Belgrade Tower receives occupancy permit – American standards meet Serbian benchmarks

In late September, the Belgrade Tower (Kula Beograd) received its occupancy permit from the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure. Although the 168-meter-tall building opened two years ago, it is not yet fully occupied.

The document states that, prior to its official opening, the structure had to undergo a mandatory three-month trial operation period - running from August 26 to November 26, 2024.

Given that the skyscraper was constructed according to American building standards (the IBC code), the international firm SOCOTEC and the domestic Ministry of Internal Affairs were required to thoroughly verify the fire protection systems and demonstrate their equivalence to local regulations before granting approval.

Furthermore, due to the building’s riverside location and immense weight, extensive geodetic measurements were conducted, and the commission also issued an official recommendation to the developer to continue monitoring soil settlement in the period ahead.

The official decision also details the complex’s floor areas and infrastructure. The total measured net usable area of the residential section exceeds 19,600 square meters, while the hotel occupies approximately 11,000 square meters. In addition to commercial, residential, and tourism facilities spanning 40 floors, the building features specialized technical solutions, such as a heating and cooling system supplied by utility water pumped directly from the Sava River. A pedestrian walkway on the second floor directly connects the building to the Galerija shopping mall.

This arrangement also finalized the financial settlement with the Belgrade Land Development Public Agency. The developer, BW Kula, paid a contribution for construction land development amounting to approximately 1.3 billion dinars. Under the official decision regarding land development for the “Belgrade Waterfront” project, this sum was converted into euros at the fixed exchange rate from February 2019, equating to approximately EUR 11 million, with the developer entitled to offset this cost against expenses incurred for site servicing and the construction of surrounding public areas.

B. P.

BW Kula doo Beograd

Ministarstvo građevinarstva, saobraćaja i infrastrukture Republike Srbije

JP Direkcija za građevinsko zemljište i izgradnju Beograda

Ministarstvo unutrašnjih poslova Republike Srbije

BW Kula

Kula Beograd

Ministry of Construction

Belgrade Land Development Public Agency

SOCOTEC

Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia

occupancy permit

decision

fire protection

contribution for development of building land