Renovating, restoring, or maintaining a historic building

Rivierenland Environmental Agency

The Omgevingsdienst Rivierenland (ODR) performs construction and environmental tasks for the municipality of West Maas en Waal. For questions about an environmental permit, you can contact them.

What should I do?

• Check the Omgevingsloket website at to see if you need to apply for a permit.
• Before you apply for the permit, explain to the municipality what you plan to do. The municipality can then tell you right away whether it is possible and permitted. This will help you avoid submitting an application that is later rejected.
• Apply for the permit through Omgevingsloket online.
• Unless it is a major renovation, you should apply for the permit at least 8 weeks in advance.
• If it is a major renovation, you should do this at least 6 months in advance.
• For major renovations, the municipality will first issue a preliminary decision on your application.
• If you disagree with the draft decision, you may submit your comments within 6 weeks. Please explain your reasons in your comments.
• You will be notified automatically whether your permit has been approved.

What do I need?

• Your DigiD if you are a private owner.
• Your eHerkenning if you are a business owner.
• Site plans (scale 1:1,000).
• Floor plan of each floor, including dimensions and the intended use of each space (scale 1:100).
• All elevation views and relevant cross-sections (scale 1:100).
• Description of the current and proposed situations.
• Detailed description of the monument.

How long does it take?

You will hear from us within 8 weeks. The municipality may extend this period by 6 weeks. Sometimes we need advice and approval from another organization (competent authority). In that case, an additional 4 weeks will be added.

File an objection

Do you disagree with the municipality’s decision?
If so, please file an objection within 6 weeks.

Additional information

Designated Historic Town and Village Scenes

The protection of urban and village landscapes is governed by the Environmental Plan and the General Provisions on Environmental Law Act (Wabo). Different rules apply to permit-free construction for buildings located within a protected urban or village landscape. This applies to both listed and non-listed buildings.

Archaeological Monument Permit

An archaeological site is an area that forms part of our cultural heritage because remains, artifacts, or other historical traces have been preserved on or in the ground. You must apply to the municipality for a permit for an archaeological site.

The cut

Under the Omgevingswet , construction Omgevingswet divided into technical and spatial components. This results in two activities:

• construction-related technical activities and
• the environmental planning process for a structure. 

We call this "the cut."

Construction engineering

Technical construction activities involve assessing whether an application complies with the technical construction quality standards set forth in the Building and Living Environment Decree (Bbl). For example, the structural safety of a building. As a result of the separation, more technical construction activities are now exempt from permitting requirements, since spatial constraints no longer apply.

Environmental planning activity for a structure

We refer to the assessment of a building’s construction, maintenance, and use in relation to the environmental plan as an “environmental plan activity” for that building. Examples include building height and floor area ratio. This also includes rules regarding a building’s appearance (aesthetics) and the land use designation in the environmental plan.