Penalty payments and appeals for late decisions act

The Penalty and Appeal for Late Decisions Act states that we must decide on a permit application or objection on time. If we fail to do so, there is a chance that we will have to pay a sum of money (penalty payment).

Requirements

If we do not make a decision within a set time, we exceed the decision period. We are then "in default," as it is officially called.

A set time may be:

• a deadline set by law;
• a "reasonable" time frame. Eight weeks from application is considered reasonable, but in some cases it may take longer.

Here's how it works

If you apply for a permit or submit a notice of objection, you may assume that we will respond in a timely manner. If we do not, you can call us to account and declare us to be in default. We still have two weeks to make a decision.

If no decision has been made by then, the law attaches two consequences:

1. We must pay a sum of money (penalty payment) for each day the decision period is exceeded. The penalty is for a maximum of 42 days and does not exceed €1,260.

   We determine the amount of the sum of money. We do this no later than two weeks after the last day on which a penalty payment is due. We must then deposit this amount into your account within six weeks.

2. You can appeal directly to the court:

   You no longer have to first object to our failure to make a decision. Does the court declare the appeal well-founded? Then we are obliged to make a decision within two weeks.