Notice issued by the municipality

If you fail to take action, the municipality will resolve the matter for you, and the costs will be charged to you. This is known as administrative enforcement. The municipality may also impose a penalty payment, meaning you must pay a fine if you do not rectify the violation in time.

If you violate a legal rule, you will receive a letter from the municipality asking you to rectify the violation (a preliminary notice). If you disagree, you can explain why. This is called a view (zienswijze). You should send this view to the municipality.

Afterwards, you will receive a final decision from the municipality. In this decision, the municipality will once again ask you to rectify the violation. This is called a final enforcement decision. If you disagree with this decision, you can submit an objection to the municipality within 6 weeks. However, you are still required to rectify the violation in the meantime.

Preventing administrative coercion or a penalty payment

• You can ask the court for a preliminary injunction. You can only do this if you have lodged an objection.
• You can request a postponement. The municipality will then only take action after it has made a decision on your objection.

Violation by someone else

If you want the municipality to take action against a violation committed by someone else, you can report this to the municipality (known as a request for enforcement). You can immediately ask the municipality to issue a notice of order to this person.