Panama’s Municipal Council approved Agreement 314 of October 13, 2026, sanctioned by the Mayor’s Office on October 14 and published in Official Gazette 30640 on October 22, when it took effect. The agreement amends Articles 39 and 41 of Agreement 110 of April 22, 2025, creating differentiated administrative treatment for certain works in the District of Panama.

Article 1 rewrites Article 39 to define specialized miscellaneous plans: those whose technical characteristics require approvals from entities outside the single-window system. The category includes towers and structures supporting telecommunications antennas, billboards and single-pole advertising structures, and structural shoring. Authorities whose approval may be required include the National Public Services Authority, the Ministry of Housing and Land Management, the Ministry of Environment and the Civil Aviation Authority. The same article states that these works do not, by themselves, constitute urban development of land or generate occupancy indices. Consequently, they do not follow the ordinary land-use verification procedure. This classification concerns the plan-registration route, not a blanket exemption from oversight by those authorities.

Article 2 rewrites Article 41 for miscellaneous infrastructure plans, covering sidewalks, streets, bridges, electrical connections, underground cabling, treatment plants, pumping stations and pipelines, among other works. These also fall outside ordinary land-use verification, except when their nature, location or connection with a construction project makes it necessary. For property developers, telecommunications operators, outdoor advertising companies and their lawyers, the agreement clarifies the route for registering these plans. The text expressly warns that reclassification does not exempt projects from applicable technical, environmental, aviation or safety requirements. The exception must therefore be read together with its qualifications, rather than as removal of every approval connected with the works.

Article 3 requires registration applications already pending before the Directorate of Works and Construction when the agreement took effect to follow the new rules, without affecting the validity of steps already completed. Article 4 establishes effectiveness upon publication in the Official Gazette. As an effective municipal rule, its practical impact will depend on how the directorate applies the new classification. That procedural change remains distinct from the approvals still applicable to each particular project. These distinctions remain relevant for affected applicants. Nexo Capital will follow implementation of Agreement 314.

Research assisted by Sentinel, with editorial verification of official sources. Discover Legislat.ai