House extensions and changes

Changes to a building’s windows and siding

For visual changes, an authorized designer must draw the house’s updated design.

Permission must be sought from the head of the Department of Planning, at Geislagata 9, see permit application.

Please not it may be advantageous to apply for the construction permit from the head of the Department of Planning before commencing the design process with its related expenses, see permit application.

A construction manager also needs to sign a declaration detailing their responsibility for the construction, see permit application, and a master builder must hand in a declaration of their responsibility regarding the change, see master permit.

The permit is free of charge if the permit application is accepted the first time it gets processes by the Department of Planning. Any subsequent resubmissions of this same application must be paid for according to the blueprint revision price list (endurskoðun aðaluppdráttar), see price list.

Garages, solariums, greenhouses, and other house extensions

• The municipal plan details whether a garage or other extensions may be built.
  Buildings must be constructed within the building lot.
  The municipal plan is available at the head of the Department of Planning’s office or on Akureyri Municipality’s website.
• A municipal plan does not exist for all of Akureyri’s older neighbourhoods. If a plan is unavailable, the Planning committee evaluates the request and if it’s found to be acceptable the committee will advertise it as a neighbourhood plan.
• Please not it may be advantageous to apply for approval of a possible garage or an extension from the head of the Department of Planning before commencing their design process with its related expenses, see permit application.
• It is mandatory to apply for a construction permit from the head of the Department of Planning, Geislagata 9, see application form and service description for the passing of construction permits.
• A construction manager also needs to sign a declaration detailing their responsibility for the extension, see permit application, and a master builder must hand in a declaration of their responsibility regarding the extension, see master permit.
• A road construction cost must be paid off garages and other extensions, in relation to their size, according to a price list and the construction type and a construction fee corresponding to rate classes 11 or 12 (in relation to construction size). See price list.
• An authorized designer must be contracted to design and draw the proposed extension.

Satellite dishes

It’s mandatory to apply for a permit to install a satellite dish from the head of the Department of Planning, Geislagata 9, see application form (in Icelandic).
A copy of the house plan, its layout, with the potential satellite dish’s planned location sketched onto it needs to accompany the application. If the building is a multifamily residential, the other co-owners’ approval also needs to be attached to the application.

No fee needs to be paid to the Department of Planning for the application.

House plans

The Department of Planning, Geislagata 9, stores all house plans sent to them, along with all property agreements concerning rental properties. Copies of these drawings can be found via a pdf or a tiff format through the town’s spatial information service on Akureyri municipality’s website. Physical photocopies are available from the Division of Planning and Building Control.

Akureyri’s spatial information service

Akureyri's spatial information service is a map- and services website (in Icelandic) where people can find information on house plans, zones, aerial images, and various town services. It can be used to measure distances and to print out maps which may be used when applying for numerous projects within the town.

The spatial information service is connected to Iceland’s real estate database and to Iceland’s national register and it can be used to access official information on individual houses or larger areas.