Building permit

Hi everyone

We have recently bought a property in Alhama de Granada.

We want to put a new kitchen in and modernise the bathroom before we go over.  We have been advised by someone we know who lives there that there are very strict rules regarding building, and that if you do anything that requires a skip that you need a building permit or you may get fined.

Do we need a permit for this type of work? It is not structural no walls are being moved it is just purely changing the kitchen and bathroom furniture.  We already have a builder lined up, but he is not sure if we need  a permit or not.

If anyone knows the proper procedures and law regarding this I would be really grateful if they could advise me.

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Not 100% certain on this, but I believe you do theoretically need planning permission to make any alterations, even non-structural. You may need to get a formal quote for the proposed work, and pay a percentage of the cost as "tax" to obtain permission. Of course, in practice 99% of people probably don't bother. However, if you want to put a skip on a public highway, you'll probably need permission for that also, and it may kinda draw attention to the fact that you are carrying out work. Whether you can ignore the rules and get away with it may well depend on whether you have any vindictive nosey neighbours. I suggest you don't use any noisy power tools on a sunday morning!

good luck!

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Hi Roberto,

Thanks for the advice.

I will have to think about my options, whether I want to take the risk or not.  Not not sure of neighbours yet, I think I may take a chance and have builders replace bathroom as we really need it usable before we go over in March and we haven't got time to wait for a permit but just leave the old fitments in the house in the house for now.

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Hi Curious

I wouldn't have thought you would need planning permission to fit a new kitchen, but I'm not totally sure as I never had to do this.  What does your builder advise?  I would assume you do need some sort of permission for the skip perhaps.

Planning permission can take months!

Just re-read the above and I've given a very poor response to your question really

Justin

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Hi Justin,

Thanks for your reply.

He said he is not sure, but to be honest  we  have decided to  go ahead and change the bathroom and kitchen without permission we havent got time to wait for permit anyway.   We will get permission when we need to change one of the bedrooms upstairs into a bathroom at a later date as this is a bigger job and we will need a skip.  We will just have to hope that it will be okay.

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Hi curious and Justin. For any work including painting and decorating (inside or out) in theory you are supposed to apply for a licence from the Town Hall. In reality for things like that people dont bother but it depends on how public the work is. The Town Hall have people roaming around and even the local police to check on things like this. In theory once the licence is applied for most people start the work anyway. The costs of the licence depemd on the cost of the work involved. Re the skip - yes you are again supposed to have a licence but again this depends on how public its presence is going to be. I have recently had a skip over the road from my house on an empty plot while I was having an exterior wall reformed for about 2 months - I took the chance and got away with it but I live in a cul de sac so no through traffic and for me it was a risk worth taking.

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Hi Smiley,

Thanks for advice, I think we may do some little jobs and apply for a license for new bathroom just to be safe.  We are on a road by  main square and not far from town hall.

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Thought I'd bump this thread back up to the top as I am about to carry out some renovation work in an apartment in Torremolinos. The community in which the apartment is situated has very strict rules, and I must inform the administration of any work I intend to carry out. I absolutely approve of the way this community is run (speaking as president of another community!) but it does rather suggest to me that there may be a lot of nosey neighbours just waiting for an opportunity to "denounce" me if I put a foot wrong. For that reason, I intend to get planning permission from the council. Once I have that, I can continue with the work, safe in the knowledge that if anybody complains, I'll have an official bit of red tape to wave in their faces! And if I have permission from the council, I don't think the president or anybody else can stop me doing the work I want to.

Today I picked up a "request for permission" form from the town hall (depto. urbanismo), which is very simple to complete. I was told permission is normally given "within a few days". We'll see. I'll post developments as and when......

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Hey Roberto!

You go for it, but please let us know how one Presidente copes with another Presidente!

This could be a good saga, late night reading book comes to mind!

We need it "blow by blow" ok?!

 

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As president you would most certainly know more than me but I thought the community could still veto if it was by majority - got something similar ongoing with a friend - as I say your experience and knowledge infinitely superior to mine

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Tsh!

You underestimate yourself my dear fiend!

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This message was last edited by JeansSis on 5/17/2007.

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Now I am a dear FIEND - mind you from a Chelsea supporter I guess thats as much of a compliment as I am gonna get - I dont underestimate myself but Rob is the community president and as they say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and while logic dictates that he is right logic doesnt always prove to be the case here in Spain - friend in similar position with Town Hall approval and community being obstructive and stating they haev the power of veto by majority so thought I would check

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Horizontal property law

Section 7

1. Owners of individual units may modify the architectural elements, installations or services of their

unit, giving proper notice to the community representative provided such work not impair or alter the safety

of the building, its overall structure, its external appearance or condition, or prejudice the rights of another

unit owner.

2. The owner and the occupant of a unit shall not carry out in such unit or in the rest of the building

any activities not permitted in the community statutes, or which may cause damage to the property or

contravene the general regulations concerning inconvenient, unhealthy, noxious, hazardous or unlawful

activities.

That's how one Presidente deals with another Presidente! (no, I don't sleep with my copy of the Horizontal law under my pillow, but God I love it!)

Theoretically, therefore, by majority vote, the statutes could be ammended to ban any owner from even painting their apartment, but who the Hell would want to live/own in a community that's so pedantic? 

JeanSis:

Roberto,

I always find your posts really interesting, can I say ?

You may, my dear!

 

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This message was last edited by JeansSis on 5/17/2007.

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So back to the topic of building permits......

I have rang the Town Hall every day this week to see how my permission is coming along, only to be told "not yet" on each occassion. So today I went there, and discovered that the reason it is not ready yet, is because the street map in the file does not have the location of the building marked. I showed them the photocopy of the map, with the building circled, which they gave me when I put the application in (they circled the building), but they seem to have lost the original and have a new map in the file with nothing marked on it. So I circled the building for them, and they apologised (honestly!) and said I should have my permit tomorrow or Monday.

I know many of you will be wondering why the street map? Exactly, since the application clearly has the address of the property listed. I can only presume this is for the benefit of the illiterate gofer employed to ride around on a moped (with no crash helmet, exhaust, insurance or ITV) checking on skips and whether they have permits or not.

Watch this space............

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Yeah but how do you know they are so pedantic until you live there - chicken or egg?

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To be honest, I have found the staff at the Town Hall to be very friendly, courteous and helpful - even smiley, I would say - so it's not hard to forgive a small administrative transgression. If I actually get the permit within the next couple of working days, I'll be well satisfied. It's not all that much trouble, and worth it to know that you're doing things by the book - even if the book is a little tatty!

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Think in your situation mate you probably right - only needs a nosy interfering neighbour to stick their oar in - or is it an oar to stick your neighbour in -

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Guess what folks? No permit today. Ostensibly because the day has a "y" in it, but that doesn't translate into Spanish, so there must be another explanation. No, it's because they've figured out from the plan (see previous post below) that we are on a main road, bus route etc., and there's nowhere to put a skip. I explained that there is actually off-road parking, which belongs to the community. They said well in that case you don't need permission from us to put a skip there. (That's right folks, the Hitlerite community administrator told me I needed permission from the council to put a skip there!) Good news is, the Town Hall clerk promised me I'd have my permit on Monday.

Watch this space!........................

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