On October 2, 2026, Supreme Decree No. 68, dated July 24, 2026, of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (the “Decree”) was published in the Official Gazette. The Decree amends Supreme Decree No. 47 of 1992 of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, which establishes the text of the General Ordinance of the General Law on Urban Planning and Construction (“OGUC”), in various areas, with the purpose of modernizing and updating the OGUC and expediting reconstruction projects in disaster-affected areas. The Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic approved the Decree, subject to certain qualifications, by Official Letter No. OF186904/2026, dated October 1, 2026.

The purpose of the Decree is to update the technical parameters of the OGUC to reflect the country’s current demographic, territorial and infrastructure conditions, reduce regulatory restrictions on the development of new housing supply, and streamline the processing and implementation of projects in areas declared to be affected by disasters. To this end, it introduces amendments concerning traffic mitigation, risk studies, density, parking requirements, harmonic complexes, reconstruction, and subdivisions with simultaneous construction. These amendments are supported, among other considerations, by the results of the 2024 Census, which show a decrease in the average household size to 2.8 persons.

Main Amendments Introduced by the Decree

 

• Road Traffic Impact Mitigation Report (Article 1.5.1)

 

The third and fourth paragraphs of Article 1.5.1 of the OGUC are replaced. The application for an urbanization permit, building permit or the relevant authorizations must be accompanied by proof of submission of the Road Traffic Impact Mitigation Report (“IMIV”) or the certificate issued by the relevant system confirming that the project is not subject to such report.

The resolution approving the IMIV will be a requirement for the granting of the relevant permit only in the case of major-category IMIVs. In the case of basic- or intermediate-category IMIVs, such resolution will be required for the final acceptance of the works. The applicant is responsible for submitting to the Municipal Works Department the administrative act approving the Mitigation Report. Where an approved IMIV is required for the granting of a permit and is not submitted within the applicable review period, the Municipal Works Director shall record this circumstance in the Observations Record, and the applicant must remedy the omission within the period established in the final paragraph of Article 1.4.9 of the OGUC or provide evidence, through a document issued by the Mobility Impact Assessment System, that the report remains under evaluation in accordance with the time periods established in Supreme Decree No. 30 of 2017 of the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications.

 

• Supporting Studies for Risk Areas (Article 2.1.17)

 

A final paragraph is added to Article 2.1.17 of the OGUC, providing as follows: “The supporting study referred to in the fifth paragraph shall determine the magnitude of the risk and the measures for its mitigation and shall be prepared and signed by specialized professionals, such as architects, civil engineers, geologists or other specialists, depending on the nature of the risk and the technical matters covered by the study. The study shall comply with the methodologies and other technical requirements established by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development through the circulars issued by its Urban Development Division. The Municipal Works Department shall verify that the study has been signed by the relevant specialized professionals, complies with the applicable formal requirements and, in accordance with the fifth paragraph, has been approved by the competent authority, without being responsible for assessing the technical merits or sufficiency of its contents.”

When approving the Decree, the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic issued a qualification regarding this provision, stating that Municipal Works Departments are responsible for verifying that the risk study has been signed by a specialized professional, while the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, through its Urban Development Division, is responsible for defining the specialized professionals who may prepare such studies.

 

• Maximum Density (Article 2.1.22)

 

The coefficient of four inhabitants per dwelling used to calculate density is replaced by a coefficient of 2.8 inhabitants per dwelling. This allows for a greater number of dwellings within the same density established under the applicable territorial planning instrument.

In addition, a coefficient of 1.4 inhabitants per dwelling is established for projects falling within any of the following situations:

1. Projects located no more than 600 meters, measured by pedestrian routes along public roads, from an existing or planned metro, train, cable car or similar station. In the case of planned stations, it must be demonstrated that the construction works for the station, or for the section in which the station is located, are subject to an awarded construction or concession contract, evidenced by the relevant administrative act or instrument documenting such award.
2. Projects whose access is located within a 200-meter strip measured on either side of the centerline of existing expressways.
3. Projects whose access is located within a 100-meter strip measured on either side of the centerline of existing arterial roads.

