25 June 2026

Placing the outdoor unit: permits, HOA rules and noise limits

Usually no permit is needed for an outdoor unit — but not always, and not everywhere. What to arrange before installation.

The outdoor unit is the part of the installation that comes with rules. In many cases it may be placed without a permit, especially at the rear of the house or in the garden. But there are exceptions: on a listed building, in a protected townscape or when mounting on the front facade a permit is often required, and municipalities apply the rules differently. Do the permit check with your municipality (Omgevingsloket) before installation — or ask your installer to include that check in the installation quote.

If you live in an apartment there is an extra layer: the facade, balcony and roof are communal property, so an outdoor unit needs the owners' association's (VvE) approval. Get it in writing before booking an installer — a unit that has to come down again is an expensive lesson.

Then the noise. Newly placed outdoor units of air conditioners and heat pumps are subject to a legal noise limit: at the neighbours' the unit may produce at most 40 decibels in the evening and at night. A good installer factors that into the position — distance to the boundary, not right under a neighbour's bedroom window — and advises a low-noise setup or enclosure where needed. That is no formality: it partly determines which spot and which model are possible.

Practically: discuss position, mounting (ground pad, wall bracket or roof console) and the noise limit in one go with the quote, and with a multi-split put all indoor units on one well-chosen outdoor position. The installation costs per situation are in the price index.