On 17 December 2023, the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt issued Law no. 187 of 2023 promulgating the Construction Violations Reconciliation and Regularisation Law (the “Law”), in an effort to effectively conclude the government’s efforts to address various types of violations to construction-related laws and regulations.

The Law effectively repeals Law no.17 of 2019 regarding the Reconciliation of Some Construction Violations and its Regularisation (“Old Law”), while overseeing a few violations subject to the jurisdiction of the Old Law. The Law allows governorates and other administrative bodies designated under the Egyptian Construction Law no. 119 of 2008, as the relevant administrative authorities, to receive, review, approve, or reject any reconciliation requests for construction violations that do not threaten the safety, including but not limited to violating land-type codes, violating relevant planning grids, and violating unique architecture among other violations.

The Law provides detailed mechanisms of submission and review of reconciliation requests, the announcement of its approval or rejection, as well as the relevant fee structure for reconciliation. While the Law has come into effect as of 18 December 2023, the Prime Minister shall issue its executive regulations within three months from the Law coming into effect. It remains unclear whether the Law will be enforced with immediate effect or the authorities would await the issuance of the executive regulations to implement the provisions of the same.

Stay tuned for our practical notes on the application of the Law!