Colombia

Dealing with Construction Permits in

Bogotá - Colombia

Below is a detailed summary of the procedures, time and costs to build a warehouse. This includes obtaining necessary licenses and permits, completing required notifications and inspections and obtaining utility connections.

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business subnational project in Colombia. Download this Doing Business report or explore other cities and topics.

No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Obtain the ownership history and no-lien certificate

This certificate (Certificado de Libertad y Tradición) provides the legal information on the property and on its current and previous ownership. The rate is set according to Decrees 1250 of 1970 and 2280 of 2008, the latter modified by Resolution 0035 of 2009. Any individual or legal entity can request this certificate at the Registry Office.
1 day COP 11,000
2 Obtain construction license

The constructor must present the following documents (Article 18 of Decree 564 of 2006):
1. Copy of the ownership history and no-lien certificate, with an issue date of less than one month prior to the date of the request
2. The unified national license request form, established through Resolution 0984 of 2005, issued by the Ministry of the Environment, Housing and Territorial Development
3. Copy of the Certificate of existence and legal representation, issued less than one month earlier
4. Copy of the documents or tax statements proving payment of property taxes for the previous five years
5. Drawing of the site
6. List of the addresses of neighboring properties
7. Manifestation whether the project under consideration will be assigned as a social interest dwelling. Such evidence must be recorded within the act that resolves the license
Article 21 of Decree 564 also establishes these additional documents for construction license applications:
-Copy of:
(a) the report of the structural calculations and the structural designs; and of
(b) the reports of other nonstructural designs and of geotechnical and soil studies that determine the stability of the work, elaborated according to the norms in force at the moment of application, duly signed and labeled by professionals authorized for such purpose
These persons will be legally responsible for the designs and the information in them
- Heliographic and magnetic copy of the architectural project, elaborated according to the architectural and urban planning norms in force at the moment of application, duly signed and labeled by a registered architect who will be legally responsible for the design and the information contained therein.
- If the application is presented to a different authority than issued the original license, the interested party will present the previous licenses.
Decree 1272 (2009) introduces risk based categories to determined the time to complete this process. The case study analyzed by Doing Business will be Category III (Medium 57 complex between 500 sq meters and 2,000 sq meters) and should be approved by the Curator within 33 days (25 calendar days). However, if it requests additional documentation, such requests suspend the 33-day term until the requesting party presents the additional documents. In addition to the suspension of the terms explained above, the urban curator may extend the original 35-day term -only if correctly justified by written resolution- to up to 90 calendar days. If process has no delays the "silent is consent" rule will apply and license will be issued in 45 calendar days.
The cost to complete COP 12,190,528
The license cost is calculated by the formula below, defined in Article 108 of Statutory Decree 564, 2006:
E = (Cf*i*m) + (Cv*i*j*m)
Where:
Cf = fixed charge, according to the use and area: COP 865,068 (including VAT).
Cv = variable charge, according to the use and area: COP 397,520 (formula defined by Article 108 - 80% of minimum salary).
i = use and socioeconomic stratification index, 4 (defined by Article 108).
m = town factor, according to market, 0.938 (for Bogotá, according to Article 110).
j = Ratio between expenses and square meters, given by the formula assigned in
Paragraph 3, Article 108 of the Statutory Decree 564 of 2006. The variable j is calculated as 3.8/[0.12+(800/Q)], where Q is the total area in sq. m. Applying this formula, the "j" ratio is equal to 5.17.
Then, applying the formula to the aforementioned values, the cost of the license (E)
would be the following:
E = (865,068 x 4 x 0.938) + (397,520 x 4 x 5.17 x 0.938 + 16% VAT).
E = 3,245,735 + 8,944,793
E= 12,190,528
Article 108 of Decree No. 564, 2006, specifies that licenses may not be granted by the urban curator without the previous payment of any taxes caused by the license procedure. Constructor must also pay the urban delimitation and occupation tax (impuesto de delineación urbana y ocupación) at the local bank. The fees and taxes must be deposited at a designated account held by the district authorities at any bank in Bogotá. Direct costs are those related to materials, labor, and ancillary elements such as tools and so forth. Indirect costs relate to fees charged by the architects and the engineers and to ancillary payments related to such honoraria. It does not include costs for taxes, land acquisition, project financing, or utility surcharges.
33 days COP 12,190,529
3 Pay urban boundary tax

