Before you renovate or apply for a licence: CCC, zoning and Bomba

Before you renovate or even sign, confirm four things. The building has a Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC), or a Certificate of Fitness (CF) if it was completed before 12 April 2007. The lot is zoned and approved for your trade. The council will accept your use at that address. And your planned fit-out will not depart from the approved building plan or the fire rules. A landlord's consent is not a licence: the council and Bomba decide.

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules differ by council; confirm with DBKL, MBPJ, MBSJ or your own council before you commit.

Treat it as a no. Since the Street, Drainage and Building (Amendment) Act 2007 came into force on 12 April 2007, the CCC is the document that allows a building to be occupied; buildings completed earlier carry a CF instead. Occupying a building without one is an offence under that Act, and councils' licence checklists commonly ask for the CF or CCC. If the landlord cannot show one, or the shop has been extended beyond what the certificate covers (a rear extension, an added floor), stop and ask your lawyer and the council before paying anything.

Zoning is how the planning authority decides what each lot may be used for. In Selangor it comes from the local plan under the Town and Country Planning Act 1976; in Kuala Lumpur, from the Kuala Lumpur Local Plan 2040. Two layers matter for a shop:

• The plan: is the lot zoned for commercial use, and is your trade allowed there?
• The title and approval: the land use category and conditions on the title, and the use the building was approved for.

A shop in a commercial row is usually fine for ordinary retail. Restaurants, entertainment outlets, workshops and anything noisy, smelly or late-night are where the answers start to differ.

No. The landlord's consent is a private contract term. The council decides whether to issue a premise licence, and for food it also looks at hygiene and the kitchen. The council may refuse because of the zoning, the building, a missing exhaust route, or complaints history in the row. Get the landlord's consent in writing and the council's view before you sign. Our tenancy clauses checklist shows how to make the tenancy subject to your licence.

1. Ask the landlord for the CF or CCC, the approved building plan and what previous tenants traded.
2. Ask the council's licensing counter (or a licensing consultant) whether your trade can be licensed at that address, and which departments must clear the file.
3. Have your lawyer read the title for land use category and conditions.
4. Walk the row: are there similar licensed trades already operating? That is a good sign, not a guarantee.
5. For F&B, confirm the exhaust route, grease trap position and water points; see why exhaust, 3-phase power and water matter.

It depends on the scope. Cosmetic work inside (paint, loose furniture, counters) usually needs only the landlord's consent. Anything that changes the building, such as a new shopfront, a mezzanine, knocking two units together, new toilets or structural openings, needs the landlord's written consent and the council's permit or plan approval, usually submitted by an architect or other qualified person. Councils may also ask about partitions when you apply for the licence. Our guide to toilets, air-con, mezzanines and partitions goes alteration by alteration.

Often, yes, as part of the process. Under the Fire Services Act 1988, a yearly fire certificate is needed only for "designated premises" listed by order, and those lists cover large floor areas, so an ordinary single shop unit is not normally one. But Bomba is still involved: its fire requirements form part of building plan approval when you alter a building, and Bomba issues a support letter for business licences that the council refers to it. Bomba's published conditions for that letter include no renovation that departs from the approved building plan. So a fit-out that blocks an exit, closes a staircase or adds floor area can hold up your licence.

It depends on the building's use, floor area and height under the Uniform Building By-Laws 1984, and on what Bomba asks for in your file. Requirements grow with joined units, large floor plates, commercial kitchens, entertainment outlets and anything that changes escape routes. Keep the fire extinguishers and emergency lights the building was approved with, and have a registered fire consultant or architect confirm what your layout needs before you build.