Building License in Valencia: Obra Mayor or Obra Menor? (Spain 2026)

The most expensive mistake in a Spanish renovation costs nothing to avoid: applying for the wrong license. File a declaración responsable for work that actually needs a licencia de obra mayor, and three months later you have a stopped site, a fine calculated as a percentage of the work's value, and a builder who has moved on to someone else's villa.

If you searched for planning permission in Spain, this is the page you wanted — the Spanish system doesn't use that term, and the difference is more than vocabulary. There is no separate planning-and-building-regs process here. There is one municipal license, issued by your town hall, and it comes in three forms. Which one applies to you turns on a single question: does the work touch the structure, the façade, the floor area or the layout? If not, you can usually start within days. If it does, you need an architect, a proyecto técnico and three to six months — before the first brick.

The short answer:

Declaración responsable — decorating, floors, tiling, replacing sanitaryware without moving pipework. Valid from the moment you file it.
Licencia de obra menor — small works with no structural consequence. Typically 4 to 12 weeks.
Licencia de obra mayor — structure, extension, new build, façade changes. Architect's project mandatory, typically 3 to 6 months.

This guide is written for renovating an existing villa or chalet in Valencia and on the Costa Blanca — not for a new build in Andalucía, and not for Mallorca. Below: which route applies to which job, what the license actually costs, how long your particular town hall takes, and how to handle all of it as a non-resident who can only be in Spain 90 days in every 180.

Quick check: do you need planning permission in Spain?

Before you read any further, place your project in thirty seconds.

A declaración responsable is very likely enough if you are decorating, replacing floors, tiling, changing kitchen or bathroom units, or swapping sanitaryware in the same position without moving pipework.

You very likely need an obra menor if you are stripping a bathroom back including new pipework, adding or removing a non-load-bearing partition, tiling a terrace, building a garden wall, or rewiring.

You certainly need an obra mayor if any of these words apply: load-bearing wall, extension, extra storey, roof structure, façade change, new window opening, change of use, swimming pool, new build.

You need nothing at all for genuine maintenance — patching a wall, changing a tap, putting up shelves. That stops being true the moment a contractor, a skip or scaffolding is involved.

If more than one category applies, the higher one governs.

How a licencia de obra works — and why it sets your timeline

A licencia de obra is issued by your town hall (ayuntamiento) — not by the region and not by the state. In the Comunidad Valenciana the framework comes from the regional planning law, the LOTUP, but the fees, forms and real processing times are set by each municipality. Two villages ten kilometres apart can charge different rates and run different procedures. Anything you have read about Andalucía or the Balearics does not transfer.

The thing to take away: the license sets your calendar, not your builder. On an obra mayor there can easily be six months between the first sketch and the first brick, and that time sits before the build, not inside it. Agree a May start date in March without the licence in hand and you will move that date twice.

The license also matters long after sign-off. Unlicensed work does not appear on the escritura (title deed) or at the Registro de la Propiedad, the Land Registry. When you sell, the buyer — or their bank — sees a property that is smaller on paper than in reality, and the sale stalls. Your buildings insurer can also decline a claim on an unlicensed structure, at precisely the moment you need it.

Obra mayor, obra menor or declaración responsable: the three routes

This is the heart of it. Most English-language guides describe "two types" and leave out the third — even though in the Comunidad Valenciana that third route is how most renovations now proceed.

The three routes:

Declaración responsable — for maintenance and finishing work where you do not move pipework. No architect's project, you sign it yourself, valid from the moment you file, and you pay only a low administrative fee (tasa).
Licencia de obra menor — for small works with no structural consequence. Usually no full project, sometimes a technical report (memoria) from an arquitecto técnico. Expect roughly 4 to 12 weeks, plus tasa and ICIO.
Licencia de obra mayor — for anything affecting structure, floor area, layout, façade or new build. Architect's proyecto técnico mandatory, plus dirección facultativa (technical site supervision). Expect roughly 3 to 6 months, plus tasa, ICIO and professional fees.

Declaración responsable — the fast route

With a declaración responsable you declare, on your own responsibility, that your work falls within the permitted category. You file it, and in principle you can start immediately; the town hall inspects afterwards.

It typically covers: internal and external decorating without altering the façade, replacing floors, tiling, changing kitchen and bathroom units, replacing sanitaryware in the same position without moving waste pipes or soil stacks, and replacing internal doors and frames.

The trap is in the word responsibility. Declare that the work is maintenance while removing a load-bearing wall and the declaration is void — you have built illegally, retrospectively, even if nobody visited for six months. If you are unsure how your work classifies, have it checked first. That is one phone call against a fine calculated on the value of the works.

