suomi.fi
Go directly to contents.
Responsible for the service Regional State Administrative Agency

Water permit

  • Permit or other obligation
  • Nationwide except the Åland Islands
  • Public service

A permit must be applied for a water resources management project or a change to such project from the Regional State Administrative Agency (AVI) that manages the area in which the project takes place. Permit applications subject to the Water Act

(587/2011) are processed by the Regional State Administrative Agencies for Southern Finland, Eastern Finland, Western and Inland Finland, and Northern F ...

Do the following

  1. Ensure or find out whether the project you are planning requires a permit in compliance with the Water Act.
  2. Prepare the permit application in compliance with the instructions and ensure that it meets the Government Decree’s requirements. Submit the application electronically to the registry of the concerned AVI well in advance before the project’s planned starting date. In particular, an inadequate application, a need for further clarifications, or amendments to the application during the processing may prolong the processing time even by several months. You can find detailed instructions on preparing an application, for example, from the regional administration’s e-services, where you can prepare and submit an application electronically. You can also monitor the application process via the e-services.
  3. If the AVI asks you to supplement your application, submit the requested information by the set deadline or negotiate an extension with the permit processor.
  4. When sufficient information on the project and its impacts have been compiled, the AVI shall announce the application. The AVI announces applications that contain the required information. The announcement will be available for viewing on the bulletin boards of municipalities within the impact area of the activity for at least 30 days. The application can also be viewed in said municipalities and in the permit information service (Lupa-Tietopalvelu). The parties concerned will be provided with an announcement letter. During the time period of the public notice, the AVI shall request statements on the application from the authorities and other parties referred to in Chapter 11, Section 6 of the Water Act.
  5. Once the public notice period has ended, the AVI shall deliver the received statements and objections to the applicant. The applicant shall have the opportunity to submit a response by the deadline set in the request for clarification.
  6. The AVI shall deliver the decision to the applicant, the authorities who were requested to provide a statement, and to those who have specifically requested it. The concerned parties in the project’s impact area will receive a notice of the decision by mail. If a permit for the project is granted, the permit holder shall comply with the issued permit regulations.
  7. The decision issued by the permit authority is valid only after the end of the appeal period, unless the decision has been appealed to the Vaasa Administrative Court.

To whom and on what terms

The requirements for granting a water permit are presented in Water Act, Chapter 3, Section 4.

The person who prepares the permit application shall have sufficient expertise for the work in hand, taking into account the nature, scope and impacts of the project. If necessary, hire a consultant for the preparation of the application.

If the application submitted to the AVI is inadequate and prevents resolving the matter, the permit applicant shall, on request, supplement the application by the set deadline. An application that is not supplemented within the deadline may be dismissed.


Processing time

At the AVI, the average target processing time of permits governed by the Water Act is 9 months.

Background information

The service is provided by

Regional State Administrative Agency

Responsible for the service

Regional State Administrative Agency
Text edited by: Regional State Administrative Agency
Updated: 13/9/2021