The fees and taxes must be deposited at a designated account held by the district authorities at any bank in Bogotá. Urban delimitation and occupation tax for the warehouse amounts (calculated at a rate of 2.6% over the Minimum building direct completion costs).
Minimum building direct completion costs (MBDCC)* - estimated by DANE (National
Statistics Department): COP 652,461/sq. m. (only direct costs) x 1,300.6 sq. m. =
COP 905,545,651.38 x 2.6% = COP 22,063,360.19
58 * MBDCC in 2008 was 696,252 but it was updated by DANE in January 2009 to 652,461
This is a one-time payment. Direct costs are those related to materials, labor, and ancillary elements such as tools and so forth. Indirect costs relate to fees charged by the architects and engineers and to ancillary payments for such honoraria. It does not include costs for taxes, land acquisition, project financing, and utility surcharges.
The fees and taxes must be deposited at a designated account held by the district authorities at any bank in Bogotá. This tax is payable once the license has been approved, and it is a precondition for the delivery of the approved license. If at the end of the construction the actual costs surpass the estimated ones, BuildCo must pay an additional 3% on the difference.
1 day COP 22,063,360
4 Obtain previous approval for water connection services

The owner of the lot (or a representative) must request a water connection by providing Bogotá’s public water utility (Empresa de Acueducto y Alcantarillado de Bogotá, EAAB) with copies of the following documents:
- Nomenclature certificate (boletín de nomenclatura) of the plot where the warehouse will be located
- Ownership history and no-lien certificate for the lot
- Authorization of the owner of the lot for the installation service request, if the owner is not requesting the service directly
- Description of the warehouse purpose (whether commercial or industrial). According to Resolution 1281 from August 2008 the cost is: COP 1,123,520 for connection fee and COP 699,120 to install the meters and COP 22,660 for meter verification. EAAB has 21 points of service at the different service centers that the local government has established throughout Bogotá
10 days COP 1,845,300
5 Receive inspection from authorized contractor (audit of the grids)

EAAB undertakes supervision, control, and evaluation of construction according to regulations. It takes place during the whole construction process
1 day No cost
6 Obtain connection to water service

EAAB undertakes the final inspection.
10 days No cost
7 Request connection to electricity service

The owner of the lot (or a representative) must request that Codensa install the electric utilities by furnishing copies of the following documents:
- Nomenclature certificate (boletín de nomenclatura) of the plot where the warehouse will be located
- Certificate of ownership history and no-lien certificate
- Authorization of the plot owner for the service installation request if the owner is not requesting the service directly
- A description of the use that will be given to the warehouse (whether commercial or industrial)
No later than 20 days after requesting the connection, Codensa must send a service agent that will review the construction and estimate the connection costs.
1 day COP 5,000,000
8 Receive inspection from authorized contractor

No later than 20 days after requesting the connection, Codensa must send a service agent that will review the construction and estimate the connection costs.
1 day No cost
9 Obtain electricity service

If the party agrees with the quote (see previous procedure), Codensa must complete the installation within 10 days after the installation approval. Generally, it takes 3 days after the party agrees with Condensa’s quote.
11 days No cost
10 Obtain telephone connection

The line may be requested by phone or in person at any of the points of service. In both cases, the party requesting the installation must provide its citizen's identification number, the information on the exact plot location, and the stratus of the place where the plot is located.
4 days COP 200,000
11 Final inspection by the Municipal Government

Through its agents, the mayor’s office (Alcaldía Distrital) is the entity in charge of monitoring and controlling construction projects in Bogotá. This is true also of municipal major's offices nationwide for construction projects developed within their jurisdictions. The inspections are carried out to confirm that the construction is being completed according to the construction license.
1 day No cost
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