Mexico

Dealing with Construction Permits in

Mexico

Listed below is detailed summary of the procedures, time and costs to build a warehouse —including 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 project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Building a warehouse

  • Estimated Warehouse Value: MXN 2,796,270
  • City: Mexico City

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Request and obtain the alignment certificate (alineamiento) and official number (número official)

The relevant agencies for this procedure are the Delegational One-Stop Shop (Ventanilla Única Delegacional), the Urban Development and Housing Ministry (Secretaría de Desarrollo Urbano y Vivienda), and the Federal District Department (Gobierno del Distrito Federal). Either a simple original copy or a certified one is acceptable.

For the official number, the Federal District Department will assign, at the request of the interested party, a single official number for each property that has a front facing the public pathway. For the official alignment: The plot across the land indicates the restrictions or expropriation lines to be respected in the interaction between the property and the public pathway. Obtaining the single zoning certificate stating specific land use and feasibility is required.

Requirements:
- Proof of payment of applicable real estate taxes (copy).
- Public deed certifying property or title ownership (original and copy).
- Payment of all fees.
- Application form (original).
- Identification of the person completing the procedure and document certifying the respective identity (original and copy).

Payment is made the same day when the certificate is requested. At the same time, a date is set for the taxpayer to return to receive the certificate, generally within 3 or 4 working days. The certificate is valid for 2 years.

The cost is established by the Financial Code of the Federal District, Articles 255 and 256: The official cost, official cost, as amended in December 2009 is the sum of the alignment at MXN 23.00 per linear meter of the front of the building plus a general fee for the official number at MXN 142.00. In this case, the front of building is assumed to be 22.5 meters, so the total cost would be MXN 659.50.

The official time limit is 8 days, but in practice, the process can take 1–2 weeks.

Agency: Delegational One-Stop Shop (Ventanilla Única Delegacional), Urban Development and Housing Ministry (Secretaría de Desarrollo Urbano y Vivienda), and Federal District Department (Gobierno del Distrito Federal)
15 days MXN 660
2 Request and obtain single zoning certificate stating specific land use and feasibility

At this stage, BuildCo obtains the document that certifies whether a specific use of a given building is authorized. This certificate reflects the technical opinion of the competent administrative units and indicates whether water supply and sewage and rainwater drainage services are feasible. This procedure precedes the application for drinking water supply.

The Financial Code of the Federal District, Article 257, Section V, was amended in December 2008.

Agency: Subdirección de Ventanilla Única of the Secretaría de Desarrollo Urbano y Vivienda attached to the Dirección del Registro de los Planes y Programas de Desarrollo Urbano of the Dirección General de Desarrollo Urbano.
20 days MXN 752
* 3 Register Construction Statement Type B

Construction Statement Type B applies to nonresidential or mixed uses of up to 5,000 square meters or up to 10,000 square meters for residential use or for single-family dwelling units within a risk zone.

Requirements:
- Valid alignment certificate and official number (simple original copy or certified one).
- Single zoning certificate for specific land use and feasibility (simple original copy or certified copy for collation).
- Four copies of the architectural project for the construction work on duly outlined scale maps and containing all specifications regarding materials, finishes, and equipment to be used, signed by the owner, the director responsible for the construction work, and the co-responsible party for urban and architectural design and installations, as the case may be.
- Project descriptive report.
- Calculation report.
- Registration and identification card of the director responsible for the construction work and the co-responsible party for structural safety, urban and architectural design, and installations as appropriate (simple original copy or certified copy for collation).
- Two copies of the structural design signed by the director responsible for the construction work and the co-responsible party for structural safety.
- Proof of payment of improvement taxes for potable water and sewerage works provided by the Federal District Department and license issuance fees if the application is required (simple original copy or certified copy for collation). Because the building considered here requires installation or modification of the water main and hook-up to the sewage system, the application and proof of payment of the corresponding fees are attached.

