Dealing with Construction Permits in
Spain
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.
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Building a warehouse
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Estimated Warehouse Value:
EUR 700,000
- City: Madrid
| No. |
Procedure |
Time to Complete |
Associated Costs |
| 1 |
Request and Obtain a building license
The relevant authority is the Municipality of Madrid. The documents required to obtain the license are the following:
- A standardized application form and sheet containing the characteristics of the construction, properly completed.
- Proof of payment of tax.
- Declaration by one or more technical authors (architect and project design specialists) that the project conforms to the appropriate town planning regulations, and certificate of the structural feasibility, if necessary.
- Declaration of the promoter that a signboard has been posted at the site to inform the public that a building license has been applied for and to provide information about the proposed operations and activities
- Three copies of the technical project designs, signed by qualified technician(s) and countersigned by the appropriate official institute (or in this case, by the project’s administrative supervision office, accompanied by the application sheets of the appropriate professional association).
- Confirmation of the deposit of a guarantee.
- Authorization program for independent parts of the construction or approval of partial projects, if requested by the promoter.
- In cases of renovation/expansion of buildings included in the general catalog of protected elements in historic city centers or historic centers of peripheral districts and historic colonies, a color photographic description of the existing building that permits, during enlargement operations, confirmation of the correct alignment of the enlargement plans with the historic city zoning restrictions.
- License of parceling, if the new construction needs previous parceling.
- Official alignment, if required.
- Project design of installation of telecommunications infrastructure Real Decreto 346/2011.
- Project design of the use of solar energy for heating (either as an independent project design or as part of the general project design), signed by a qualified technician and countersigned by the appropriate official institute, if required by the Regulation Concerning the Harnessing of Solar Energy for Thermal Use
- Reglamento de seguridad contra incendios en los establecimientos industriales RD 2267/2004, de 3 de diciembre, modificado en parte por el RD 560/2010 de 7 de mayo
- security and health certification or a basic certification regarding RD 1627/1997 de 24 de octubre
- Certify the destination of all the construction waste and demolition (RCD) according to the Law 5/2003 and amendments by Law 9/2010 (regarding abandoned and discharged wastes)
According to private sector contributors, the cost of the license can be up to 1% of the warehouse value.
Agency: Municipality of Madrid
|
90 days
|
EUR 7,000
|
| 2 |
Receive inspection - I
By law, two on-site inspections must be carried out during construction, one at the beginning and one at the end of the process. In the case considered here, a warehouse that takes 30 weeks to complete, there would be two inspections over the construction period.
According to the building license, the construction works must be checked at least twice: once at the beginning of construction and once at the end. However, in reality it is rare that more than one inspection takes place during the process.
If, during the inspections, the committee detects any possible infringements of the building regulations or criminal law, a proposal on sanctions must be made, and a copy of the written record is given to the public prosecutor. At the least, administrative proceedings are initiated.
In each inspection report, a record is included that provides information on every person involved and their roles, as well as on the facts, circumstances, dates, and results of the inspection. The record is regarded as a public administrative deed. The record has to be signed by the inspector(s) and by the person to whom the construction works have been attributed at the time of the inspection.
Agency: Municipality of Madrid
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1 day
|
no charge
|
| 3 |
Receive inspection - II
By law, two on-site inspections must be carried out during construction, one at the beginning and one at the end of the process. In the case considered here, a warehouse that takes 30 weeks to complete, there would be two inspections over the construction period.
Agency: Municipality of Madrid
|
1 day
|
no charge
|
| 4 |
Request and receive final inspection in connection with occupancy permit
Due to the Ordenanza No. 158 of 26.06.2009, the Municipality of Madrid is not responsible for the processing of the working licence "licencia de actividad". This new law has created the "Entidades Colaboradoras en la Gestion de Licencias Urbanisticas-ECLU" (private professionals), which are in charge of preparing the issuance of the occupancy permit and which are authorized by the Municipality of Madrid. There is a list of these agencies, and the Municipality of Madrid website has the list of them as well as the maximum fees that can be charged by them.
It is the ECLU who carries out the inspection and issuing of the declaraction of conformity at the end of the construction works.
