Building in Gabon

Networks at the boundary

• ElectricitySEEGIntermittent network

  The Gabonese energy and water company supplies both power and water in the cities. Access rates are among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa, but cuts are frequent and Port-Gentil runs on a grid isolated from the rest of the country.

• WaterSEEGIntermittent network

  The same operator supplies water. Gabon is among the wettest countries on earth and raw water is not scarce: treatment and network are, so cuts are frequent despite the resource.

Building permit

building permit (permis de construire)

This is the name it is applied for under locally. The design, drawings and permits package carries it in the estimate.

How it is obtained

1. Get the land title first. The file is refused without a title or ownership attestation; titling and cadastral extracts are handled by ANUTTC and the land registry.
2. Buy the application form. The published ANUTTC price put it at 5,000 XAF, which is indicative rather than current.
3. Assemble the file: title deed, cadastral location plan, site plan, architectural drawings, elevations and sections signed by an architect on the roll of the Ordre gabonais des architectes, a descriptive note and identity document, with the owner's written consent if you are a tenant.
4. File at the commune, not at ANUTTC: under article 36 nouveau of the 2012 ordinance the permit is delivered on behalf of the State by the mayor, the mairie centrale for Libreville, or by the president of the departmental council. Reported filing fees are 50,000 XAF for an individual. Insist on a dated filing receipt, because the statutory clock runs from it.
5. Assessment by the single commission created in the 2022 reform, chaired by the mayor or the president of the departmental council, with ANUTTC as secretariat and the land services, the fire service, the architects’ order and SEEG taking part.
6. Decision and issue by the mayor after the conformity opinion of ANUTTC. The reform was presented as cutting the wait to 15 days, while the ordinance itself allows 2 months for an ordinary application. Before the reform the local press held that a permit could not be obtained in under two months, so budget 2 to 3 months.
7. Display the permit on the plot for the whole duration of the works, since failure to display is fined. The permit lapses if work does not begin within two years, extendable once by a year on request.
8. Inspections during the works, then the declaration of completion and the certificate of conformity, which is the document that regularises occupation. No source confirms these are routinely issued for a private house, so allow for this step being slow or informal.

Read on 2026-08-30 from the published guides. Regulatory text ages differently from a price: a fee changes with a finance act, not with a shortage. Check it against the ministry before relying on it.

Who handles it locally

No professionals on record for this country. The permit is still applied for under that name.

Statutory minimum wages

A grid, not a single wage, set by SMIG. A day rate quoted below its category floor fails the test suite.

What is collected

VAT

18%

Customs

Direction générale des douanes

Payroll bodies

CNSS, CNAMGS

Registrations

RCCM, NIF

Market reference

A monthly snapshot published by a third party, 11 lines for this country. It does not replace our prices: those cite a survey you can open, this is an aggregate. Both are useful and they are not the same claim.

Town spread, as they measure it

Franceville +8%Libreville +3%Port-Gentil +6%

5 surveyed, 6 estimated by them. A figure they inferred is still an inference here.

Source: DiasporaBuild Market Intelligence, read 2026-08-30 diasporabuild.com/african-material-prices