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Buying Off-Plan Property in Bulgaria: What Act 14, 15 and 16 Really Mean — and What to Check Before You Sign

11 August 2026 · by Blagoy Tumbarov, attorney-at-law, Sofia Bar Association

When you buy off-plan in Bulgaria, you are paying for a property that doesn’t exist yet — so the checks must be done before the contract, not afterwards. Four things must be verified: the developer’s legal right to build (ownership of the land or a registered right of construction, also called right of superficies); the history of the land itself; the building permit and the approved investment plans; as well as the developer’s track record. Only then does the preliminary agreement — your main protection until the notarial deed — deserve analysis.

Off-plan purchases are the core of our firm’s daily work, including for buyers based abroad who complete the entire process by power of attorney. This guide adapts our Bulgarian-language practice for the international buyer; if you are new to the Bulgarian process as a whole, start with our guide Buying Property in Bulgaria: The Legal Checks.

What does “off-plan” mean in Bulgarian law?

Bulgarian law does not provide a legal definition. In the common practice, an off-plan property is a property in a building whose construction has not been completed — not yet started, under way, or finished but not yet commissioned for use. At the moment of purchase, your future apartment exists only in the approved plans, the construction permit and the rest of the building documentation. That is precisely why the documents behind the contract matter more than the contract itself.

Check No. 1: Does the developer have the right to build?

Two basic situations exist: the developer owns the land, or does not own it but holds a right of construction granted by the landowner in a notarial deed.

Where construction rests on a right of superficies, the deed granting it deserves particular attention — it frequently contains deadlines for starting and completing the building, conditions under which the right lapses, and other restrictions that directly affect the buyer. If construction is already under way, we verify that those deadlines have been met. A lapsed right of construction is not a technicality: it can undermine the developer’s ability to transfer what you are paying for.

What about the land itself?

The check does not end with who owns the land today. The full ownership history is traced, together with third-party rights that could affect it: the chain of acquisitions and/or any gaps in it; court disputes, registered mortgages, foreclosures and claims; other registered restrictions. Where the plot was formed by merging or dividing already existing plots, the check extends to the history of those original properties — a defect in any of them may affect the legal security of the entire project.

The construction documents

Once the developer’s right to build is established, the next question is whether the construction is lawful and complies with the approved plans. The review typically covers the construction permit and its entry into force, the approved investment plans, the area allocation table, the acts and protocols drawn up during construction, any design amendments, and any orders suspending or resuming works.

Cases where the buyer is shown only concept designs or marketing visualizations require special caution. The approved construction documents — not the brochures — show what the building will actually be.

The developer and the builder

Developer, employer, builder and seller are often used as synonyms; they are not. Under the Spatial Development Act, the employer (the party commissioning the construction) is generally the owner of the land or the holder of the right to build — usually your counterparty under the preliminary agreement. The builder performs the works pursuant to the contract with the employer, and the two frequently are different companies, so the check covers both: current corporate status, authority of the signatories, liquidation or insolvency, litigation, and the public record of past projects — were they delivered, on time, without serious defects. Reputation is often the best indicator.

A healthy balance sheet today does not guarantee solvency in two years. That is why risk is assessed in the whole legal picture — and why even the most thorough due diligence cannot compensate for an unbalanced contract.

The preliminary agreement — the buyer’s main protection

The preliminary agreement does not make you an owner. It obliges the developer to build and transfer the property under defined terms and conditions, and you — to pay. Until the final notarial deed is executed, the buyer does not hold title to the individual unit — and a dishonest seller could attempt to sell the same unit twice. The contract therefore must contain effective protections and clearly settle at least: the precise identification of the unit and the price with its payment schedule; the standard of completion and materials where agreed; deadlines for each stage, for commissioning and for the final deed; handover of possession; and liability for non-performance, including contractual penalties, as well as applicable warranty obligations.

Deadlines weigh as much as the price

The most common weakness is the absence of real deadlines — “indicative” dates, or performance left entirely to the developer’s discretion, which makes claiming for delay very difficult. Developers often refuse a deadline for commissioning, arguing it depends on the administrative authorities, and commit only to filing the documents. That is not sufficient protection: the contract should also impose liability for unjustified delay in the process itself.

Penalties are not a formality

A contractual penalty serves both a compensatory and a deterrent function. It can be agreed for delay in construction, missed commissioning deadlines, refusal to execute the final deed, sale of the unit to another person, and other material breaches — calibrated to the potential harm caused by each breach.

Payment schedule and mortgage financing

Off-plan payment is almost always staged, with the payment schedule commonly linked to the progress of construction. Typically, a part of the purchase price is paid after signing, the rest at milestones: completion of the structural shell, Act 15, commissioning, final deed. Good practice is for part of the price to remain due after commissioning — it gives the buyer additional leverage to ensure completion of the remaining obligations.

