Almost everything written about unlawful construction in Montenegro is written in the language of money — legalisation fees, the value the building loses, whether it can be sold. That conversation is real and we deal with it separately in our note on what an unlegalised building costs a buyer.
This note is about the other conversation, which almost nobody has until it is too late. Building without the required construction documentation in Montenegro is not only an administrative problem. It is a criminal offence carrying a prison sentence, and the Criminal Code contains three separate offences in this area rather than one.
On currency: the article numbers below come from a consolidated text of the Criminal Code whose amendment chain ends on 23 January 2020. We could not confirm from the gazette's own index whether the Code has been amended since. Sentence ranges should be verified against the current text before being relied on.
The basic offence: starting without the notification and documentation
Član 326a of the Krivični zakonik creates the offence of building an object without a construction notification and documentation. It is committed by whoever, contrary to the regulations on spatial planning and construction of objects:
- starts building an object without having previously filed the construction notification and the construction documentation; or
- builds an object contrary to the revised main design (revidovani glavni projekat); or
- builds an object contrary to a decision of the competent authority prohibiting construction.
The penalty is imprisonment of six months to five years.
Three features are worth isolating, because each of them defeats a common assumption.
There is no fine option. The sanction is a custodial range with a floor of six months. This is not an offence the Code treats as trivial.
Building to a changed design is the same offence. The second limb catches construction that departs from the revised main design, so a project that began lawfully can become criminal in its execution. The permission is not a licence to build something else.
Ignoring a stop decision is expressly included. The third limb makes continuing after a prohibition decision an element of the offence in its own right.
The heavier offence: complex engineering structures
Član 326b is the provision that almost never appears in English-language writing, and it matters to anyone building anything larger than a house.
It is committed by whoever, contrary to the same regulations, starts building a complex engineering structure (složeni inženjerski objekat) without a building permit, or builds such a structure contrary to the building permit and the revised main design, or contrary to a decision prohibiting construction.
The penalty is imprisonment of one to eight years.
The distinction between the two articles is not a matter of degree in sentencing — it reflects two different regulatory regimes. An ordinary object runs on the notification and documentation track in član 326a. A complex engineering structure requires a building permit, and building one without that permit is a separate and considerably more serious offence, with a minimum of one year rather than six months and a maximum of eight years rather than five.
For a developer, the classification of the project is therefore not merely a licensing question. It determines which criminal provision applies if the paperwork is wrong.
The offence nobody expects: connecting it to utilities
Član 326c makes it an offence to connect an unlawful building to infrastructure.
It is committed by whoever, contrary to the regulations on spatial planning and construction, connects — or allows to be connected — to infrastructure a construction site, a building under construction, or a completed building, for which no construction notification and documentation, or building permit and documentation for a complex engineering structure, has been filed.
The penalty is imprisonment of three months to three years.
Two words carry the weight. "Or allows to be connected" extends the offence beyond the owner to whoever permits the connection — which reaches the responsible person at the utility side, and anyone in a position to authorise it. And the offence attaches to a construction site as well as to a finished building, so it applies during the works and not only afterwards.
This is the provision that turns a dormant problem into an active one. An unlegalised structure sitting unused may attract administrative consequences; the same structure connected to water or electricity involves a completed criminal offence by whoever made or allowed the connection.
The three offences side by side
| Offence | What triggers it | Sentence | Article |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building without notification and documentation | Starting without filing; building contrary to the revised main design; building contrary to a prohibition decision | Six months to five years | Član 326a |
| Building a complex engineering structure without a permit | Starting without a building permit; building contrary to the permit and revised main design; building contrary to a prohibition decision | One to eight years | Član 326b |
| Unlawful connection to infrastructure | Connecting, or allowing the connection of, a site, a building under construction or a completed building lacking the required documentation | Three months to three years | Član 326c |
Who actually gets prosecuted
None of these three articles names a special category of perpetrator — each begins with "whoever". That is broader than it looks, because it means the offences are not confined to the registered investor.
Where a related offence does name the perpetrator, the Code uses odgovorno lice — the responsible person — and član 142 stav 4 defines that as the owner of an entity, or a person to whom a defined circle of duties is entrusted by reason of their function, invested funds or an authorisation, or to whom the performance of particular tasks is in fact entrusted. That definition, and the way criminal responsibility follows actual function rather than the register, is set out in our note on tax offences and company officers.
A separate provision is worth knowing for anyone running a site. Član 327 stav 2 makes it an offence for an official or responsible person to fail to install the prescribed devices for protection against fire, flood, explosion, poison or poisonous gas, radioactive or other ionising radiation, electricity or other dangerous means; or to fail to maintain them in working order; or to fail to put them into operation when needed; or generally not to act in accordance with the regulations or technical rules on protective measures — where that causes danger to life or limb, or to property exceeding €20,000 in value. The penalty is six months to five years, rising to one to six years under stav 3 where the act is committed at a place where a larger number of people are gathered.
