Israel Plans Easing of Building Regulations to Boost Shelter Construction

Israel's Planning Administration is proposing a package of regulatory amendments to streamline construction, particularly for protective shelters, in response to ongoing security needs. A key change would exempt the sealed technical space beneath the first protected room in a "shelter tower" from being counted as built space, thus not reducing a building's construction rights. This addresses a situation where such spaces, often created when adding multiple protected rooms to existing buildings, are unusable but currently count against development potential.

The administration has also requested an extension until the end of 2028 for the exemption from building permits for protected rooms, citing high demand and the need to close protection gaps. According to the Home Front Command, about one-third of Israel's population lacks adequate shelter. The proposed changes aim to reduce planning obstacles that increase costs or delay the construction of these vital spaces.

Another amendment seeks to increase flexibility in building school shelters. Current regulations allow for one 15-square-meter protected room per classroom or a shared space for two classrooms, capped at 180 square meters per site. The new proposal would permit a unified horizontal shelter of up to 60 square meters for two to four classrooms, which could also be built vertically up to two stories. The overall 180-square-meter limit per site would remain, allowing for up to three such unified shelters, intended to accommodate entire classes more effectively during emergencies.

Further proposed changes include streamlining the process for changing a property's use for business purposes, establishing mandatory response times for approving authorities, and introducing new, independent regulations for building structures. These new structural regulations would define design life expectancies for various building types, allow the use of European standards where no Israeli standard exists, and include requirements for preventing brittle failure, chain reactions, earthquake resistance, and geotechnical planning.

These proposals are still under discussion. The National Council for Planning and Construction is scheduled to convene on October 6th, and some amendments will require the Interior Minister's signature before they can take effect.