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Connecting a new house to utilities in Romania in 2026: steps, deadlines and who pays
For electricity and gas, the connection goes through the distribution operator, within deadlines set by the regulator ANRE, and for a home the operator covers the connection cost up to an average value. Water and sewerage depend on the local operator. The steps in order, the deadlines, and what to do when there is no network.
Published: October 31, 20267 min read
The short answer: for electricity and gas, the connection is a mandatory service of the distribution operator, with steps and deadlines set by ANRE, the energy regulator. For a home, the operator covers the cost of the service line (for gas, of the connection) up to an average value set by ANRE: for electricity it reimburses you within at most 5 years, for gas the operator bears it (Law 123/2012, art. 51 and 138). For water and sewerage, who pays for the connection depends on the delimitation point set by the local operator.
We give no amounts in lei: tariffs and average values are updated and differ from one operator to another, so you get the exact figure from the technical approval or from the operator in your area. Below are the steps, the legal deadlines and the traps, under Law 169/2026 (the new planning and construction code), Law 123/2012 and the ANRE orders.
It all starts with the urban planning certificate
Which utility approvals you need is written in the urban planning certificate. One of them is the siting approval for connecting to the networks, and the town hall may not ask for approvals with no legal and technical basis (art. 266 para. 2 let. e and para. 4 of the Code). You obtain the approvals from the providers in the area (electricity, water and sewerage, gas) for the building permit, as the certificate requires (art. 250 para. 3).
For connection works that cross the road, the road administrator’s consent is issued together with the house permit (art. 267 para. 1). Connection lines inside your own property need neither a permit nor a notification (art. 299 para. 2 let. b point 3).
Electricity: the steps and deadlines
| Step | Maximum time |
|---|---|
| Checking the application | 10 working days |
| Technical connection approval | 30 days from a complete file |
| Draft connection contract | 10 calendar days from the complete documents |
| Building the service line, with reception and commissioning | 90 days from the consent or permit for the line |
| Connection certificate, free of charge | 3 working days |
| Energising and fitting the meter | 5 working days from the supply contract |
You apply for the connection to the distribution operator in your area. It issues the technical connection approval (aviz tehnic de racordare, ATR) with the technical solution, and then you sign the connection contract with it. You are free to choose any ANRE-authorised firm to design and build the service line (art. 51 para. 3⁴ of Law 123/2012). The house’s building permit must exist by the time the operator signs the contract for building the service line.
If the low-voltage network is within 100 m of the property boundary, the house is connected by a service line, and any reinforcement of the network is done by the operator at its own cost. For the building site, you can ask for the connection to be built straight away as the house’s permanent service line; the household procedure then applies to it too. If the network is further away, the operator must write to you within 20 days saying what it has done to extend it and by when (ANRE Order 59/2013, annex 2, as amended in 2022). The meter is paid for and fitted by the operator.
The deadlines in the table come from ANRE’s procedure for household customers (ANRE Order 18/2022) and its connection regulation (ANRE Order 59/2013), as in force in October 2026.
Who pays for electricity
The connection is not free. After signing the contract you pay the operator the connection tariff, worked out under ANRE’s method. Separately, the operator reimburses you, within at most 5 years, the real cost of designing and building the service line, but only up to the average value of a service line set by ANRE; repairing the road or pavement is not part of that value (art. 51 para. 3⁵ of Law 123/2012). The average value must appear in the technical connection approval, so the ATR tells you how much can be reimbursed.
If the network has to be extended, the operator funds it from its investment plan. If you pay for it in advance, the money is returned only for investments inside the built-up area (intravilan) (art. 51 para. 3¹–3³). On a plot outside the built-up area, do not count on getting it back.
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Gas: the same logic, different deadlines
For gas, for a home, the distribution operator bears the full cost of the connection, design included, up to the average value of a connection set by ANRE. Above it you pay, and repairing the road is not part of the value (art. 138 para. 1 let. d² of Law 123/2012). Inside the built-up area of a locality in the concession zone, service lines and network extensions are funded by the operator from its own money (art. 104 para. 6).
You file the application on the ANRE form and pay the fee for analysing it. If the file is incomplete and you do not complete it within 30 days, the application is closed and the fee is not refunded. The operator issues the technical approval within at most 30 days, and the connection is built, received and commissioned within at most 90 days of the building permit, or 180 days if the network has to be extended (ANRE Order 7/2022, art. 19, 21 and 37). If you paid for the connection in advance, you are compensated up to the average value, either in yearly instalments over 5 years or in full within 30 days of the house’s gas installation being commissioned (art. 8).
Water and sewerage: it depends on the local operator
For water and sewerage, the local operator gives you the connection approval (aviz de branșare/racordare), with the technical conditions and the delimitation point between the public network and your installation (Law 241/2006, art. 3 let. m). The meter chamber normally goes at the property boundary. The water service line, up to and including the meter, belongs to the public network whoever paid for it; the operator funds the work up to the delimitation point and you fund it beyond (art. 3 let. i). In practice many operators invoice the whole service line, so ask beforehand how the costs are split.
Water tariffs are local and approved for each operator; there is no national price. If there is a public sewer in the street, you must connect to it, even if you have your own well. The fine is 2,000–4,000 lei, applied by the National Environmental Guard (art. 31 para. 14, art. 39 para. 5 and art. 40 para. 2).
No network: septic tank, treatment unit, solar panels
Buildable land must have the possibility of connecting to the networks (art. 159 para. 1 of the Code). A septic tank or a small treatment unit is allowed only where a public sewer is not justified for environmental or economic reasons, and untreated wastewater may not be discharged into water or onto land (Law 241/2006, art. 31 para. 14¹ and 14²). The town hall must make an inventory of these individual systems (art. 14 let. h). For a well or a borehole, ask the town hall and Apele Române, the water authority, which papers you need before you dig.
Solar panels fitted by a prosumer on the house, on outbuildings or on the ground need no building permit, only prior notice to the town hall (art. 299 para. 2 let. a point 13 of the Code). Connecting them as a prosumer still goes through the distribution operator. The compensation rules changed in July 2026, so check them with your supplier.
Before you move in
You may use the house only after the reception and after you have put all the connections into service, as the operators’ approvals require (art. 527 para. 4 and art. 420 para. 9 of the Code). Using it without the reception or without the permanent connections in service carries a fine of 50,000–100,000 lei (art. 570 para. 1 let. l and para. 2 let. a). How to get from the reception to the land book is explained in our guide to registering a new house.
A house built without a permit has one more problem: whoever approves utility supply for an illegal building commits a contravention, a minor offence, themselves (art. 357 para. 1 let. c), so connecting such a house cannot be taken for granted. What can be done in that case is covered in our guide to building without a permit.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to what people ask most often about connecting a new house.
Is the electricity connection free for a new house?
Not entirely. You pay the connection tariff, and the operator reimburses you within at most 5 years the real cost of the service line, up to the average value set by ANRE. Repairing the road is not part of that value.
How long does the electricity connection take?
On paper, the technical approval comes within at most 30 days of a complete file, and the service line is built within at most 90 days of the consent or permit for it. If the network is more than 100 m away, everything depends on extending it.
Can I start building without a permanent power supply?
Yes. You ask for a building-site connection; if you ask for it to be built as the house’s permanent service line, the household procedure applies. You move in, however, only after the reception and after the permanent connections are in service.
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