Importance of the ground plan and the location plan:

The development of a mass plan and a site plan is mandatory for obtaining a building permit in Cameroon. These documents allow the competent authorities to assess the project's compliance with town planning regulations and to ensure that it does not present any nuisance to neighboring properties or the environment.
Furthermore, these plans serve as a basis for communication between the architect, construction companies and the various project stakeholders. They allow you to clearly visualize the arrangement of architectural elements, to anticipate technical constraints and facilitate the coordination of work.

Stages of developing the mass plan and the location plan:

The development of the mass plan and the site plan is generally carried out by an architect or an expert surveyor. The process involves the following steps:

1. Topographic survey: The land is leveled and its exact boundaries are determined.
2. Study of the architectural project: The architect designs the project plan, taking into account the customer's needs, constraints of the terrain and regulations in force.
3. Creation of the ground plan: The ground plan is drawn to scale, respecting the graphical representation conventions and indicating all the necessary information.
4. Creation of the situation plan: The site plan is drawn to scale, by indicating the location of the land in relation to surrounding landmarks.
5. Verification and validation: The plans are checked by the architect and client to ensure they are accurate and complete.

Obtaining steps and responsible departments (6 steps)

1. Purchase of tax stamps and municipal stamps (Public Treasury and Town Hall)
2. Purchase of plan request forms (Domain Services)
3. Submission of the request for ground and location plans (Domain Services)
4. Obtaining the state of transfer from the cadastre (Cadastre Services)
5. Payment of cadastral fees (Public Treasury)
6. Withdrawal of plans (Domain Services)

Legislation and regulations:

In Cameroon, the development of the mass plan and the site plan is governed by various laws and regulations, including:

• Law No. 2019/014 of July 19, 2019 on the Urban Planning Code in Cameroon: This law defines the general principles of land use planning and town planning, and sets the rules applicable to the issuance of building permits.
• Decrees implementing the Urban Planning Code: These decrees specify the methods of application of the law and define the technical and administrative requirements relating to the development of mass and location plans.
• Local planning regulations: Each municipality can adopt specific town planning regulations which supplement the national provisions and define more precise rules regarding the location of buildings and land use planning.