That’s the question it usually starts with. Whether you’re planning a shed in the backyard, thinking about a dormer window, or want to add a patio cover — someone inevitably says, “Pretty sure that doesn’t need a permit.”

And that’s when it begins.

Because while permit-free construction does exist, it’s anything but straightforward. The rules are full of exceptions, conditions, and technicalities. Before you know it, you’re knee-deep in zoning plans, layered maps, and legal definitions - with no clear answer in sight.

Permit-free... unless

It often starts out promising: if what you’re building counts as an “associated structure,” sits within your rear yard, and stays under a certain number of square meters, it might not need a permit.

But, and it’s a big but, only if all the conditions are met. That includes things like:

• Knowing what your original main building is (not necessarily what’s currently standing).
  
  
  

• Understanding where your rear yard begins and ends (it’s not always literally “behind the house”).
  
  
  

• Making sure the entire plot has a consistent zoning designation (not partially “residential” and partially “agricultural”).
  
  
  

• And confirming that your structure is secondary to the main use of the property.
  
  
  

If all of that checks out, great. At least… most of the time.

Then come the exceptions that change everything

Because just when you think you’ve got it right, you discover your property is a protected monument: municipal, provincial, or national. In that case, the entire permit-free route is off the table: any structure, no matter how small, requires a permit. The same goes for buildings located in protected city or village areas. You can’t always tell just by looking, but it makes all the difference.

Even if your building isn’t a monument, recent rulings by the Council of State might suddenly change what counts as “secondary” or whether a certain area still qualifies as part of the yard. The legal landscape is constantly evolving. and you usually only find out once it’s too late.

The Bruidsschat: rules you don’t see, but still apply

Since the new Environment and Planning Act came into effect, there’s yet another layer of complexity. Many rules around permit-free construction were temporarily adopted into local zoning plans through something called the Bruidsschat (“dowry”). For example, article 22.36 still applies in many municipalities — unless a local authority has since modified it.

Do you know if your municipality already made changes to that article? Or if your plot still falls under the old framework? Exactly. That’s the issue.

So… Can you build without a permit?

Maybe. Maybe not. The honest answer? It depends.

And that’s frustrating. Because most people aren’t trying to cheat the system, they just want to know where they stand. If it’s allowed without a permit, great. If not, they want to find that out before they invest time and money - or have to tear something down later.

Less guesswork, more clarity

What’s the goal? That we stop brushing off the confusion and start acknowledging it. Because both residents and permitting officers are navigating a system that’s more complex than it seems. Not out of bad intent, but because the rules are just... like that.

To make things trickier: the rules live in different places, and don’t all apply at the same time. Some come from national law, others from local zoning plans. Still others stem from court rulings or temporary frameworks like the Bruidsschat. Making sense of that, as a resident or civil servant, isn’t easy.

That’s why at Struck, we’re building tools to bring structure to that chaos. Not to replace the system, but to make it clearer, faster, and easier to see: what applies here, now, for this specific plot? And what does that actually mean?

No guesswork, no maze: just clarity. That’s a win for everyone.