Red flag. A developer insisting on receiving nearly the whole price before the structural shell, or before commissioning, is a structure that needs hard scrutiny.

For buyers financing the purchase through a mortgage — including buyers with income that has been earned outside of Bulgaria — the individual unit can generally become the subject of mortgage financing once the building has reached the structural-shell stage and completion of the structural shell has been duly certified in accordance with Article 181(3) of the Spatial Development Act. Not all banks lend at that stage; financing options generally widen as construction progresses. If the contract’s payment schedule does not match with what a bank will actually finance, the buyer may find themselves in default through no fault of their own — so the schedule is agreed with the bank in advance. Our partner credit intermediary ImoCredit compares the partner banks’ terms exactly for these situations, including foreign income, free of charge.

Act 14, Act 15, “Act 16” — precisely

These terms anchor payments, financing and the final deed, and they are routinely confused:

• Act 14 (act for acceptance of the structure) records the acceptance of the building’s structural frame. It is signed by the relevant construction professionals and is distinct from the protocol under Article 181(3) of the Spatial Development Act, which certifies completion of the building to structural-shell stage.
• The protocol under Art. 181(3) of the Spatial Development Act certifies the structural shell (enclosing walls and roof completed). This is the key stage at which individual units can generally be treated as separate objects of ownership for transfer and mortgage purposes — which is why banks ask precisely for this document.
• Act 15 is the act establishing the construction’s readiness for acceptance and records the handover of the completed works and construction documentation from the builder to the employer.
• “Act 16”. Most residential buildings (categories IV and V) are commissioned with a Certificate of Commissioning, no protocol form 16 is drawn up for them at all. For construction works of categories I–III, commissioning follows a procedure involving Protocol 16 and a Permit for Use.

Notarial deed, handover and warranties

Ownership is transferred upon execution of the final notarial deed; the deed is then submitted for registration in the Property Register. The contract should state clearly when the obligation to perform arises, within what period the parties must appear before the notary, and what the consequences of refusal are — otherwise transfer can be postponed indefinitely.

Acquiring ownership and receiving the keys are separate moments. Handover is documented in a handover protocol — date, parties, description, standard of completion, defects, keys and documents. Record visible defects in the protocol; doing so makes them significantly easier to prove later. Statutory warranty periods for construction works generally run from commissioning of the construction, with the applicable period depending on the type of works; longer contractual warranty periods may also be agreed.

Practical advice. Do not treat acceptance as a formality. Inspect — with a technical specialist where needed — and document the condition with photographs. Small defects in new construction have a way of becoming significant costs.

Parking spaces, terraces, storage rooms and ideal shares

The purchase usually starts with the apartment, but the adjacent objects — parking space, storage room, terrace, undivided shares in the land — each have a different legal regime and are analyzed separately: how each is reflected in the construction documents, what its legal status is, how it will be transferred and what rights you actually acquire. For non-EU buyers, undivided shares in the land are also where the land ownership restriction becomes practical — see our guide for the foreign ownership rules.

Frequently asked questions

Is buying off-plan in Bulgaria safe?

It can be an excellent opportunity to buy a property at a lower price, with choices of floor and layout, but the risk is structurally higher than buying a completed property, because the buyer pays for something that doesn’t exist yet. Safety is created by the checks before signing — the developer’s right to build, the land, the construction documents, the developer’s record — and by a balanced preliminary agreement, not by the developer’s brochures.

What is the difference between Act 15 and “Act 16”?

Act 15 is the builder handing the completed works and documentation to the employer; it does not permit use of the building. “Act 16” colloquially means commissioning — for most residential buildings the operative document is formally a Certificate of Commissioning. Payments and move-in dates in the contract should reference the correct document.

When can I get a mortgage on an off-plan property?

Generally, from the point at which the structural shell has been completed and duly certified under Article 181(3) of the Spatial Development Act — that is generally the stage at which the future unit can be treated as an individual object of ownership and become eligible for mortgage financing. Many banks lend sums only at later stages, so the payment schedule in the preliminary agreement must be matched to the financing before signing.

Can I buy off-plan in Bulgaria without coming to Bulgaria?

Yes. The preliminary agreement, the staged payments and the final notarial deed can all be completed through a transaction-specific power of attorney, duly notarized, apostilled where required, and accompanied by a certified translation, held by a person whose interests are aligned with the buyer’s.

What percentage should remain payable at the end?

There is no statutory percentage that must remain payable at the end, but the schedule should leave a meaningful part of the price due after commissioning — it keeps the developer motivated to complete the administrative process. A schedule that front-loads nearly everything before the structural shell shifts all the risk onto the buyer and is one of the clearest red flags.