Permitting for a development and a single-family home are substantially different. If you will be permitting the construction of a single home, keep in mind that your job will be a lot simpler that what’s presented in this section, though similar. There are two kinds of developments: those that need a Master Plan (plan maestro)and

Permitting a development requires a lot of work and expertise. For medium or large developments, you’ll almost certainly need to hire a one-stop-shop consulting company that has all necessary professionals on staff and has years of experience with permitting and environmental impact studies. This might cost a bit more, but you get what you pay

It helps to be familiar with the alphabet soup of regulatory agencies you will be dealing with during the permitting process. Following, a brief list: MINAET (www.minaet.go.cr): The Ministerio del Ambiente, Energía, y Telecomunicaciones, or Minstery of Environment, Energy, and Telecommunications. This is the big cheese when it comes to environmental regulation in Costa Rica. Permits to

There is no one, single way to do the permitting process, and there is no single entry point. How you do permitting will depend a lot on who you hire and how much you’re willing to spend. Many of the procedures discussed in this chapter can be carried out in parallel, either legally or extra-legally.