What is a RUP?

A RUP, or spatial implementation plan (ruimtelijk uitvoeringsplan), is a plan in which the Flemish Region, a province or a municipality lays down what is allowed in an area: the designated use of each zone, and how it is laid out and managed. It consists of a map and planning provisions, and these are binding (VCRO art. 2.2.5): an environmental permit that conflicts with them is refused. Where a RUP applies, it replaces the regional zoning plan (gewestplan) and the other development plans, unless the RUP itself says otherwise (art. 7.4.5).

What does a RUP contain?

• The graphic plan: the map that shows the area to which the plan applies, with the zones.
• The planning provisions: for each zone, the rules on designated use, layout and management.
• The explanatory note: the objectives of the plan and the existing situation.

Only the map and the provisions are binding; the rest explains. The provisions can restrict property rights, up to a ban on building (art. 2.2.6).

What you may build also depends on other rules, such as the zone on the regional zoning plan and the building regulations of each municipality. For one address, the free Perceelscan preview brings it together.

How does it differ from the gewestplan and a BPA?

The regional zoning plan (gewestplan), the general development plan (APA) and the special development plan (BPA) are development plans, the older generation. The gewestplan covers the whole of Flanders with broad zones; a BPA regulates a neighbourhood in detail. They remain in force until a RUP replaces them, and new zonings come by way of a RUP.

A RUP can come from three authorities, a BPA only from the municipality. It also follows a different procedure, with public participation from the first note onwards (art. 2.2.4).

Which plan takes precedence on a plot and when a permit may depart from an old BPA is explained in the guide to the zoning plan.

Who draws up a RUP: the municipality, the province or the region?

There are three levels (VCRO art. 2.2.2):

• the regional RUP, also called a GRUP, adopted by the Flemish Government;
• the provincial RUP or PRUP, adopted by the provincial council;
• the municipal RUP, adopted by the municipal council.

A municipal RUP may not depart from a provincial or regional RUP, unless the provincial council or the Flemish Government agrees to it beforehand (art. 2.2.18). Conversely, a regional RUP repeals the conflicting provisions of provincial and municipal RUPs, and a provincial RUP those of municipal ones (art. 2.2.5).

How is a RUP made?

Every RUP goes through five phases, each with its own document (VCRO art. 2.2.4):

• The start note (startnota): the aim, the area and the alternatives. The authority consults the public for sixty days and organises at least one participation event.
• The scoping note (scopingnota): it takes in the advice and the responses, and lays down what will be studied, including the effects on the environment.
• The preliminary draft: it goes to the authorities and departments concerned for advice.
• The draft: the municipal council, the provincial council or the Flemish Government adopts it provisionally. A public inquiry of sixty days follows, announced in the Belgian Official Gazette: the draft is available for inspection at the town hall and published on the website, and anyone can submit comments and objections, no later than the last day.
• The final RUP: the authority adopts it within 180 days of the end of the public inquiry, extendable by sixty days. If it fails to do so, the draft lapses. It can only change the draft on the basis of the objections, the comments and the advice.

The provincial executive (deputatie) or the Flemish Government can still suspend a municipal RUP within 45 days (art. 2.2.23). A RUP enters into force fourteen days after its adoption is published in the Belgian Official Gazette (art. 2.2.11, 2.2.17 and 2.2.25).

What does a RUP mean for your plot?

• A draft already counts: once it has been provisionally adopted, a permit can be refused because the application is incompatible with it (VCRO art. 4.3.2).
• It can designate zones where an authority has first refusal on a sale, for at most fifteen years; the owners are told of this by registered letter (art. 2.4.1). More on this in the guide to the right of pre-emption.
• A municipal RUP takes precedence over the list of works allowed without a permit: if it regulates outbuildings or fences more strictly, that applies. See the guide to building without a permit.
• It can change the value of land: compensation for planning loss, under conditions, for anyone who may no longer build or subdivide (art. 2.6.1), a levy on planning gain where, for example, agricultural land becomes residential (art. 2.6.4).

Where do you find the RUP for your plot?

Every authority uploads its plans to the digital register of the Departement Omgeving (DSI), immediately after the provisional and after the final adoption; the municipality enters them in its plans register within fourteen days (VCRO art. 5.1.1). On the map, you look up an address in the spatial plans geoportal, which shows only finally approved plans, and municipal plans only for the municipalities that have uploaded everything.

Then read the provisions of the zone in which the plot lies. Which other rules come on top of the RUP, from subdivision to regulation, is explained in the guide to what you can build on a plot.

For a single address, the Perceelscan looks up which RUP of the municipality, the province or the region applies there, with the zone and a link to the provisions. A RUP that is still in preparation is listed separately.

Sources

• Flemish Spatial Planning Code (VCRO)
• Planning information (DSI, Departement Omgeving)
• Vlaanderen.be: the spatial plans geoportal

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Updated on 9 November 2026