Finally, in communal regulatory plans that establish density in dwellings per hectare, the relevant figure must be multiplied by four, with the resulting figure constituting the urban planning standard to which the new coefficients will apply.

 

• Reduction of Parking Requirements (Article 2.4.1)

 

The third paragraph of Article 2.4.1 of the OGUC is replaced with the following provision, which refers to the situations described in Section 3 above: “Housing and/or service-class facilities projects that fall within any of the situations contemplated in the third paragraph of Article 2.1.22 of this Ordinance may reduce by up to one-half the parking spaces required under the applicable communal urban planning instrument. The foregoing shall not apply to condominiums comprising public-interest housing, which shall comply with the provisions of Article 60 of Law No. 21,442 on Real Estate Co-Ownership.”

 

• Harmonic Complexes (Articles 2.6.4, 2.6.5, 2.6.6, 2.6.7, 2.6.9 and 2.6.19)

 

The rules governing harmonic complexes under the OGUC are amended as follows:

2. Dimensional requirement (Article 2.6.4): The first paragraph of Article 2.6.4, numeral 1(a), is replaced, such that it is sufficient for the land to have a total area of at least 2,500 m². This eliminates the previous requirement that the area be at least five times the minimum lot area established by the applicable Regulatory Plan and no less than 5,000 m². Likewise, the first paragraph of subparagraph (a) of the second paragraph of the same article is amended to require that the land have at least 20 meters of frontage onto an existing or planned road identified in the Regulatory Plan, with a minimum width of 20 meters between official lines. Only where the harmonic complex is located on one or more parcels having, in aggregate, a total area of at least 5,000 m², must the road also have a roadway at least 14 meters wide.
3. Elimination of use requirement (Articles 2.6.4 and 2.6.6): Numeral 2 of the first paragraph of Article 2.6.4, which regulated the use requirement, is eliminated. Article 2.6.6, concerning projects that met such requirement, is also repealed.
4. Increased buildability (Articles 2.6.5 and 2.6.7): A new third paragraph is added to Article 2.6.5 and a new second paragraph to Article 2.6.7. Pursuant to these provisions, projects meeting the requirements of the first paragraph of the relevant article may exceed the buildability coefficient established by the applicable Regulatory Plan by up to 75%. To qualify for this benefit, projects must simultaneously satisfy the following conditions: (i) they must be housing projects whose individual units do not exceed 90 m²; and (ii) they must fall within any of the situations contemplated in the third paragraph of Article 2.1.22 of the OGUC, as described in Section 3 above.
5. Increased height (Article 2.6.9): The words “and/or use” are removed from Article 2.6.9 and a new second paragraph is added. Pursuant to this provision, projects meeting the requirements of the first paragraph of such article may exceed the maximum height established by the applicable Regulatory Plan by up to 50%. To qualify for this benefit, projects must simultaneously satisfy the following conditions: (i) they must be housing projects whose individual units do not exceed 90 m², but only where the project meets the dimensional requirement; and (ii) they must be located on lots fronting expressways or arterial roads for at least 20 meters.
6. Powers of communal regulatory plans (Article 2.6.19): Article 2.6.19 is replaced, providing that the increases in height and buildability set forth in Articles 2.6.5, 2.6.7 and 2.6.9 of the OGUC may be reduced by up to 25% by communal regulatory plans, provided that the projects are located within a historic preservation area.

 

• Simultaneous Building Permit and Final Acceptance in Disaster-Affected Areas (Article 5.1.1)

 

A final paragraph is added to Article 5.1.1 of the OGUC, pursuant to which, in the case of state housing reconstruction projects developed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, its dependent agencies or sponsoring entities, in areas declared to be affected by a disaster, where such projects form part of regional or municipal reconstruction plans or are intended to reconstruct or replace damaged structures, the Municipal Works Department may authorize the building permit and final acceptance simultaneously.

