Licenses for Works

The information below is purely based on my own experiences of gaining licenses for my husbands business other people are welcome to add their own experiences to the information provided.
 
Any works carried out on property in Spain legally needs to have a license in place before it is started and the responsibility lies with the home owner although most good building companies will apply for them and get them in place on your behalf. It is important to be wary of builders telling you it is not necessary because if the police come to inspect which they seem to be doing more of lately it’s down to the home owner and the work can be stopped immediately.
 
It’s very easy to obtain however it does vary from Town hall to Town hall what has to go on and what doesn’t so it’s best to list everything in the beginning.
 
There are two types of licenses the first and most common is Licencia de obras minores which tend to cover general upgrading of a property ( i.e. new kitchen, new bathroom, new tiling, rending, skips etc....)
 
The other is for major works covering structural works for example removing and replacing floors, building extensions or rebuilding existing, new raised terraces etc, pools or new roofs most of which would initially need to have plans drawn up by an architect...who subsequently would organise the license or the clients behalf as he would also have to submit his drawings of the works. 
 
Licencia de obras minores.........so how do you get one?

Go along to your Town hall and up to the Obras minores office (or some Town halls have them on the front desk) you need to complete the form (and again they vary from Town hall to Town Hall) with your name, address, NIE number then it will ask you to list the works you are having done and the cost of this work. The form then needs to then go to the "Cash Desk" within the Town Hall where the license will be drawn up and the charge outlined...the charge for the license is normally a percentage of the overall cost of the works. A copy of this is then printed out and given to you.....this MUST be displayed in the property at all times on the wall whilst the work is being carried out in case the Guardia or Police call and inspect.
 
Important things to remember............

Some Town halls will then say you can start within a week but others will say two weeks or even put a start date on it and you should not really start before that date!
 
Some Town halls will need skips to go on the form and others don’t (so from my own experience just put them on!)
 
Some Town halls are now asking for the contractors details and their social security details to be put on the forms (as a point of interest anyone employing illegal workers risk a fine of up to 5000 Euros)
 
I think that’s about everything covered but I would strongly recommend to anyone doing works to their house or having builders in to get a license in place its always better to be safe than sorry. It would be awful to have your dream kitchen stopped half way through just for the sake of not having a license in place. If any one needs any further information regarding this subject, please email and if I can help I will.
 
This article has been written by

Diane Heston of Campo Construction, General Building Services,

Mobile : 0034 637201279 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it