Licencia de obra menor

The obra menor is the middle category: work that goes beyond maintenance but leaves structure, floor area and use untouched. Stripping a bathroom including new pipework, adding or removing a non-load-bearing partition, tiling a terrace, building a garden wall, or rewiring.

The application is lighter than an obra mayor: often a description of the works, a budget and photographs, sometimes plus a technical memoria. The ICIO is still payable.

Licencia de obra mayor

The obra mayor is mandatory as soon as you change the structure, floor area, volume, layout, use or external appearance of the building. In practice: extending or adding a storey, opening up load-bearing walls, altering the roof structure, changing the façade or window openings, converting an outbuilding into living space, or building new.

It requires an architect's proyecto técnico and dirección facultativa — the technical supervision that oversees the build and signs off completion. It is also the route with the longest wait and the highest additional cost; both are set out below.

What doesn't need a license at all?

Almost nothing. Genuine household maintenance falls outside; everything else does not. And note a small one that catches people on day one: putting a skip or scaffolding on the public road usually needs its own permission, the ocupación de vía pública.

What can you legally build on your plot?

Before you think about licenses, establish what your plot allows. This question comes before the design, not after it — and it is why some projects fail at the drawing board.

Four figures from your municipality's development plan (plan general) govern it. Buildable floor area (edificabilidad) sets how many square metres you may build in total. Plot coverage (ocupación) limits how much of the plot may be built on. Maximum height and storeys determine whether an extra floor is possible. And boundary setbacks (retranqueos) dictate how close you may build to the neighbour and the road — the figure that forces most pool and extension plans to be redrawn.

The land classification matters just as much. On suelo urbano — serviced building land — renovation is generally straightforward. On suelo rústico, rural land, the rules on volume, use and extension are considerably tighter; that is where many of the fincas and country houses in Valencia's interior sit. An extension that is routine on urban land may simply not be permitted on rústico.

You obtain all of this through a planning search (cédula urbanística or informe urbanístico) at the town hall. It costs very little and tells you, before you pay an architect, whether your plan is viable.

Which licence do you need for your renovation?

Bathroom or kitchen renovation

Replacing tiles, units and sanitaryware in the same positions? Usually a declaración responsable. Moving the waste, relocating the WC, changing the layout? Obra menor — and the moment a load-bearing wall is involved, obra mayor.

Removing walls or changing the layout

A non-load-bearing partition: obra menor. A load-bearing wall, even for a 90-centimetre opening: obra mayor, with a structural report from an architect. This is the most underestimated boundary in the whole system and the most common reason for a stop notice.

Building a swimming pool

A pool is almost always obra mayor: there is excavation, a structure, a change to built volume, and boundary setbacks apply. Budget for a technical project. For how that relates to the build cost itself, see our guide to what a pool costs in Valencia.

Façade, roof and insulation

Façade renovation with no change to openings or appearance can go as obra menor. Change the colour, material, window openings or silhouette and it is obra mayor — emphatically so in a protected old town. Any roof renewal touching the structure is obra mayor. See also our page on façades and cladding.

Extension, pergola or enclosing a terrace

A free-standing, demountable pergola with no foundations may fall under obra menor. A fixed canopy, a porche, or enclosing a terrace or naya counts towards built volume and is obra mayor, tested against the plot figures above. Enclosing a terrace is one of the most commonly unlicensed works on the Costa Blanca — and one of the most commonly flagged on resale. For this kind of work: structures and construction.

Solar panels and technical installations

Solar panels on an existing roof go through a declaración responsable or a simplified licence in many municipalities. A septic tank, water deposit or plant room that changes the volume needs an obra mayor.

How much does a building license cost in Spain? (Valencia 2026)

There are three to four separate charges, and English-language guides tend to blur them into a single vague "2–6%". They are not the same thing, and knowing which is which is how you check whether you are being quoted correctly.

ICIO — the municipal construction tax

The Impuesto sobre Construcciones, Instalaciones y Obras (ICIO) is a municipal tax on the presupuesto de ejecución material: the bare construction sum, excluding VAT, overheads and profit margin. Each town hall sets its own rate, generally between 2% and 4%. Four per cent is the national legal cap; many municipalities in the Comunidad Valenciana charge it, smaller ones often less.

Worth knowing: many town halls offer ICIO reductions for energy-efficiency work, accessibility improvements and heritage restoration. They are rarely advertised and are always worth asking about before you file.

One warning in the other direction: town halls check your declared budget against their own reference values per square metre. Declaring a low figure produces an assessment, not a saving — plus a file that goes back round the department.

