Save fees, do research in advance

You don't want a high fee bill. There are a number of ways to avoid receiving a high fee note. One option is, preferably before making the application, to research the history of the parcel in question and municipal policy. Both of these points are covered by the judgment of the Court of Appeal of The Hague of June 5, 2018 (ECLI:NL:GHDHA:2018:1360).

Fees for building application dormer

In that judgment at issue, the applicant for the building permit had filed an appeal against the fees levied. The building plan involved a dormer on the front and rear of a house.

It was argued by the applicant that an environmental permit had already been granted for the dormer and that for that reason no fees could be charged. The court does not go along with this argument for three reasons, viz:

1. the application had been made by another person;
2. the application covered a much larger project (and larger number of homes) and not just the installation of dormers;
3. it involved implementation of dormers different from those previously authorized.

This judgment of the court is understandable. After all, a permit was requested for another dormer and that dormer had not been assessed before. However, the Court's considerations make it clear that if an (almost) identical dormer was applied for, the issue would probably be different. In that case, the building plan in question had already been assessed previously and it could be argued that for the new application the municipality would not have to incur any costs at all because it had already looked at it once.

In these proceedings, however, it was also argued that it is an established practice of the municipality that in the case of dormers installed after the completion of a house, no permit is required and no fees are charged. The municipality did not deny that. The court then concluded that the municipality followed a line of conduct on this point that resulted in a number of cases in which a dormer was placed after the completion of a project without fees being charged in this regard. In new situations, if the situation is not substantially different, the municipality should also follow this line of conduct. The court therefore ruled that no fees should have been levied.

Good front-end homework leads to lower dues costs

The lesson to be learned from this is that it pays to check whether the municipality follows a fixed line of conduct with respect to the levying of fees. In the event that the municipality does so, you should keep a close eye on whether the municipality also follows this line of conduct for you. If the municipality does not, the court will probably annul the fee note.