Are these durations reliable?

They are indicative ranges from ordinary practice, given so you can plan. They are not statutory service standards and your project will differ. Anyone offering a confident single figure without seeing your file is guessing.

Which step usually takes longest?

On a property with an unresolved title or earlier unauthorised work, one of those two. Otherwise archaeological requirements where there is excavation, or settlement review where the scheme was not tested against the controls first.

Do I need all of these steps?

No — the tool filters to the ones your situation triggers. A purely internal non-structural renovation of a property with clean title skips most of the list.

Can these steps run in parallel?

Some can, and several genuinely cannot, because their output constrains the next step. That is why the tool shows a sequence rather than a set of tasks.

What if I do not know whether there is unauthorised work?

Assume there might be, and check. On older Santorini property some version of it is close to normal, and it is the finding that most often stops an application.

Santorini Permit Timeline Visualiser

What is the project?

New buildVilla or new structure RenovationExisting property ExtensionAdding to an existing building Cave houseYposkafo work or excavation

Which of these apply?

The property is in a designated traditional settlementOia, Pyrgos, Emporio, Megalochori, the caldera villages and others The work involves excavationFoundations, a pool, drainage, or cutting into rock There is, or may be, earlier unauthorised workAn extension, enclosed terrace or conversion without a permit The property is inherited or the title position is unclearUnfinished inheritance, or shares held by several people

Your approval sequence

Title and cadastral checkDays to many months
Confirm ownership is clean and that what is recorded matches what is built. Unfinished inheritance and undivided shares among heirs are the most common cause of a long delay here.
Topographic survey1–3 weeks
A registered surveyor establishes boundaries, levels and the plot's relationship to everything around it. Every subsequent drawing is built on this.
Legalisation of earlier unauthorised workMonths
If a previous owner built without permission — an extension, an enclosed terrace, a converted store — it must be regularised before a new application proceeds. Extremely common on older property.
Settlement designation checkDays
Establish whether the property is in a designated traditional settlement and what the external appearance controls are. This defines the design envelope before anything is drawn.
Architectural design4–12 weeks
The scheme is developed within the planning envelope and the settlement controls. Client decision speed is usually the governing variable.
Archaeological approval — Ephorate of AntiquitiesWeeks to many months
Engaged wherever there is excavation. Can require a watching brief, a trial trench or a fuller assessment, and what is found can change the foundation design. This is why it precedes structural design.
Council of Architecture reviewWeeks to months
In designated settlements the external design is reviewed before the permit. A scheme not tested against the controls is the one that gets sent back.
Structural design3–8 weeks
A civil engineer designs the structure to the Greek seismic requirements and signs the structural file, carrying statutory responsibility for it.
Permit file assembly and submission2–6 weeks
Drawings, calculations, surveys, prior approvals and statutory documentation submitted together. An incomplete file is the most avoidable delay in the whole sequence.
Permit issued; supervising engineer appointedVariable
Only at this point is the construction programme real. A supervising engineer is appointed and their inspection points are programmed into the works.

Indicative only. These are ranges from ordinary practice offered so you can plan, not statutory service standards. Your project will differ, and the realistic view of your own file comes after your engineer has seen it. See how long a permit really takes.

Why the order is the whole game

Approvals are not a set of forms to submit in parallel. Several of them constrain the design, and a design produced before those constraints are known is a design that gets produced twice.

The steps marked in the sequence above are the ones that most often blow a programme, and all four are discoverable before you spend anything on design:

Title and cadastral position. An unresolved inheritance or a registered area that does not match the plot. See Ktimatologio.
Earlier unauthorised work. It must be regularised before a new application proceeds. See legalisation.
Archaeological requirements. What the Ephorate requires, and finds, can change the foundation design. See archaeological approval.
Settlement review. A scheme not tested against the external controls is the one sent back. See Council of Architecture.

Checking all four costs a few weeks at the start. Discovering any of them after the design is engineered costs months.

What you can do while you wait

Using the approval period well is what separates a well-run project from a stalled one.

Ground investigation and trial pits — the structural design needs them anyway. See foundations in volcanic ground.
Detailed survey and opening up, on a property you already own.
Finish selection and long-lead identification, so ordering can happen the day the permit issues.
Contractor selection and pricing, so the programme is ready to start rather than starting to be planned.

What you cannot do is start permitted work. Doing so creates an unauthorised structure on your own title, which is the exact problem this page exists to help you avoid.

No JavaScript The full sequence for every project type is listed above. With JavaScript enabled the tool filters it to your situation; without it, read the whole list and skip the steps that plainly do not apply to your project.

Permit timeline visualiser

Why the order is the whole game

What you can do while you wait

Tell us what needs doing