Tasa urbanística and the colegio visado

Separately from the ICIO you pay a tasa for processing the application itself: often a small percentage of the budget, or a fixed amount with a minimum. On an obra mayor you also pay the visado, the architects' association's formal check and registration of the project.

Architect's project and dirección facultativa

On an obra mayor this is the heaviest cost after the build itself. Fees for the technical project plus site supervision usually run 5% to 10% of the construction sum, depending on complexity and scale. Small projects often attract a minimum fee, which pushes the percentage higher. On an obra menor or declaración responsable this largely disappears.

Worked example: an €80,000 villa renovation

A full renovation of kitchen, bathrooms and layout in a chalet, with a construction sum (PEM) of €80,000. It is an obra mayor, because a load-bearing wall is being opened up.

Here is what the paperwork costs. The ICIO at a 4% rate is around €3,200 — in a municipality charging 2% it would be €1,600. The tasa urbanística adds roughly €400 to €1,200 depending on the town hall. The architect's project plus dirección facultativa at around 6% comes to about €4,800. The visado runs €150 to €400. There may also be a refundable waste bond (fianza de residuos) of a few hundred to a few thousand euros, returned when you evidence proper disposal.

All in, the licensing process on this job lands at roughly €7,000 to €9,600, depending on the municipality.

That is broadly 9% to 12% on top of the construction sum — and in practice it is exactly the figure left out of the budget, which then surfaces halfway through. For the same property on a declaración responsable it would be a fee of tens to a few hundred euros. Which is why establishing the correct route before you budget saves money immediately.

All figures are indicative and vary by municipality and by year.

Want this figure for your own property? Send us the address, a short description of the works and a few photos on WhatsApp. We'll look up the ICIO rate and tasa for your town hall and cost out your license — usually within the same week. WhatsApp: +34 671 476 131

How long does a building license take? Timescales by town hall

A declaración responsable is valid from the moment you file: you can start within days. A licencia de obra menor typically takes 4 to 12 weeks. A licencia de obra mayor typically takes 3 to 6 months, counted from a complete submission — not from the day you ring the architect.

These are norms, not entitlements. They depend on the municipality, on how loaded the urbanismo department is, and above all on whether your file is complete: every requerimiento — a request for further documents — stops the clock. Two incomplete submissions can cost you a quarter.

And here is a difference you rarely see written down: Valencia city and the coastal municipalities do not work the same way. A large council like Valencia has more staff, a better digital portal and more standardisation — and far more files. Smaller municipalities such as Godelleta, or the coastal towns of Jávea, Moraira (Teulada) and Denia, have shorter internal routes but thin staffing, which you feel immediately in July and August. In a protected old town or near the coast, a report from a higher authority is added, and that runs outside the council's own deadline.

What "silencio administrativo" means for you

Spanish administrative law sets a period within which the council must reply. If it doesn't, silencio administrativo applies — administrative silence. English-language guides skip this, and it is the point most likely to mislead you.

Do not read silence as approval. In planning matters, silence cannot grant you a right that the development plan does not allow, so where your proposal is not clearly compliant, silence works against you. In practice the answer is never to rely on it: chase the file, keep the electronic notifications monitored, and get the decision in writing before anyone lifts a tool.

A practical point for non-residents: notifications arrive electronically and carry short response deadlines. If nobody is monitoring the portal while you're in the UK, a deadline can lapse and the file can be shelved without you knowing.

Applying for a building license in Spain: step by step

1. Assess the project and choose the route

First establish whether it is a declaración responsable, obra menor or obra mayor, and obtain the planning search. This step determines every other one — take it before you appoint an architect or gather quotes.

2. Technical project and documents

On an obra mayor the architect prepares the project. Beyond that you generally need: title deed (escritura) or nota simple, cadastral details, your NIE, the construction budget, a waste management plan (gestión de residuos), and on older properties sometimes the cédula de habitabilidad.

3. Filing with the town hall

Filing is with the urbanismo department, usually through the electronic portal (sede electrónica) using a digital certificate, or in person by appointment (cita previa). If you don't live in Spain, the electronic route is realistically the only one.

4. Paying ICIO and fees

Most councils charge the ICIO on filing or on grant, based on the construction sum you declared. If the final account differs, the council can assess additional tax or refund.

5. Starting work, site board and sign-off

Once granted, the license notice is displayed on site. On an obra mayor the dirección facultativa supervises and signs the certificado final de obra on completion.

