What is an administrative demolition order and how can one defend against it?

Embarrassment guide:

An administrative demolition order is a predatory order issued by the local committee against construction carried out without a permit.

This is a quick administrative procedure that allows the demolition of the building within a short time after the issuance of the administrative demolition order. Therefore in case you received an administrative demolition order, it is recommended to act as quickly as possible and submit to the court a request to cancel the demolition order in accordance with the reasons set forth in the law.

It is recommended that an expert opinion be submitted with the application in support of the application.

Our offices have extensive experience in preparing opinions regarding the cancellation of demolition orders.

It is important to know that the execution of the administrative demolition order can be carried out within 24 hours and no later than 30 days from the date the order was issued or the date the court rejected the request to cancel it.

It is important to emphasize that the grounds for canceling an administrative demolition order are limited grounds and sometimes submitting a request to cancel the order by someone who is not an expert in the field may lead to its rejection. As part of the request, there is no relevance to social considerations such as the fact that it is a residential apartment. There is also no relevance to the claim that there was an urgent need to replace the roof because it was about to collapse or rainwater seeped through it or because it was dangerous because it was made of asbestos.

Not knowing also does not help in many cases.

What is the purpose of the administrative demolition order?

An administrative demolition order is a drastic and extreme measure, designed to give the authorities in charge of enforcing planning and construction laws an efficient and quick means in their war against the scourge of illegal construction. The purpose of the procedure is to give the possibility to exercise the authority to demolish a new construction that is built or was built without a permit quickly and efficiently, in order to avoid fait accompli.

The legislator limited the authority of the court to intervene in this administrative procedure for limited reasons.

The judge is allowed to follow the order for up to 6 months and in very special cases up to a period of 12 months only!

Sometimes this period is enough to issue a building permit, of course it depends on which office/architect handles the request.

Our offices also have extensive experience in expediting applications for building permits.

What are the procedures for issuing an administrative demolition order?

Issuance of the order based on an engineer's affidavit
In cases where an extraordinary building has been erected, including without a permit or in deviation from the permit or plan, or the construction of a building has begun, the chairman of the local committee may issue an administrative demolition order. A condition for the issuance of an administrative demolition order is that an affidavit signed by the local committee engineer or the local authority engineer or another engineer or an architect has been submitted to him, stating that:

According to his knowledge, the building was erected without a permit or that the building violates and in what way it violates
According to his knowledge, the construction of the building was not completed or was completed no more than sixty days before the day of submitting the affidavit.
On the day the affidavit is submitted, the building for which the warrant is requested is not occupied or has been occupied for a period not exceeding thirty days

It is important to note that the giving of the affidavit is supported by documents attesting to the illegal construction, which include photographs, a script attesting to the illegal construction, as well as a record of the visit to the site.

Paste the order:
After the administrative demolition order is issued, the order and the documents that formed the basis for issuing the order are affixed to the property.

The documents are not always attached.

How long does it take for an administrative demolition order to be executed?

An administrative demolition order can be carried out with respect to a building erected without a permit within 24 hours and in any other case within 72 hours, but in any case no later than 30 days after the issuance of the order or a decision rejecting the request to cancel the order.

How long does it take to object to an administrative demolition order?

According to the law, there is an obligation to submit a request for the cancellation of an administrative demolition order or its cancellation within 3 days from the date on which the applicant learned of the issuance of the order. Since the administrative demolition order is executed in a very short time, it is important to submit a request to cancel the administrative demolition order to the Local Affairs Court as quickly as possible.

How long does it take to schedule a hearing on the request to cancel an administrative demolition order?

According to the law, the hearing on the request to cancel or delay an administrative demolition order is within 7 days from the date of submission of the request.

In many cases the judge asks for the response of the respondent and it is important to ask that the order be enforced until another decision is made.

The hearing is usually scheduled about a week after the respondent's response.

Does submitting the request to cancel the demolition order delay its execution?

No. It is necessary to submit a request to delay the manual demolition order and the court may delay the administrative demolition order for a period of up to 15 days, however if the hearing is between the parties then it may extend it for additional periods.

What is the total time frame for executing an administrative demolition order?

Section 238A, which grants the authority to issue an administrative demolition order, establishes a strict time frame, the purpose of which is to allow the administrative demolition of new buildings only, in construction procedures or whose construction has just been completed and they have been recently occupied. In the first step, according to section 238a(a), the chairman of the local committee may not issue a demolition order unless (according to the affidavit signed by an engineer) the construction of the building has not been completed, or it has been completed for no more than sixty days before the day of submitting the affidavit, and also that the building, if occupied, is occupied no more than thirty days before the day of submitting the affidavit. In the second step, if the demolition order was issued in accordance with the schedule established in section 238a(a), the order can be carried out, according to section 238a(i), within 30 days from the date of submission of the affidavit to the chairman of the local committee.

That is, the combination of these two sections creates the time frame for the procedure of administrative demolition: an administrative demolition order must not be executed except, at the latest, within a period of ninety days from the day the construction of the building was completed or if the building is occupied, within a period of sixty days from the day the building was occupied.

What are the grounds for court intervention in an administrative demolition order?

The court's authority is limited to the reasons set forth in section 238 of the Planning and Construction Law as well as administrative reasons regarding the authority's discretion in issuing the order.

The reasons stipulated in section 238 of the Planning and Construction Law
Section 238a (h) of the Planning and Construction Law states that: "The court shall not cancel or suspend an administrative demolition order unless it is proven that the construction for which the order was issued was carried out lawfully or that the execution of the order is not necessary to prevent a fait accompli".

The administrative demolition order can be canceled if the construction was carried out legally, if the work is exempt from a construction permit.
If the construction was done according to a legal construction permit, then there was no reason to issue the administrative demolition order. It is important to emphasize that replacing an old with a new one according to an existing permit does not constitute construction according to a valid building permit. For example, if an existing building is demolished and the same building is built exactly according to the old permit - it is not construction according to the permit. Likewise, when an existing roof is replaced with a new one, it is construction that requires obtaining a building permit. According to the law, a new construction in an old place and a new construction in an old place is also the construction of a "building", according to section 1 of the law. Also in the matter of section 238a, it was expressly ruled that "extraordinary building", according to its meaning in section 238a (a), also includes new construction in an old place. See: AP (TA) 86/1361 Yishil Yosef et al. v. The State of Israel.

The administrative demolition order can be canceled if the construction does not require a permit
If the construction does not require a construction permit, then there was no reason to issue the administrative demolition order. For example, when it comes to internal changes in an existing structure, such works do not require a permit, such as apartment renovation that does not include structural changes.

Can the demolition order be canceled if the order is not necessary to prevent a fait accompli?
In order to bring about the annulment of the order, it is necessary to prove the existence of two conditions:

The construction was completed more than 60 days after the submission of the engineer's affidavit, on the basis of which the order was issued. When the building does not allow living. That is, that it lacks windows or doors is not a fait accompli. On the other hand, in cases where there are negligible completions, the construction can and will be seen as finished.
The building subject to the demolition order has been occupied for a period exceeding thirty days from the date of submission of the engineer's affidavit.

Examining the public interest and the balance of convenience

As part of the review of the validity of the administrative demolition order, the damage to the public on the one hand, and to the applicant on the other, if the order is revoked, will be examined. The greater the public interest, the more inclined the court will be to leave the order intact. The scope of the construction in question, the location of the construction (private or public area), whether the construction can be trained, what is the balance of convenience, i.e. what is the damage that will be caused to the property / owner versus the damage that will be caused if the order is followed. Whether an application for a permit has been submitted and at what stage it is are relevant considerations for this matter.