should be conditional to the Hellenic Geodetic Reference System 1987, and must include the triangulation method used. Furthermore, Where another Geodetic Reference System has been used, the triangulation method used must also be noted accordingly.
  • In serviced land areas, where no building permits or any other deeds are issued.
  • In serviced land areas where no streetlines and street blocks are officially determined.
  • In cases of a zone not scheduled for development, except in the following cases:
  • For buildings located in serviced land areas, for which no deeds or any other surveying plans and building permits have been issued.
  • In serviced land areas, where both streetlines and street blocks are officially determined.
  • In case of a building built in a non-buildable lot, which is located in a zone not scheduled for development.
  • In cases of land consolidation, as long as its value does not exceed the amount of 15.000 euro. Land blocks within a defined Urban Control Zone are excluded.