Private Engineering Firms to Handle Licence Checks

New regulation shifts inspection and document verification duties from municipalities to approved engineering offices

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Shopkeepers, landlords and property developers will have their licence applications checked by private engineering firms instead of the municipality itself. A resolution signed by the Minister of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture, Engineer Wael Al Mubarak, hands the firms the power to inspect, review and sign off the paperwork before it ever reaches a municipal desk.

The change, laid out in Resolution No. 86 of 2026, applies to firms already licensed under the 2014 law governing engineering work. From now on, these offices can carry out site visits, check documents against building plans, and confirm that an application matches the rules before recommending it for approval.

The idea is to smooth the path towards what is called an inspection form, the first hurdle any applicant must clear. Engineering firms taking on the job must check that every application and its paperwork aligns with the law, and that drawings, maps and other details match what is needed for the licence.

Five kinds of licence fall under the new rule. These are permits to occupy public roads, approval to sell floors or flats separately, permission to merge or split up buildings or change how they are used, commercial registration, and the registration of shared housing.

Anyone applying for a road permit needs only hand over a copy of their commercial registration certificate and an identity card.

Selling off individual floors or flats calls for far more paperwork. Applicants will need a letter from the Real Estate Regulatory Authority, an approved building permit and drawings, plans showing shared services and floor layouts, the authority’s own application form, proof of ownership, address cards, identity cards for every owner, and confirmation that the electricity supply has been connected.

Merging or splitting a property, or changing its use, brings its own list. A letter from the owner is required, along with proof of ownership, a title deed, a sale contract, or, in the case of an inheritance, a religious ruling together with identity cards and consent from each heir, or a power of attorney drawn up on their behalf. Older building permits and drawings, recent photographs of the site, plans of the layout and the front of the building, and an electrical load form are also required.

Firms seeking commercial registration must submit photographs of the shop, inside and out, a picture of its metal address plate, an address certificate, a copy of the lease, an electricity bill, the building permit and drawings, and a letter of approval from the relevant authority.

Group housing registration needs a copy of the lease, proof that health rules have been met, proof that safety rules have been met, an electrical load form confirming the wiring meets the required standard, and a certificate from an accredited engineering firm stating the size of the building and the maximum number of people allowed to live there.