Who is responsible for what?

The Swedish Parliament and Government set the framework for planning and building through the planning and building legislation, laws and ordinances.

It is mainly the local county administrative board that represents and safeguards the state's interests in the various processes of the Planning and Building Act.

The county administrative board has various roles in the processes, both an advisory role and a supervisory role through its possibility to reconsider certain decisions.

The county administrative board is also the first instance in appeals of for example preliminary decisions, permits, start decisions and completion decisions. Ultimately, the county administrative board will follow up the municipalities' application of the planning and building legislation and give the municipalities advice and support, among other things in the form of supervision guidance.

The National Board of Housing, Building and Planning, Boverket, is the national authority that has the task of guiding, investigating and analysing issues that concern urban planning, building and housing. The authority is responsible for the follow-up of the application of the Planning and Building Act, PBL.

Boverket has the possibility of issuing regulations in the cases where the government has mandated the authority to do so. Boverket also has the right to decide on general guidelines regarding the planning and building legislation. Boverket's Building Regulations, BBR, is an example of such regulations and general guidelines.

The municipality has several roles in the planning and building legislation. A municipality is an authority, but can also be a property owner. It is the municipality that prepares and adopts general plans, detailed development plans and special area regulations. The municipality is also responsible for water, sewerage and waste.

Local building committee
Every municipality must have a local building committee. The local building committee is a local authority committee consisting of elected representatives. The committee has an administration with public officials to assist it. The local building committee decides on permits, preliminary decisions, start decisions and completion decisions, and handles the other phases in the building process. The local building committee is also responsible for supervision to ensure compliance with the planning and building legislation.

Other municipal committees and administrations
Opinions from the emergency services and the environmental authority in the municipality are important in the handling of permits and construction. Other municipal committees and administrations, such as those responsible for streets, parks, water and sewerage, can also contribute professional expertise in permit and building matters. This can take place through a circulation for comment or consultation process.

The Swedish Cadastral and Land Registration Authority, Lantmäteriet, manages and updates geographical information, maps of individual properties, elevations and other data that is linked to maps. The information is continuously updated to show the right owner of land and correct property boundaries.

Lantmäteriet also manages all property information in Sweden. This encompasses all registrations of ownership and changes to property boundaries.

In some municipalities, there are also municipal land survey authorities and they have the same role and responsibility as the national Lantmäteriet.

The developer is the party that, on its own behalf, performs or contracts out project design, construction, demolition or ground works. This role is defined in the Planning and Building Act, PBL, and is associated with a special responsibility.

The developer must ensure that all construction, demolition or ground measures are done according to the regulations in the Planning and Building Act, and in accordance with the regulations or decisions given pursuant to the act. The developer can also have obligations according to other laws, ordinances and regulations.

The developer need not be a physical person, but can be a juridical person, such as a company, a tenant owner association, a municipal administration or an authority.

For measures subject to permits or registration, the developer must normally have an inspection manager. The inspection manager shall assist the developer with expert knowledge and must be certified for the assignment. The inspection manager must, together with the developer, prepare a proposed inspection plan for the measure in question.

Owners of structures have a responsibility to care for and maintain the structure so that the design and technical features in particular are preserved. Plots must be cared for and managed so that the risk of accident is limited and that no significant inconvenience for the surroundings and traffic arises. The property owner is also obliged to perform for example ventilation and lift inspections.