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Demokratiskolan
The Regulation card from MethodKit for Society and Politics
Card 89 of 128 · MethodKit for Society & Politics
  • AreaThe state & public administration
  • Centre of gravityCentral government
  • Points of influence3 on the journey
  • Decisive electionThe general election
The state & public administration

Regulation

Standards & licensing for compatibility & safety

Extending the deck, opening a restaurant, organising a demonstration or selling food in the square: a great deal in society requires a permit. The rules exist to protect neighbours, the environment and safety, but they also decide what is possible to do. The laws are written in the Riksdag, but most of the permits you apply for yourself are decided in the municipal hall.

Where does the power lie?1

  • Municipality · building permits, serving & oversight · approx 35 %
  • State · laws, police & county boards · approx 45 %
  • EU · product rules & directives · approx 20 %

The Riksdag and the EU write the rules, but the everyday permit decisions, from building permits to alcohol serving, are made by the municipality. So two elections shape your application.

How it works: the breakdown

The municipalityThe permit desk
The regionOn the side
Central governmentThe lawmaker & the specialists · centre of gravity
Who decides?
The building committee, the environment committee and the permit units with their administrations.
No formal role in granting permits.
The Riksdag passes the laws. The Police (Polismyndigheten), the County Administrative Boards (Länsstyrelsen) and special agencies assess certain permits.
What do they decide?
Building permits, alcohol serving permits, environmental oversight, food inspection and market stalls.
The region applies for permits itself, for example for hospital builds, but grants none.
Demonstration permits, firearms licences, environmental permits for large facilities, driving licences and passports.
Where are decisions made?
In the municipal hall. Decisions are given in writing with reasons and can be appealed.
At the municipality and the state, like any other applicant.
At each agency. A rejection can be appealed to the administrative court.
Who pays?
Fees from the applicant, according to a tariff that the council decides.
The regional tax, when the region applies itself.
Fees and the central government budget.
Fastest way in?
Municipal election Comment as a neighbour, appeal decisions, shape tariffs and plans through the election.
Regional election No direct way here: permit matters are decided by the municipality and the state.
General election The general election governs the laws. When rules are reviewed, anyone can respond to the referral (remiss).
EUEU rules lie behind many Swedish requirements, from product safety and chemicals to the freedom to offer services across the whole union. Shaped in the European Parliament election.

Read the table by column to understand one level, or by row to compare the levels. The green level is the area's centre of gravity.

How it works: follow the decision

The case A building permit from idea to spade
  1. State

    The Planning and Building Act sets the rules of the game

    The Planning and Building Act (PBL) decides what requires a permit, how the assessment is to be done and what rights you and your neighbours have. Boverket guides the municipalities on how the law is to be applied.

    Point of influence

    The general election governs the Planning and Building Act. When the law is reviewed, the proposals go out for open referral (remiss).

  2. Municipality

    The detailed plan draws the map

    The detailed development plan (detaljplan) decides what may be built where: heights, use, distances. The plans are drawn up by the municipality and decided politically.

    Point of influence

    Detailed plans always go out for public consultation (samråd). This is where you shape what may be built in your block.

  3. Municipality

    The building committee assesses your application

    Drawings are submitted, a fee according to the tariff, and where there are deviations from the plan the neighbours are consulted. The decision must be given with reasons and come within a reasonable time.

  4. State

    The appeal is reviewed upwards

    An affected party can appeal the committee's decision to the County Administrative Board (Länsstyrelsen), and then to the land and environment court. Only once the time has run out does the decision gain legal force.

    Point of influence

    The right to appeal is one of the system's most important checks, and it applies equally to you and your neighbours.

  5. Your everyday life

    The deck is built in May

    The spade goes into the ground. Behind the simple outdoor space lie a law, a plan, a committee decision and an appeal period that has run out.

The journey looks the same in reverse: what has been built came the same way, through the same decisions. Whoever knows where the decisions are made also knows where they can be changed.

Questions to discuss

  1. Which permit have you applied for yourself, and how did you find the encounter with the system?

  2. Where is the line between reasonable protection and unnecessary red tape, and who should draw it?

  3. Neighbours' right to comment can delay builds. Whose interest should weigh heaviest?

  4. What ought to require a permit that does not today, and what ought to be set free?

  5. Is it reasonable that the same building project can require a permit in one block but not in another?

Glossary

Bygglov
The municipality's permit to build, alter or demolish, assessed by the building committee.
Detaljplan
The municipality's legally binding map of what may be built in an area.
PBL
The Planning and Building Act, the Riksdag's rules for all planning and all building.
Tillsyn
The agencies' after-the-fact checking that rules are followed, for example in a restaurant kitchen.
Serveringstillstånd
The municipality's permit to serve alcohol, assessed under the Alcohol Act.
Laga kraft
When a decision can no longer be appealed and therefore takes real effect.

Go further

Footnotes

1) This is an estimate of how decision-making power over the issue is split between the municipality, the region, central government and the EU, based on how responsibility is divided in legislation. A teaching guide, not an exact measurement.