Is a building consent required to enlarge an apartment in Monaco?

Yes, and under a regime of its own: Monegasque planning law derives from Sovereign Ordinance no. 3.647 of 9 September 1966, supplemented in 2013 for the ordered quarters. Neither the French planning code, nor the Coastal Act, nor the French regime for the surroundings of historic monuments applies here.

Where are additional square metres found in Monaco?

Not at ground level: the territory is entirely built up. Space is won on the roof, in an enclosed loggia or at basement level, and every project is assessed by an advisory committee with regard to the aesthetic conditions of the work and the envelope of the building.

Can a pool or a terrace be created in Monaco?

On an existing slab, the question is settled before aesthetics: load transfer and waterproofing, then the agreement of the building’s regulations. Materials, stone and marble included, all arrive by road on a dense network — the phasing follows the deliveries, not the reverse.

Expertise · Monaco

Extensions & villa fit-outs in Monaco

To enlarge without distorting, to elevate without betraying: every extension seems to have always been there. We bring this expertise to exceptional residences in Monaco, with the discretion and rigour for which we are known.

From Carré d’Or to Monte-Carlo, we work at the finest addresses in Monaco — a limited number of sites, carried through to perfection.

As space is scarce in Monaco, enlargement is sought in height, on the terrace or below ground: enclosing a loggia, creating a rooftop, a pool on a slab, converting a cellar into living space.

Every extension respects the building’s envelope and aesthetic, with load and waterproofing studies carried out upstream — to win precious square metres without ever distorting the existing.

Enlarging an apartment in Monaco: where the square metres come from

The dominant private property types are the apartment in a co-owned building, the penthouse in the top storey and the pied-à-terre — not the detached house. What is missing is ground. From the 1960s onwards the Principality answered its growth by two means that belong to it alone: extension over the sea, of which the Fontvieille district is the result, and building upwards. At the scale of a private dwelling, the gain is therefore taken from the existing envelope — a loggia closed in, a top storey reclaimed, a lower level given back to living.

The Principality maintains an inventory of some 110 buildings and 41 remarkable façades under protection, and a building listed as remarkable carries the most demanding degree of all where modification or demolition-reconstruction is concerned. Before drawing anything, one must know what status the building holds. The rules of the co-ownership and its managing agent form a second level of constraint, distinct from administrative consent: hours, protection of common parts, booking of access.

Building consent in Monaco: the applicable framework

The Principality is not subject to the French planning code: neither the coastal law nor the French regime governing the surroundings of historic monuments applies there. Planning, construction and highways fall under Sovereign Ordinance no. 3.647 of 9 September 1966, as amended, completed by Sovereign Ordinance no. 4.482 of 13 September 2013 for the sector of ordered districts. No reasoning drawn from French law transposes here, and that is the first thing to establish before an enlargement project.

The application for consent to build or to demolish must be signed by an architect on the roll of the Order of Architects of the Principality; it is examined by the Directorate of Forward Planning, Urban Development and Mobility. Applications are reviewed by an advisory committee, which rules with regard to the laws and regulations, the aesthetic conditions of the proposed work, the general interest and its standing in relation to the history of Monaco. An extension project is judged there on its form as much as on its law.

Fit-out works in the Principality: access, materials, neighbours

The territory covers around two square kilometres, entirely built up: there is practically no surface available for a site compound, for storing materials or for turning a vehicle. The road network is narrow and steeply graded, largely doubled by underground works and car parks, which constrains site parking and the temporary occupation of public space. No mineral resource is worked on the territory: every material arrives by road, is ordered to the exact quantity, and can be stored nowhere.

On the seafront the salt deposit is direct: the ironmongery, the balustrades and the fittings of a new terrace are chosen in marine grade there, A4 / 316L with molybdenum holding appreciably better than A2 / 304. A terrace, a top storey or a lower level are gained only once the structure is sound — it is structural and general building work that says what a floor can take. A complete renovation then brings the whole to the same level of demand, and bespoke finishes and interiors give the new volume the material of the old. Our crafts in Monaco answer one another in that way.