A buyer’s lawyer in Athens confirms the title is clean: no liens, no inheritance gaps, no disputes. Three weeks after completion, an engineer measuring for a renovation finds the house is 38 square metres larger than anything in its permit file. The title was perfect. The building was not. In Greece those are separate investigations. The statutory transfer file includes engineer documentation, while a separately commissioned buyer-side permit comparison adds an independent scope focused on the purchaser’s decision.

Permit verification is the core of buyer-side technical due diligence in the Greek market, and it is the element most specific to Greece: an independent engineering advisory working for the buyer cross-checks the approved drawings against the physical building, meter by meter, before contracts are signed. This article sets out what that check involves and what it keeps finding.

What the Greek Permit File Contains

Building permits have been mandatory in Greece since 1955, and every legally constructed building has a file at the local planning authority. The file contains the approved architectural drawings, the structural study, the site plan showing allowed coverage, and the permit certificate itself. Together they define what was allowed to be built: the footprint, the floors, the total floor area, the openings, the use of each space. Anything standing on the plot that is not in that file either has a later amendment, a regularization record, or a problem.

Obtaining the full file can take time depending on the municipality and the age of the building, which is why the request should go in early. A due diligence window that opens two weeks before signing is not a window, it is a formality.

The Electronic Building Identity Is a Snapshot, Not a Verdict

The Electronic Building Identity is a statutory digital dossier prepared by an authorised engineer appointed by the owner. The engineer is responsible for the accuracy of the entered data, and the dossier includes permits, plans, regularisation records and plans reflecting the actual state where required. It is a genuine improvement and buyers should read it. It is not an independent buyer-side condition survey, so a purchaser may still commission a separate comparison of the dossier, permit file and physical building.

BEFORE YOU COMMIT TO A PROPERTY IN GREECE

Send the permit documents, Building Identity extract, floor plans or listing material before signing anything.

We perform remote asset reviews for foreign buyers evaluating properties anywhere in Greece.

This early-stage review identifies: differences between the permitted floor area and the marketed floor area, additions and conversions likely to need regularization, gaps in the permit chain that will stall the notary, and whether a full on-site verification is justified before commitment.

The review is independent, English-language and delivered directly to the buyer.

Submit the property details here: kgnordic.com/contact

The Mismatches That Keep Appearing

The findings are consistent across regions and decades: enclosed semi-outdoor spaces, balconies and verandas converted into rooms, basements and storage levels used as bedrooms, pools and outbuildings absent from approved drawings, and extra floor area added during construction. The Code restricts specified transfers where unauthorised work is unresolved, while eligible older violations may enter the filing route extended to 2028. Unresolved works can remain a cost, transferability or demolition risk after purchase. If a pending regularisation is transferred under Code Article 368(9), the new owner assumes completion only under its payment conditions and with an express deed reference. The full mechanics are covered in our guide to Greece’s regularization deadline under Law 5270/2026.

The mismatch also has a price dimension buyers rarely run. A house marketed at 180 square meters but permitted at 140 is being priced on 40 square meters the buyer may have to regularize, pay fines on, or in the worst case remove. At 3,000 euros per square meter, that is 120,000 euros of the purchase price resting on paperwork nobody has verified.

Who Actually Checks the Permit File

The notary handles the deed and transfer formalities, the buyer’s lawyer handles title and legal risk, and the owner-appointed engineer has statutory responsibility for the compliance documentation and Electronic Building Identity. An independent buyer-side advisor adds a separate scope and duty to the purchaser, the distinction described in our article on buying in Greece without an inspection. That scope can include a fresh site comparison rather than relying solely on the transaction file, because the same site visit that measures the building against its drawings can also examine condition and construction. Our guide to technical due diligence in Greece sets out that combined buyer-side scope.

What to Ask for Before You Sign Anything

The buyer’s checklist is short and decisive. The full permit file from the planning authority, requested early. The Electronic Building Identity extract. Any regularization declarations, with their category and payment status, because a violation declared is not the same as a violation settled. A topographic survey of the plot. And an independent, buyer-side measurement of the building against the approved drawings. If the seller resists any of these, that resistance is itself a finding.

Buying Property in Greece?

Before contracts are signed, we review: the permit file against the physical building, the Electronic Building Identity and any regularization records, coverage and floor-area consistency, and the structural and installation condition behind the paperwork.

For private buyers and investors acquiring property in Greece, we provide independent technical due diligence, property inspections and remote asset reviews, delivered in English directly to the buyer, typically within 7 working days.

Submit the asset location and acquisition details here: kgnordic.com/contact

Frequently Asked Questions

What is building permit due diligence in Greece?

It is the buyer-side verification that the physical building matches its approved permit file: the architectural drawings, structural study, site plan and permit certificate held by the planning authority. It identifies unpermitted additions and conversions before they become the buyer’s legal and financial problem at transfer.

Does the Electronic Building Identity prove a property is legal?

Not by itself. The Building Identity under Law 4495/2017 is a digital dossier compiled from documents and declarations, usually by an engineer engaged by the seller. It records what has been declared, not what an independent measurement finds on site, so it should be read alongside the original permit file, not instead of it.

What happens if I buy a property with unpermitted construction in Greece?

Unresolved unpermitted work can remain a cost and transferability risk attached to the property. Eligible older violations may enter the regularisation route whose current filing deadline runs to 2028. If a pending regularisation is transferred under Code Article 368(9), the new owner assumes completion only after the stated payment threshold and with an express reference in the deed. The property-specific outcome must be checked against the file and transaction documents.

Who verifies the permit file when I buy property in Greece?

In the standard transaction, effectively no one on the buyer’s side. The notary handles the contract, the lawyer checks title, and the seller’s engineer certifies compliance from documents. An independent technical advisor engaged by the buyer is the only party who measures the building against its permits, typically as part of a property inspection or technical due diligence starting from 5,000 euros.