# What is a third-group building in Latvia?

A third-group building is a building in the highest of the three groups in Latvia's General Building Regulations (Cabinet Regulation No. 500, Annex 1). One criterion is enough, for example more than six storeys above ground, more than one storey below ground, or a public building over 1,000 m². The group decides, among other things, whether a design review is mandatory and whether a publicly funded new building needs a BIM model.

Updated: 2026-11-04

## Which buildings are third group?

A building is third group if any one of these applies (Annex 1, point 2.2):

| Building | Criterion |
| --- | --- |
| Any building | More than six storeys above ground |
| Any building | More than one storey below ground |
| Public building | Total area over 1,000 m² |
| Industrial production building | Planned fire load over 600 MJ/m², or total area over 2,000 m² |
| Warehouse | Planned fire load over 600 MJ/m², or total area over 2,000 m² |
| Boiler house | Heat output over 100 MW |
| Electricity supply building | Electrical output over 2 MW |
| Transformer substation building | 110 kV or higher |

Structures connected with radiation safety (nuclear installations and radioactive waste facilities) and all structures in Latvia's territorial waters and exclusive economic zone are always third group (Annex 1, point 1).

## What are the other two groups?

- **First group:** single-storey buildings with a footprint of up to 60 m², small buildings among them, and transformer substation buildings of up to 20 kV with a footprint of up to 60 m².
- **Second group:** every building that is not in the first or the third group.

Engineering structures have a list of their own in the same annex (point 3).

## Where do people get it wrong?

- **The 1,000 m² is only for public buildings.** A purely residential building of 1,500 m² with five storeys and one basement is second group.
- **One basement does not make a building third group.** The criterion is more than one storey below ground.
- **Old figures.** The annex has been amended, and its current wording comes from Regulation No. 478 of 22 August 2023. Older guides and documents can show other limits, so check the current text on likumi.lv.

## What does the group change?

Some of what follows from it, not a full list:

- **BIM.** The design of a new third-group building financed by a public-law legal person must include a building information model. [Is BIM mandatory in Latvia?](https://digitalyse.eu/articles/is-bim-mandatory-in-latvia/) has the detail.
- **Design review.** A design review (būvprojekta ekspertīze) is mandatory for third-group buildings at the technical design stage where a building permit is needed (Regulation No. 500, point 43).
- **Building supervision.** It is required for third-group works carried out by a construction company (point 120).
- **Author supervision.** It is mandatory for the architecture and structural parts of a third-group building owned by a public person where a permit is needed, for a new building, a reconstruction or a restoration (point 105.¹), with two exceptions (point 105.²).

If one application covers several structures in different groups, the procedure for the higher group applies (point 7). A design review then covers the solutions for the third-group structures (point 43).

## How Digitalyse can help

A third-group building usually means several design parts, a model for each and someone who keeps them coordinated. We run BIM management and coordination on such projects. See [BIM management and coordination](https://digitalyse.eu/projects/).

## Sources

Checked on 4 November 2026.

- [Cabinet Regulation No. 500 “Vispārīgie būvnoteikumi”, Annex 1 and points 7, 43, 105.¹, 105.² and 120](https://likumi.lv/ta/id/269069-visparigie-buvnoteikumi)
- [Cabinet Regulation No. 529 “Ēku būvnoteikumi”, point 74.¹](https://likumi.lv/ta/id/269164-eku-buvnoteikumi)