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The Nordis Law – Key Updates: New rules for off-plan property sales, advance payment, and expanded responsibilities for developers
Law no. 207/2025, published in the Official Gazette no. 1133/08.12.2025, amends art. 22 of Law 10/1995 and supplements art. 26 of the Cadastre Law no. 7/1996. The law entered into force on 11.12.2025, except for the provisions regarding pre-apartmentation, which enter into force 3 months after publication.
1. Clarification and consolidation of developers’ obligations
The law amends art. 22 of Law no. 10/1995 and expressly defines the notion of “developer” – namely those investors who carry out real estate projects of individual dwellings or condominiums for the purpose of alienation.
The new framework brings together, in a coherent form, all the developer’s responsibilities throughout the duration of the project.
Among these obligations are the following:
- Establishing the qualitative level of design and execution in accordance with the applicable technical regulations and studies.
- Obtaining all necessary permits and authorizations, including those for utility connections.
- Verification of the projects by certified specialists and supervision of the execution by site supervisors or consultants throughout the works.
- Remedying nonconformities, defects, and deficiencies in design or execution.
- Carrying out the reception upon completion of the works together with the reception of the utility connections, as well as the final reception after the warranty period.
- Drawing up and handing over the technical book of the construction.
- Expert evaluation of the construction in the cases provided by law, with approved technical documentation for modifications to the installations.
- Handing over the property to the owner only after the reception has been admitted and the definitive utility connections have been put into operation.
2. Pre-contracts concluded for future real estate with developers: authentic form and strict preconditions
Law 207/2025 establishes a set of cumulative conditions that the developer must meet before concluding a contract stipulating a promise to sell a unit in a future condominium or a future individual dwelling.
Thus, such a promise to sell may be made only after:
- the notation of the building permit in the land register;
- the completion of the pre-apartmentation operation (for future condominium projects);
- the opening of land books for the individual units – future goods, according to the Cadastre Law no. 7/1996.
Contracts stipulating promises to sell, purchase, or bilateral promises are concluded exclusively in authentic form and only after obtaining the land register excerpt corresponding to the future individual unit.
The public notary has the obligation to request the notation of the promise in the land register on the same day of authentication or, at the latest, on the next working day.
3. Reservation agreements: express legal regime and clear limitations
The new regulation introduces, for the first time, an explicit legal framework for reservation agreements. These:
- may be concluded for a maximum period of 60 days;
- must be followed either by the authentic promise or by the sale-purchase contract;
- allow the charging of an advance deductible from the final price, but no more than 5% of the price, under penalty of absolute nullity;
- oblige the developer to return in full the amount paid within 30 days from the expiry of the term, if the promise or contract was not signed within the term due exclusively to the developer’s fault.
4. The regime of advance payments
The law provides a dedicated mechanism for administering the advances paid by buyers within sale promises.
Thus, the amounts paid as advances are deposited in a separate bank account of the developer, used exclusively for the construction of the project for which the advance was paid. The funds may be used only for the purpose of developing that project and only on the basis of the “approved for payment” stamp applied by the responsible person or by the site supervisor.
The law also establishes maximum limits for the use of advances: for the structural resistance part a maximum of 25% of the price, and after its completion, for the installations part a maximum of 20% of the price.
Using the amounts for purposes other than those provided by the law is prohibited and sanctioned with a fine of 1% of the developer’s turnover from the previous year, if the act does not constitute a criminal offense.
5. Pre-apartmentation and updating of land books
A completely new procedure is introduced for future condominium projects: pre-apartmentation.
This procedure requires special cadastral documentation, an authentic pre-apartmentation deed, the opening of the land book of the entire condominium, as well as the opening of individual land books for each future unit, with the express mention that they are future goods.
If the project is later modified (number of units, etc.), a new pre-apartmentation deed and new documentation are required.
However, updating the land books may be performed without the buyers’ consent, except in cases where the total surface area or the location of the unit subject to the bilateral promise is modified.
After completion of the construction, recorded by the reception report upon completion of the works and the certificate attesting the building, the apartmentation operation is carried out, and the land books opened during the pre-apartmentation stage are updated with the final technical data.
6. Transitional regime until the operationalization of pre-apartmentation
The provisions regarding pre-apartmentation (art. 26 para. 9–11 of the Cadastre Law) will enter into force within 3 months of the publication of the law, in order to allow the operationalization of the integrated cadastre and real estate publicity application.
Until this moment, the following transitional rules apply:
- The notation of the building permit for individual units – future goods – in future condominiums is carried out separately for each unit, based on the information in the building permit and the related documentation.
- The notation of the promise concerning a future-good unit does not affect the developer’s right to carry out the administrative, legal, or cadastral steps necessary for completing the project, except in situations where the total surface area or the location of the unit subject to the bilateral promise is modified.
- Promises of sale concerning future individual units are concluded exclusively in authentic form, after the notation of the building permit in the land register and after obtaining the land register excerpt of the future unit. The excerpt is issued from the land book of the land, including the mentions regarding the authorization and the related entries.
- The public notary has the obligation to request the notation of the promise in the land register on the day of drafting the act or, at the latest, on the next working day.
- The notation of the promise must indicate the position at which the building permit was entered and the mention that the unit is a future good in the process of construction.
Source: Law 207/2025 for the amendment of art. 22 of Law no. 10/1995 regarding quality in construction, as well as for the supplementation of art. 26 of the Cadastre and Real Estate Publicity Law no. 7/1996.
