How High Can You Build in Cambodia?

The land within Cambodia is classified into one of two: buildable area or control area. Buildable area, as the name suggests, refers to areas where buildings can be constructed, while control areas can be considered the opposite. Below is a table which summarizes the different zones of each type of area:

Following are the main points that will be addressed regarding buildable areas:

• Maximum area of buildable land
• Index of maximum land use
• Methods for determining height of building
• Space between building to land borders
• Standards of technical land size for residential zone
• Changing land type from control area to buildable area
• Parking spaces

Maximum area of buildable land and the index of maximum land use

*When a new building is constructed in one plot of land with one or many old buildings and there is no plan for removing this or these old buildings, the ratio of land area for construction land area shall be calculated by adding the land area of old buildings to the land area of the new building.

The ratio of building area simply refers to the total area within the land that you are allowed to build on. Here is a simple example, assuming that we want to build a detached low-rise residence:

As the ratio of the building area compared to the land area is 50%:

Now that we have determined how much of the land, we are able to build on, the index of maximum land use indicates the number of floors that you can build.

This can be calculated by using this formula:

Following the example given above, say that the detached villa has two floors, which would equal a total buildable area of 2000sqm, each floor being 1000sqm and has an index of maximum land use of 1.5.

As illustrated, the index for this example would be 1, which qualifies as it is less than 1.5 and so on for other scenarios.

In total, the height of the building needs to satisfy the following criteria:

1. Classification of the building
   1. Short building: 3 floors (including ground floor)
   2. Medium building: between 4 to 11 floors
   3. High building: more than 12 floors
2. Floor area ratio limitation following the index of maximum land use

In addition to following the height criteria, the building should also meet the below requirements:

1. Space between building to land borders

2. Standards of technical land size for residential zone

3. Parking spaces

*Small refers to having parking spaces for family cars, while big refers to also including parking spaces for larger size vehicles including large goods vehicles

• In case of a multi-purpose building, the calculation of the parking lots shall be based on each function, combined to obtain the total number of parking lots for the whole building.
• Public and private parking lots must have parking space for disabled and vulnerable people.

In addition, there are a number of other points that should be equally considered.

• All calculations made (including the ratio of building area compared to land area, index of maximum land use and so on) should be rounded up to the nearest corresponding decimal place
• At least 30% of the remaining area should be used for gardening/greenery
• All plots of land with a request of construction should have trees planted in accordance with the technical standards to increase green space in cities and contribute to reducing climate change
  • One tree shall be planted per 150sqm
• When calculating the official total land area, the following areas are not included (therefore the unofficial total land area would be larger)
  • Underground construction
  • Ground floor with columns but no wall
  • Land area for staircase
  • Open space under a roof with height of 1.2m
  • Land area for sunlight
  • Gardening in the building
  • Construction serving as community welfares in housing building
    • Playground
    • Swimming pool
    • Physical exercise room
    • Steam room
    • Sauna room
    • Locker room
    • Bathroom
    • Toilet for physical exercise
  • In the scenario that a request for construction exceeding the maximum level of land use index and does not have a negative impact on the country, a payment scheme will be issued by the corresponding ministers*

With that being said, all of the following criteria only applies for construction in the buildable area. Control areas have separate regulations which will be outlined below.

• Only agricultural zones are allowed to build houses or warehouses for agricultural purposes (which should be 30% of the total land area)
• The rest of the land area remaining should be used for greenery
  • One tree per 100sqm
• The index of maximum land use is 1

***Disclaimer: All rights reserved. This article is based on Sub-Decree 42 on Urbanization of the Capital City, Towns, and Urban Areas, Chapter 5, Provisions on the Use of Land, revised on 9th June 2015. The material and information contained in this article are for general information purposes only. You should not rely upon the material or information on the website to make any business, legal, or other decisions. If you need specific advice, please seek professional consultation with the relevant urban planning authority in your area.

If you still have any concerns, please get in touch with our APS Valuation & Advisory Team via: daluch.chin@cbre.com or call +855 (0) 85 444 282.