For such purposes, a report from a qualified professional confirming compliance with applicable technical, habitability, safety and structural stability standards will be required, together with a simple sworn statement from the owner, plans consistent with the standard housing designs approved by SERVIU, and operational internal installations. The dwelling must comply with the applicable safety, structural stability and habitability standards corresponding to the typology approved by SERVIU. In such cases, only the urban planning standards relating to risk areas, areas protecting natural and heritage resources, restriction strips or radii pursuant to Article 60 of the General Law on Urban Planning and Construction (“LGUC”), and public utility designations under the applicable territorial planning instrument will be required to be complied with. Such provisions will remain fully in force and applicable.

 

• Exceptions to Urbanization Obligations in Reconstruction Projects (Article 7.2.1)

 

referred to in the preceding paragraphs of that article, the Regional Ministerial Secretariat of Housing and Urban Development may authorize exceptions to urbanization obligations. This authority shall be exercised without prejudice to the provisions of Articles 2.3.8 and 3.2.9 of the OGUC, as well as any amendments to Regulatory Plans or Sectional Plans made pursuant to Article 27 of Supreme Decree No. 104 of 1977 of the Ministry of the Interior, which establishes the consolidated, coordinated and systematized text of Title I of Law No. 16,282 on permanent provisions applicable in cases of earthquakes or disasters, as regulated in Chapter 1 of Title 7 of the OGUC.

The Regional Ministerial Secretariat shall seek to ensure that the exceptions it grants are consistent with such plans or amendments thereto, and the Municipal Works Department shall apply them when granting permits and accepting urbanization works.

 

• Subdivisions with Simultaneous Construction in Disaster-Affected Areas (Article 7.2.3)

 

The following amendments are introduced to Article 7.2.3 of the OGUC:

3. Subparagraph (j) of numeral 1 is replaced, providing that, in the case of subdivisions or subdivisions with simultaneous construction, the documents and information required under Chapter 1 of Title 3 of the OGUC must be submitted. In the case of subdivisions with simultaneous construction of housing, the requirements set forth in numeral 6 of Article 3.1.5 of the OGUC shall not apply, pursuant to the sixth paragraph of Article 116 bis D) of the LGUC.
4. Numeral 3 is supplemented, following the reference to the rules on attached construction, setbacks and height planes under Articles 2.6.2 and 2.6.3 of the OGUC, to provide that a single dwelling constructed on a parcel existing as of the date on which the area was declared to be affected by a disaster shall be exempt from compliance with the applicable setback and height-plane requirements, without prejudice to the project being subject to the provisions of Article 6.2.9 of the OGUC.

 

• Transitional Provision

 

Owners of projects that have been granted a building permit prior to the effective date of the Decree and that, as of such date, have not obtained final acceptance may elect to apply the new rules by requesting an amendment to the project pursuant to Article 5.1.17 of the OGUC. For these purposes, an owner will be deemed to have elected to apply the new rules when the requested amendment includes an increase in the authorized built area under the original permit. Notwithstanding the second paragraph of Article 5.1.18 of the OGUC, under no circumstances may such increase exceed 20% of the original authorized built area, nor may uses that were not permitted under the regulations in force at the time the amendment is requested be incorporated.

In all other respects, and to the extent compatible, the rules of Article 5.1.18 of the OGUC shall apply. This option may be exercised within two years from the effective date of the Decree. Once such period has elapsed, the permits must fully comply with the regulations in force at the time they were originally granted.

 

• Effective Date

 

The Decree does not contain a specific effective-date provision. Accordingly, pursuant to the general rule set forth in the second paragraph of Article 51 of Law No. 19,880, it became effective upon publication in the Official Gazette, i.e., on October 2, 2026.

 

For further information on this matter, please contact Julio Trucco (jtrucco@jdf.cl) or Teresita Mex (tmex@jdf.cl).