Well permitting: notification or permit?

1. What will the water be used for?

How a well is permitted depends mainly on the purpose of the water, the depth of the well and the classification of the site. Choose your situation:

• Household well for garden watering or the household’s own water supply → section 2.
• Industrial or institutional well or groundwater heat-pump well pair → section 3.
• Existing well without a permit or built differently from its permit → section 4.

This guide covers household wells, industrial and institutional wells and heat-pump well pairs. It does not cover agricultural irrigation wells.

2. Household well: garden watering, own water supply

Notification is sufficient if the well meets all of the following conditions:

• no more than 50 metres deep and does not reach the first aquitard (it only taps the shallow groundwater);
• according to the national water-resource protection map, the plot lies in a risk-free area and does not affect a designated wellfield protection zone;
• the water is used solely for domestic household purposes (drinking water, garden watering), not for business activity; under current rules the household water demand is at most 500 m³ per year;
• a building stands on the property, or there is a right to build on it.

In this case the well must be notified to the municipal notary using the form in force from 1 January 2026; no designer’s documentation is required.

A water-rights permit is required if any of the above conditions is not met: the well is deeper than 50 metres, reaches the first aquitard, lies in a risk area or a wellfield protection zone, or the water is not used solely for household purposes. The permit is issued by the county government office (water authority), and the application requires documentation prepared by a licensed designer.

3. Industrial or institutional well and heat-pump well pair

Abstraction for industrial, institutional or service purposes, and the production and injection wells of a water-to-water heat pump, are in every case subject to a water-rights construction permit, regardless of depth. The permit is issued by the county government office.

• The application requires a water-sourcing expert opinion and permit design with the content set by Ministerial Decree 41/2017 (XII. 29.) BM, prepared by a licensed designer and expert.
• In wellfield protection zones, Government Decree 123/1997 (VII. 18.) sets specific conditions and prohibits certain activities; reinjection from a heat-pump well pair needs a separate assessment.
• Construction may start only once the construction permit is final, with a licensed well driller; after completion an operating permit is required, based on trial-operation data.

A separate page covers heat-pump well pair permitting: Groundwater heat-pump well pair permitting.

4. Existing well without a permit

• A household well built before 1 January 2024 that meets the conditions of section 2 counts as regularised under current rules, without a separate procedure.
• For any other well built without a permit or differently from its permit, a retrospective permit must be requested: from the notary for a household well, otherwise from the government office. The application requires documentation showing the well’s condition and technical data.
• Operating a well without a permit can result in a water-management fine; the earlier deadline for exemption from the fine (31 December 2023) has expired.
• The well must be regularised even if it is no longer used: in that case proper decommissioning (backfilling) also requires a permit.

5. Which authority decides, and what is needed?

• Municipal notary – household well meeting the conditions of section 2: notification form, site plan, well data.
• County government office (water authority) – any other well: application for a water-rights construction, operating or retrospective permit, with designer’s documentation (technical description, site plan with EOV coordinates, well construction, water demand, hydrogeology and wellfield impact, trial-operation programme).
• The authority charges an administrative service fee for the application; the amount is set by Ministerial Decree 13/2015 (III. 31.) BM.

6. How we help

• Pre-assessment within three working days: based on the municipality, the parcel number, the purpose of the well and the planned depth, we tell you whether a notification or a permit is needed, and at which authority.
• Water-sourcing expert opinion and permit design with engineering-chamber licences, handling the authority procedure and any requests for additional information.
• Regularising an existing well: condition survey, documentation for a retrospective or operating permit.

Request a pre-assessment →

Details: Well design and water-rights permitting · Heat-pump well pair permitting.

7. Legislation

• Act LVII of 1995 on water management
• Government Decree 72/1996 (V. 22.) on the exercise of water authority powers (as amended with effect from 1 January 2026)
• Ministerial Decree 41/2017 (XII. 29.) BM on the content of water-rights permit documentation
• Ministerial Decree 101/2007 (XII. 23.) KvVM on professional requirements for water-well drilling
• Government Decree 123/1997 (VII. 18.) on the protection of wellfields
• Ministerial Decree 13/2015 (III. 31.) BM on administrative service fees