After registration of the construction statement, the one-stop shop (Ventanilla Única Delegacional) reviews the submitted data and documents and verifies the progress of the construction work under the terms stated in the Administrative Verification Rules (Reglamento de Verificación Administrativa) for the Federal District.

The director responsible for the construction work undertakes to post at the construction work site, in a visible place and legible from the public pathway, a signboard showing the registration number in the construction work statement and the general construction work data, including the location and statement validity.

Statement validity (for construction work completion):
Up to 300 square meters: 1 year
300–1,000 square meters: 2 years
More than 1,000 square meters: 3 years

The cost is MXN$62.00 per square meter, according to The Financial Code of the Federal District, Article 206, Section B, Fraction I, in this case, if the total area of warehouse is 1,300.6 m2, the total cost of the Construction Statement Type B is MXN$81,063.20. Before commencement of construction work, the company must notify the water company (Sistema de Aguas de la Ciudad de México) in writing. Since mid-2004, electronic notifications are acceptable.

The cost for the water connection includes the installation of the main pipeline (51 millimeters), board, and meter. Cost will be included in the same form use to Register construction statement type B. The cost is established by the Financial Code of the Federal District:
- Water connection MXN 11,490 (Codigo Fiscal DF Article 181)
- Sewerage connection MXN 7,780 (Codigo Fiscal DF Article 181)
- Meter installation MXN 5,765 (Codigo Fiscal DF Article 181)
- "Armado de cuadro" MXN 1,206 (Codigo Fiscal DF Article 181)
- Technical asessment MXN 32,931 (Codigo Fiscal DF Article 182)
- Water pipes usage fee MXN 1,000 (Codigo Fiscal DF Article 182)
- Public works usage fee MXN 253,617 ( MXN 195 per square meter) (Codigo Fiscal DF Article 302)
Total : MXN 313,789

Agency: Ventanilla Única Delegacional
1 day MXN 394,852
4 Request and connect to water and sewage services

If there is no need to perform additional work, hydraulic network hook-up can be obtained within approximately 2 weeks. The power company (Compañía de Luz y Fuerza del Centro) performs the work for the constructor to be able to connect the building to the hydraulic network.

Agency: Sistema de Aguas de la Ciudad de México
30 days no charge
* 5 Request and connect to a regular telephone line

For commercial telephone line installations, Telmex has established the following costs:
- Total installation cost: MXN 1299.5

The telephone line is requested and paid for at Telmex offices or through the Internet.

Agency: Telmex
4 days MXN 1,300
6 Notify the Municipal Authority on construction work completion

The notification of completion is made in writing after the electricity connection has been completed. Once notified, inspectors may visit the location within a week, but this does not stop construction.

Agency: Municipality
1 day no charge
7 Receive inspection on construction work completion from Directorate of General Works



Agency: Directorate of General Works (Municipality)
1 day no charge
8 Request and obtain use an occupancy clearance

Building use clearance is granted by the one-stop shop.

Agency: Delegational One-Stop Shop
6 days no charge
9 Request and obtain authorization from civil protection

An inspection from the civil protection agency (Secretaria de Protección civil) will not be necessary - only for more complex installations. After the form and the emergency plan are filed, the civil protection authority will issue a certificate in 7 days.

Agency: Secretaria de Protección civil
7 days no charge
10 Update the building record at the tax ministry

The time and cost of updating the building record are established by the Financial Code of the Federal District, Article 217. The building is not actually registered with the Property Registry. Once built, a cadastral actualization document (manifestacion de actualisacion del valor cadastral) is filed, for tax purposes, with the Tax Ministry. The information in the new deed is updated only when the property (with the building included) is sold. In Mexico, the owner of the land is automatically the owner of the building unless otherwise specified. Only in cases where the owner of the building and the owner of the property are two different people would the building be registered.

The Property Registry claims to have made some organizational changes that have reduced the time required for registration by 30 to 40 calendar days. The registry has reorganized its personnel and created specializations by transaction (transfer of deed, company registration, and the like).

Agency: Tax Ministry
1 day no charge
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.