It is also necessary to pay a fee to the collaborating entities. This information is given by the official website of the Municipality of Madrid, www.munimadrid.es. The amount is 1.260 Euros for the surfaces between 100 and 500 square meters and additionally 70 Euros for every 100 square meters until 20.000 square meters.
Agency: Entidad Colaboradora en la Gestion de Licencias Urbanisticas-ECLU
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30 days
|
no charge
|
| 5 |
Request and obtain operating license ("Licencia de primera ocupacion") from the Mayor of Madrid (Ayunatamiento de Madrid)
The purpose of the license of first occupation and working to verify that the construction and activities have been executed according to the project and the conditions under which the license had been granted, and that the construction has been completed and is adequate for urban determinations, the atmosphere and the security of its specific destination .
As soon as construction is finished, to receive the first occupancy license (licencia de primera ocupación), the builder must submit to the ECLU the following documents:
- Final certificate of terminated construction (declaration of conformity), which must be signed by the technical director of the work. This certificate must declare that the constructed building is in accordance with the issued license. For modifications that do not need approval of the City Council (23.2 of the Ordenanza Municipal de Tramitación de Licencias Urbanísticas de 23 de diciembre de 2004), the builder has to detail these modifications.
- If urbanization works have been carried out simultaneously with construction, and this urbanization was completed by the builder, the builder must present the final certification of these works.
- certificado final de obra visado por el Colegio Profesional y Plan de Autoprotección (Ordenanza Municipal de Tramitación de Licencias Urbanísticas de 23 de diciembre de 2004 - BOCM de 7 de enero de 2005).
The costs depend on the area occupied by the future building (in square meters) and the maximum fees that can be charged are given by the Municipality of Madrid (www.munimadrid.es):
The amount is 1.260 Euros for the surfaces between 100 and 500 square meters and additionally 70 Euros for every 100 square meters until 20.000 square meters.
Agency: Entidad Colaboradora en la Gestion de Licencias Urbanisticas-ECLU
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30 days
|
EUR 1,820
|
| 6 |
Register the new building
Registration fees cannot exceed 2,181€ according to Real Decreto 1427/1989, de 17 de noviembre, por el que se aprueba el arancel de los registradores de la Propiedad. In addition to the registration fee provided by the regulation, notary fees (EUR 644.10) and a presentation and entry fee (EUR 6.01) are included in the total cost of this procedure.
The cost has been adjusted from EUR 6,325 to EUR 2,831.11.
|
18 days
|
EUR 2,831
|
| 7 |
Request and obtain water connection
If the flow of water is less than 6 liters per second or if fewer than 25 counters are needed in one hall, only the following documents must be submitted:
- Technical report (Memoria técnica), not required if the flow of water is less than 3 liters per second.
- Form 2.1.4.
- Confirmation of fee payment (EUR 11.80 must be paid at the counter).
- Two copies of Form 2.1.3 (Impreso de Final de Obra).
If the required flow of water is more than 6 liters per second or if more than 25 counters are needed in one hall, the following additional documents must be filed:
- Project design from an engineer specialized in planning water facilities.
- Fee (in this case, a certain percentage of the budget).
Agency: Endesa
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1 day
|
EUR 12
|
| * 8 |
Request and obtain telecommunication connection
According to TELEFÓNICA, the biggest telecommunication company in Spain, there are two possible processes for obtaining a telecommunication connection.
First, the warehouse may be constructed in an area without telecommunication resources, such as in the suburbs of a big city. In this case, the builder must apply to Telefónica for telephone lines. Telefónica then examines the area and carries out the necessary outside works to supply the area. The necessary works inside the building have to be carried out by BuildCo itself. The only remaining step is then to connect the inside and outside installations. The waiting time depends on many factors: the location of the warehouse, distance to the provider center, permits of the City Council for the necessary works, and others.
Second, the warehouse may be constructed in an area that already has telecommunication resources. In this case, it is necessary to apply only for the number of telephone lines required. The connections can normally be completed in 1–2 weeks.
Agency: TELEFÓNICA
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11 days
|
EUR 84
|
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.