Do you need a permit to replace windows in Malta?

Most people asking this question expect a yes or a no. The honest answer is that Maltese law gives you a conditional yes, and the condition is written in language that only a perit can apply to your particular façade.

What the Development Notification Order says

The Development Notification Order, S.L. 552.08, sets out classes of works that count as permitted development. Schedule I, Class 1(ii) covers the replacement of apertures and security elements on windows, doors, balconies — including timber balconies — and gates. That class applies even in scheduled buildings and buildings of conservation value.

Two things follow from this. First, no notification is required for Class 1(ii). You are not filing a form and waiting. Second, the permission is conditional: the works must not materially alter the character and/or context of the building and its surroundings.

So the structure of the law is simple. Swap like for like and you are inside the class. Change the building's appearance enough and you are outside it, and outside it you need to take the ordinary route with a perit.

Scheduled buildings and buildings of conservation value

There is a separate, firmer rule for these properties. Where original wooden apertures, balconies and wrought iron form part of the historic character of the building and can be restored, the DNO says they shall be retained and restored and shall not be replaced.

Read that carefully, because it does not turn on material preference or on energy performance. The test is whether the original element is restorable. If it is, the law points to restoration. That is true of the old timber casements, of the timber balcony enclosure, and of the wrought iron. It is also why, on older townhouses, the practical conversation often turns out to be about restoring what is there rather than pricing a replacement. Published Maltese rates for stripping, repairing and repainting timber persjani run EUR 150–400 a pair. A set of new persjani has no published price in Malta — that is quoted after the measure-up. Our pages on timber apertures and persjani and shutters cover what that work involves.

"Materially alter" — the questions to put to your perit

The DNO does not define the phrase. Nothing we can cite gives you a list of permitted colours, materials or glazing patterns. So treat the following as the questions to raise, not as rules:

• Material. You have timber now. Does swapping to aluminium or PVC alter the character of this façade, in this street?
• Colour and finish. Is the proposed colour a departure from what the building and its neighbours read as?
• Glazing pattern. Does the number and arrangement of panes change? A multi-pane timber casement replaced by a single sheet of glass is a visible change to the elevation.
• Opening type. Does a casement become a sliding unit, or a fixed light become an opener?
• Added hardware. Where do roller shutter boxes sit, and how do they read on a traditional façade? Surface boxes are the detail most often raised.
• Balconies and ironwork. Is any original timber balcony or wrought iron involved, and is it restorable?

Your perit answers these against the building in front of them. We do not, and no contractor should.

Who decides when views differ

Article 2(4)(d) of the DNO settles this: where opinions differ, the Authority's opinion prevails. That is worth knowing before an argument starts on site. If your view and the Planning Authority's view of "materially alter" diverge, the PA's view is the one that counts, and retrofitting a disagreement after the glass is in is the expensive way to find out.

Apartments: the façade is not solely yours

Under the Condominium Act, Cap. 398, external walls, roofs and airspace are common parts. Article 8(3) requires unanimous consent for alterations that change the aesthetics and decor of the condominium.

The Act contains no clause written specifically about apertures, so we will not tell you that condominium consent is legally required for a window swap. What we will say is this: check your condominium rules and your deed before you order anything, and get whatever agreement they call for in writing. Blocks in Malta commonly fix the external colour and the shutter type, and that agreement sits with the condominium, not with us.

Where this meets the REWS grant

The REWS Roof Insulation and Double Glazing (Retrofitting only) Grant Scheme pays 50% of eligible cost including VAT, capped at EUR 1,000 for double glazing, and has been extended to 31 December 2026 by GN 2031/2025. It is first come, first served, and whether funds remain is not something we can verify. Budget 2027 is due on 26 October 2026 and may change the position.

Two points connect the grant to this article. Part B of the application asks for a PA permit where one was needed for the works — the scheme does not create a permit requirement, it simply asks you to produce one if planning law required it. And permit and certification costs are excluded from eligible cost, alongside extended warranties and plastering or decorating.

The rest of the scheme conditions matter too, and none of them are automatic. Part A goes in online before you purchase anything, and you wait for the funds confirmation letter — receipts dated before approval do not count. The final U-value must be 3.7 W/m²K or better. The product and the retailer must be registered with REWS. The property must be used principally as your own private residence, as freehold owner or as a lessee with more than five years left and the owner's consent. Landlords, business use and developers are excluded. The works must be fitted within six months of the confirmation letter, carry a five-year guarantee, and the system must stay in place for five years. We cannot tell you that you qualify; REWS decides that.

The restoration grants are closed

Irrestawra Darek u l-Villaġġ, run by the Planning Authority, funded heritage façades in Urban Conservation Areas and scheduled buildings — 100% of eligible costs, capped at EUR 15,000 for UCA properties, EUR 100,000 Grade 1 and EUR 50,000 Grade 2. It funded replacement of original façade timber fixtures in solid natural timber only; aluminium and PVC were not funded, though replacing existing aluminium with traditional material was eligible. It is not an energy grant.

The 2026 calls are closed — the last expressions of interest ran 17–24 June 2026. Two other schemes homeowners still ask about, the Birżebbuġa 2024 scheme and BCA Irrinova Darek 2026, are also closed.

How this plays out on a job

We survey and measure every job ourselves. The planning position is part of that conversation: what the building is, what is there now, and whether the change you have in mind is the kind of change a perit should look at first. Work is then delivered either by us as contractor using CheckYourTraders-verified installers, or by a vetted partner who contracts with you directly, and you are told which before anything is agreed.

If the building is scheduled or of conservation value, expect the restoration question to come first. That is not caution on our part. It is what the DNO says.