Countries › Dominican Republic › Guide › 11. Real estate and land › Zoning and land use

Zoning and land use

Last verified: 2026-10-30 · Status: Changing

Ley 368-22 and its regulation, Decreto 486-25, make municipal plans the source of land use. Towns classify land as urban, urbanizable or non urbanizable, and issue a land use certificate within two months and a no objection certificate within four months, each valid for two years. Municipal plans were still within their legal preparation period at this date, so check what applies. Serious breaches can mean fines of up to 1,000 minimum salaries and demolition.

USD figures use the Banco Central de la República Dominicana reference selling rate of RD$60.9007 per US dollar for 29 October 2026, the latest row in its published rate file on the verification date, rounded to the cent.

Key facts

Maximum time for land use certificate	2 monthsDecreto 486-25 art. 102, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Maximum time for no objection certificate	4 monthsDecreto 486-25 art. 113, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Validity of each certificate	2 yearsDecreto 486-25 art. 108 and art. 121, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Maximum fine for serious breach	1000 public sector minimum salariesLey 368-22 art. 82, as of 2026-10-30 · in force

The rule

1. Local governments with a Plan Municipal de Ordenamiento Territorial classify land as urban, urbanizable or non urbanizable. Those without a plan use only urban and non urbanizable.Ley 368-22 de Ordenamiento Territorial, Uso de Suelo y Asentamientos Humanos, art. 33 and paragraph, 2022-12-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

2. Urban land has consolidated roads and services, or can connect to them. Non urbanizable or rural land is tied to farming or forestry, needs protection, or carries a mining concession.Ley 368-22 de Ordenamiento Territorial, Uso de Suelo y Asentamientos Humanos, art. 34 and art. 36, 2022-12-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

3. Urbanizable status is limited in time and reverts to non urbanizable if works do not make the land urban in that period.Ley 368-22 de Ordenamiento Territorial, Uso de Suelo y Asentamientos Humanos, art. 35 paragraph II, 2022-12-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

4. A land use authorization granted in breach of the art. 44 requirements is void and engages the officials' liability.Ley 368-22 de Ordenamiento Territorial, Uso de Suelo y Asentamientos Humanos, art. 45, 2022-12-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

5. Use of urbanized land changes only for resettlement that frees space, or for proven risk to life.Ley 368-22 de Ordenamiento Territorial, Uso de Suelo y Asentamientos Humanos, art. 46, 2022-12-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

6. Authorizations two or more years old with no start are treated as expired and must be renewed under the new law.Ley 368-22 de Ordenamiento Territorial, Uso de Suelo y Asentamientos Humanos, art. 110, 2022-12-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

7. Plans were due within 24 months of the regulation taking effect, and urban delimitation instruments within 18 months.Ley 368-22 de Ordenamiento Territorial, Uso de Suelo y Asentamientos Humanos, art. 114 and art. 116, 2022-12-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

8. The current regulation is Decreto 486-25, which replaced Decreto 396-25 of July 2025 within weeks.Decreto 486-25, Reglamento de Aplicación de la Ley 368-22, Title, 2025-08-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30 · changed: Decreto 486-25, G.O. 11212 of 29 August 2025, repealed Decreto 396-25.

9. The land use certificate confirms that an activity fits the plan, urban delimitation or regional rules. It can be processed with the licences.Decreto 486-25, Reglamento de Aplicación de la Ley 368-22, art. 101 and paragraph I, 2025-08-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

10. The term to obtain it is at most two months from request to notice, and it lasts two years, lapsing if licences are not obtained.Decreto 486-25, Reglamento de Aplicación de la Ley 368-22, art. 102 and art. 108, 2025-08-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

11. Using land without the required licence or certificate is an administrative infraction.Decreto 486-25, Reglamento de Aplicación de la Ley 368-22, art. 108 paragraph, 2025-08-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

12. The no objection certificate checks that a project fits the plan. The term is four months, and it lasts two years.Decreto 486-25, Reglamento de Aplicación de la Ley 368-22, art. 112, art. 113 and art. 121, 2025-08-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

13. Minor breaches are fined 1 to 50 public sector minimum salaries, and serious ones 101 to 1,000.Ley 368-22 de Ordenamiento Territorial, Uso de Suelo y Asentamientos Humanos, art. 82, 2022-12-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

14. The authority can also remove, demolish, suspend, order restoration at the offender's cost, or revoke the authorization.Ley 368-22 de Ordenamiento Territorial, Uso de Suelo y Asentamientos Humanos, art. 83, 2022-12-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

Worked example

A developer buys a RD$40,000,000 (about US$656,806.90) plot for a mid rise block. It asks the town for the land use certificate (up to two months) before closing, or makes closing conditional on it, then for the no objection certificate (up to four months). Both lapse in two years without licences.

Step by step

Ask the Oficina de Planeamiento Urbano what plan or instrument applies.
Get the certificate before committing to the price.
Sequence environment, municipal and MIVHED steps.
Diary both two year expiry dates.

Common traps

The two 2025 decrees are easy to confuse. Decreto 396-25 is repealed, and some official indexes still list it.
With a 29 August 2025 gazette date, the 24 month plan term would fall about August 2027 and the 18 month term about February 2027, if the decree took effect on that date. Do not assume a plan exists.
The fine scale uses the public sector minimum salary, whose current amount this guide did not find.
Municipal fees vary by town and were not verified.

Sources

← CondominiumsBuilding permits and subdivision →

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