Can the company be prosecuted as well?
Yes. Corporate criminal liability operates under its own statute, and a legal person is liable for an offence committed by a responsible person acting in its name within the scope of their authority with the intention of obtaining a benefit for it — or where that person's conduct was contrary to the company's business policy or orders. The company can be convicted even if the individual is not, and its conviction does not exclude the individual's. The mechanics, including the fine bands tied to the prison term prescribed for the underlying offence, are in our note on tax offences and company officers.
Applying that framework here: an offence under član 326a carries up to five years and an offence under član 326b up to eight, which places them in the higher corporate fine bands.
How long can it be prosecuted for?
This is the question owners of older unlawful structures ask first, and the Code answers it by reference to the sentence the offence carries rather than to the offence itself.
Član 124 stav 1 provides that, unless otherwise determined, prosecution may not be undertaken once the following periods have elapsed from the commission of the offence:
| Prescribed sentence | Limitation period |
|---|---|
| Long-term imprisonment | 25 years |
| Over fifteen years | 20 years |
| Over ten years | 15 years |
| Over five years | 10 years |
| Over three years | 5 years |
| Over one year | 3 years |
| Up to one year, or a fine | 2 years |
Stav 2 adds that where several penalties are prescribed for an offence, the limitation period is determined by reference to the heaviest.
Applying that to the three construction offences by their prescribed maxima: član 326a carries up to five years, which is over three but not over five, giving a five-year period; član 326b carries up to eight years, which is over five, giving a ten-year period; and član 326c carries up to three years, which is over one but not over three, giving a three-year period.
There is also an outer limit that cannot be extended by interruptions. Under član 125 stav 7, prosecution becomes time-barred in any case once twice the period otherwise required by law has elapsed — so ten years for član 326a, twenty for član 326b and six for član 326c.
One caveat matters more here than in most offences, and we flag it rather than resolve it. These periods run from the commission of the offence, and when an unlawful building is treated as having been "committed" — at the start of the works, at their completion, or continuously while the unlawful state persists — is a question of characterisation on the facts rather than something the limitation article settles. An owner relying on the passage of time should not assume the clock started on the day the first foundation was poured.
The administrative track runs in parallel, not instead
The criminal exposure does not replace the legalisation regime; the two run at the same time and answer different questions.
The Zakon o legalizaciji bespravnih objekata (Sl. list CG 91/2025) prohibits an unlawful building from being in legal circulation — it cannot be alienated, and no economic or other activity may be carried on in it — with the restriction recorded as an annotation on the title sheet, and bodies issuing activity approvals required to terminate those approvals. The deadlines, the fee stack, the annotation mechanics and what it all costs a buyer are set out in full in our note on illegal construction and the buyer's cost, and the separate question of the use permit is in our guide to the upotrebna dozvola.
The practical point for this page is the sequencing. Legalising a building resolves its administrative status going forward. It does not, of itself, undo a completed criminal offence under član 326a, 326b or 326c — those attach to the conduct of building or connecting, at the time it happened.
What this means before you build, buy or connect
Establish which regime the project falls under. Ordinary object or complex engineering structure decides whether član 326a or the heavier član 326b applies if the documentation is deficient.
Treat a design change as a permitting question. Building contrary to the revised main design is inside both offences, so departures from the approved design are not a site-management matter.
Do not connect, and do not authorise a connection, to a building whose documentation is not in order. Član 326c reaches the person who allows it as well as the person who does it, and applies to sites under construction.
A stop decision ends the discussion. Continuing after a prohibition decision is an express limb of both building offences.
Do not assume time has cured it. The periods in član 124 run from the commission of the offence, and how that is characterised for a building is not settled by the limitation article.
And check the sentence ranges. They come from a consolidation ending in January 2020.
If you are facing an inspection, a prohibition decision or a criminal complaint over construction in Montenegro, our criminal law practice can assess the exposure of the individuals and of the company; for the permitting and project side, that sits with our construction advisory practice.
Criminal Code article numbers are from the Krivični zakonik Crne Gore, consolidated text covering "Sl. list RCG" br. 070/03, 013/04 and 047/06 and "Sl. list CG" br. 040/08, 025/10, 073/10, 032/11, 064/11, 040/13, 056/13, 014/15, 042/15, 058/15, 044/17, 049/18 and 003/20 of 23 January 2020, read on 28 August 2026. Two independent consolidations consulted both end at 003/20; we could not confirm from the gazette's own index whether the Code has been amended since, and sentence ranges should be verified against the current text. The legalisation regime is the Zakon o legalizaciji bespravnih objekata, Sl. list CG 91/2025, which we address in a separate note. This is general information about the criminal layer and not advice on an actual or threatened investigation, prosecution or inspection.
