Opening licenses - Restaurant

LICENCES

Apr 28

Written By Francisco Javier Muñoz Fuentes

If you are thinking of opening a restaurant, surely there are many aspects that you should take into account and you do not know where to start: have a business plan, create a name and a logo, find a place in a suitable area for your customers, find out about suppliers, hiring staff, establishing a marketing plan and, finally, the legal aspects.

In this post we will try to solve all the doubts you may have about how to process the opening / activity license for a restaurant / cafeteria. If, after reading it, you have any questions about it, we recommend that you read our post: Opening licenses: everything you need to know.

WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS?

The first requirement that must be taken into account will be the urban regulations. Municipal planning establishes a series of permitted uses and specific rules depending on the location of the property, so the first step before buying or renting a place to open our restaurant, we must verify that this use is allowed by urban regulations.

In addition to this, there are a series of requirements that we are going to group as follows:

Minumun Stays

Public area: It must have coherent and adequate dimensions to the activity that you want to give it, with the minimum conditions of lighting, ventilation and comfort.
Personnel area: The kitchen must have rooftop smoke extraction, so this will be a fundamental element when choosing the place since, although there are some alternatives, they do not always offer the same efficiency nor are they accepted by all municipalities .

We recommend that you consult an architect to verify that the existing smoke outlet in the premises you want to purchase meets all the minimum requirements (be independent of other ducts, go up to the roof and be 1m higher than any of the buildings that are are within fifteen meters, etc.)

Warehouse: There must be a food storage room differentiated from the storage of other products, such as hygiene or cleaning.
Garbage room: It must be independent and have adequate ventilation (natural or forced) to prevent odors from spreading to the rest of the premises.
Sanitary provision: The premises must have separate toilets for staff and customers. There must be at least one full bathroom (as a minimum) and a larger toilet that meets all the specifications to be adapted for people with disabilities, which will be the one used by customers, so it must be accessed through the area intended for customers.

Protection against noise

Having construction elements with sufficient acoustic protection is a fundamental element, given the concurrence of this type of premises and the noise they usually generate. Depending on the specific use that is going to be given, on the existing noise pollution in the area, and if there are going to be sound or audiovisual reproduction or amplification equipment, it must meet some specifications or others, requiring in some cases the existence of a watertight lobby at the access to the premises that has a double door.

Accessibility Regulations

All spaces in the premises (both those that will be used by customers and those that will be used by staff, with some exceptions, such as the facilities rooms) must comply with accessibility regulations. This regulation is composed at the state level by Order VIV / 561/2010, of February 1, and by the Basic Document on security of use and accessibility; at the regional level by Decree 293/2009, of July 7, and in addition to this, it must comply with the specific Ordinances that will depend on the municipality in which the premises are located. The most relevant aspects of this regulation that must be taken into account are:

There must be at least one accessible access to the premises. In the event that there is unevenness between the exterior pavement and the premises, it must be saved by means of a ramp or other technical aids (such as lifting platforms).
There must be an elevator in the event that the premises have more than one floor, and there are uses that will be used by customers on the upper floors.
The floor of both the access ramp and the entire premises must be non-slip.
The openings and doors must be more than 80cm wide.
The corridors must be at least 1.00m wide, and there must be turning areas (with a free diameter of 1.50m) at certain points such as the lobby, in corridors of more than 10m in length, in front of the elevator ( in your case) and so on.

Fire Protection

The requirements regarding fire protection facilities tend to acquire greater relevance in restaurants than in any other type of premises, since,In addition to the general requirements (fire extinguisher placed every 15 meters, emergency lighting, exit signposts…), restaurants usually have kitchens that, due to the machinery they house, are considered to be of special risk.

Depending on the total power of the devices that we plan to install, they will be considered as low risk (between 20kW and 30kW), medium risk (between 30kW and 50kW) or high risk (greater than 50kW) and will have some requirements or others (for example , for powers greater than 50kW it will be necessary to carry out an automatic fire detection installation).

TELL US WHAT YOU NEED

WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE?

In the event that the premises meet all the requirements and it is not necessary to carry out renovation works, the procedure to follow consists of preparing an activity project (which must be signed by an architect) in which the activity is described that will be developed in the premises, the facilities and machinery that will be used, the fulfillment of all the corresponding regulations is justified and plans of all this are provided.

In addition to this, you should know that the use "Restaurants, cafes, pubs and bars" is subject to the environmental qualification procedure according to Law 7/2007, of July 9, so a technical project must be carried out in which describe the activity, machinery and equipment to be used, materials used, environmental risks ... it must be justified that the project does not pose an environmental risk or is polluting.

Once the favorable resolution of the environmental qualification has been obtained, a responsible declaration of activities will be presented (document in which it is declared that all the requirements are met or to start the activity and that it does not need a response from the Administration, therefore that this can be started from the moment of its presentation).

Documentation necessary to present the responsible declaration: (may vary slightly depending on the municipality)

Responsible declaration form.
Identification of the holder (photocopy of ID in the case of natural persons).
Document certifying the availability of the use of the establishment (lease contract, for example).
Documentation related to the viability of urban use
Activity project.

Finally, health authorization must be obtained through an application submitted to the Territorial Delegation of the Ministry responsible for health. This, after verifying that the establishment meets all the requirements, will proceed to register the premises in the Sanitary Registry of Companies and Food Establishments of Andalusia.

If you have any further questions about the procedure, we remind you that it is extensively explained in our post: Opening licenses: everything you need to know.

HOW MUCH DOES THE OPENING LICENSE COST?

As for the cost, you must take into account two main aspects. On the one hand, the architect's fees: these will depend on the size of the specific project in question, so if you are interested in opening a place with these characteristics, we encourage you to ask us for a quote without any commitment: we will be happy to help you!

On the other hand, you must pay the corresponding fees for responsible declaration, the value of which depends on the municipality. By way of example, in Malaga the rates depend on the surface area, and range between two hundred and seventy-two euros (for surfaces smaller than fifty square meters) and four hundred and fifty euros (for an area of one hundred and fifty square meters).

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