Licenses for construction in Marbella

CONSTRUCTION

May 24

Written By Francisco Javier Muñoz Fuentes

If you have ever built your own home, carried out reforms in the home you already have or modified some element of your plot, you have probably already heard about building licenses. But how much do you know about them? Do you know how many types of license there are, what is the procedure and the necessary documentation?

The information regarding construction licenses is usually somewhat confusing, mainly because, although state and regional legislation establishes common bases that all municipalities must comply with, in the end it is the City Councils that, through ordinances, establish the conditions and types of license that there are in a specific municipality.

In this post we are going to explain all the basic aspects you need to know about the different types of construction licenses that exist, specifying for the specific case of Marbella.

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WHAT IS A BUILDING LICENSE?

The building license is a permit required by the local administration (Town Halls) to carry out any type of construction, installation ... on any type of land, whether urban, developable or undeveloped.

Building licenses have traditionally been the only way in which Public Administrations intervene in the use of the land and the construction of the land. The objective of these is to verify that the action you intend to carry out complies with the urban regulations (in terms of land use, number of floors, buildability and occupation, minimum habitability conditions, etc.) according to what the municipal ordinances provide.

WHAT TYPES OF LICENSES ARE THERE? WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE?

There are two types of license: major work licenses and minor work licenses.

Major work permit

We could say that it is the "typical" license, since in general it is the one that is usually required more frequently, such as in new plant works, reforms that affect structural elements or that alter the volume, use of the facilities, number of homes or any other urban parameter, as well as those that affect the exterior composition or the habitability or security conditions...

Regarding the documentation that is required to obtain this type of licenses, it is the following:

Copy of settlement of the urban license fee.
Letter of payment of guarantee of the cost of the management of construction and demolition waste that is expected to be produced (which will be returned at the end of the work, after presentation of the final works certificate).
Copy of the official plan certifying that the alignment and ground level markings have been made.
Urban planning certificate, if it were implemented.
Basic project or execution project, which must be accompanied by:

… In the case of a basic project: justification of connection to the networks of the different urban services, connections, justification of adaptation of the sidewalk, separata of justification of compliance with the fire protection conditions.

… In the case of an execution project: Endorsed documents from the optional management of the competent technicians involved in the work (Construction Director, Works execution director and health and safety coordinator).

Documentation of other sectoral administrations: There are certain actions that affect other administrations in addition to urban planning (such as the case of homes that are in the vicinity of a BIC building, homes with some type of protection, actions that require approval by the environmental administration ...) in these cases, the documentation to be presented at the town hall must be accompanied by the documentation required by these other administrations (culture, environment ...) depending on the specific case in which we find ourselves.

Minor work permit

will have the consideration of minor works, those carried out on public roads related to the adjoining building, small repair, modification or tidying up of buildings and works on lots or patios. The documentation is different from the one that must be presented in the case of major work licenses, not requiring in this case a technical project as such. This documentation would be:

Copy of settlement of the urban license fee.
Location map of the plot in planning.
Description of the works to be carried out and their budget.
Plans, sketches or photographs that are necessary for the definition of the works.

Are there works not subject to license?

Yes. A new figure has recently been incorporated that replaces licenses (for both major work and minor work) with the aim of simplifying and streamlining administrative processing. This new figure, called a responsible declaration, may only be used in the cases indicated by the ordinances.

WHAT IS A RESPONSIBLE DECLARATION?

The responsible declaration is a “document signed by the applicant, which normally accompanies the main instance at the beginning of a file for the exercise of an activity, in which it declares, under its responsibility, that it meets all the requirements demanded by normative". That is, by means of this figure we declare that we comply with all the requirements, that we have all the documentation that accredits it and that we will maintain this compliance for as long as it is necessary.

Unlike the license, with the responsible declaration we do not need any type of response from the Administration, but, from the moment of its presentation, we can start the activity that we have requested. However, this does not mean that we are exempt from the administration controlling that what we have declared is indeed true, but that at any time a technician may inspect the work and stop it in the event of any non-compliance (with the corresponding sanction in your case).

What is the procedure?

The works may not start before fifteen business days have elapsed from the day after the following documentation has been submitted:

Copy of settlement of the urban license fee.
Photocopy of the Plan of Qualification of the PGOU, street plan, aerial photograph or other analogous.
Description of the works that compose it, indicating quality of materials, quantity and budget.
Plans, sketches or photographs necessary for the definition of the works.

ACTIONS SUBJECT A RESPONSIBLE DECLARATION

The following works are subject to a responsible declaration (not being necessary a major or minor work license):

Works of little constructive entity and technical simplicity that do not require a project.
New construction as long as the following requirements are met: that it is not residential or public and that it is developed on a single floor.
Interventions on existing buildings that meet the following requirements: that they do not involve a total intervention on the building and, being a partial intervention, this does not affect the general exterior composition, volumetry, the structural system or change the use.

In this sense, the Marbella ordinances exclude from the presentation by means of a responsible declaration (the corresponding license must be requested) the following actions (among others):

Those whose budget is greater than sixty thousand euros.
Those that modify the interior distribution, except for those partial redistributions that do not alter the use of the dependencies.
Restoration of buildings in the Historic Center (as well as alterations to facades or roofs).
Earth movements (except clearing or cleaning).
Tree felling, transplanting and tree canopy reduction.
Expansions (including terrace glazing) or demolitions.

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