Validity: 6 months to start, 18 months to finish

In most municipalities the license lapses if you don't start within about six months or don't complete within about eighteen. Extensions are usually possible, but only if applied for in time and with reasons — not after the deadline has passed. Check the exact dates on your own decision notice and diarise them.

Who signs what: arquitecto, arquitecto técnico and builder

A point where British and Irish owners consistently come unstuck: in Spain these are three separate parties with three signatures and three invoices.

The arquitecto designs, signs the technical project and is responsible for the spatial and structural concept. The arquitecto técnico (aparejador) handles execution-stage site supervision, the health and safety plan and on-site control. The builder (constructor) carries out the work and answers for its quality.

Organise it yourself and you are contracting three parties who do not direct one another. While everything runs smoothly you won't notice. When something goes wrong — a dimension that doesn't match, a detail that looks different on site than on the drawing — each of the three points at the other two, and you are the client standing in the middle, from another country, in Spanish. The alternative is one party who coordinates all three and stays your point of contact.

There is no UK-style building regs sign-off

Don't look for the British two-stage process. There is no planning consent followed by separate building control inspections and a completion certificate from the council. Compliance is certified by the professionals themselves: the architect's project is checked and registered by their professional body (the visado), and the arquitecto técnico supervises the build and signs the completion certificate. The council licenses; the professionals certify. Which is exactly why appointing the right ones matters more here than at home.

Applying from the UK or Ireland as a non-resident

Yes, it can be done entirely from abroad. But not without three things, and English-language guides barely touch any of them.

NIE, digital certificate and power of attorney

An NIE. Your Spanish tax identification number. Without it no application is registered — this is a hard block, not a formality.

A way to sign electronically. A Spanish digital certificate or Cl@ve, needed to file on the council's electronic portal and to receive notifications. Obtaining one from abroad is possible but takes time and usually requires identification in person.

Or a power of attorney (poder notarial). A document authorising someone in Spain to file, respond to requests and make payments in your name. In practice this is the workable route. It can be executed before a Spanish notary, or in the UK before a notary public — in which case it will need an apostille and a sworn translation. Allow a few weeks.

The 90/180 rule: you cannot supervise the works yourself

This is the part nobody joins up. Since Brexit, British owners without residency are limited to 90 days in any 180 in the Schengen area. A full villa renovation runs six to nine months. The arithmetic is unforgiving: you legally cannot be present for most of your own build.

That changes what you should be buying. It is not just a builder — it is someone who holds the license file, monitors the electronic notifications while you are in the UK, coordinates the architect and the site supervisor, and shows you the site while you're not on it.

At Martin360 that is precisely how we work: one point of contact for the license route, the architect, the technical supervision and the build. We assess the route, coordinate the professionals, file with your town hall, deal with every requerimiento, and send you daily photographs and video of progress. Not an added extra — the only way a building site 1,500 miles away stays under control. The alternative is corresponding with four parties in Spanish from a different country.

Coastal zone, listed buildings and rural land

Three special cases lengthen the process, and all three apply directly to this area.

The coastal zone. The Spanish Coastal Law (Ley de Costas) defines a protection strip inland from the shoreline where building is heavily restricted and a higher authority reviews alongside the council. For plots in Jávea, Moraira and Denia this is not theoretical. Establish where your plot sits relative to the zone before you design anything.

Listed buildings and protected old towns. In the historic centres of the interior villages, façade colour, materials, roof tiles, window profiles and even the placement of solar panels can be prescribed. An additional consultation is added, and it runs outside the council's deadline.

Rural land (suelo rústico). Stricter rules on volume, use and extension — the recurring theme for fincas around Godelleta, L'Eliana and the Camp de Túria.

The consequence is rarely that something is forbidden. The consequence is that it takes longer and the design has to be shaped around it. Establishing this beforehand costs a week; discovering it after filing costs a design round and several months.

Building without a license in Spain: fines and consequences

The consequences escalate, and they do not stop at the fine.

The fine is often calculated as a percentage of the value of the works carried out — on an €80,000 renovation that is not a parking ticket. A stop notice follows: the council halts the work, and in the worst case issues an orden de restitución, restoring the original state at your expense. Your insurer can decline claims on an unlicensed structure. And the statutory guarantees on the work — one, three and ten years under Spanish construction law — depend on properly licensed work with signed technical supervision, so they fall away too.

Retrospective permission and legalising existing works

If work has already been done — by you, or more often by a previous owner — the route is legalización: applying retrospectively, with a technical report demonstrating that what exists complies with current planning rules.

Two outcomes are possible. Where the work is compatible with the development plan, it can usually be legalised: you pay the tax and fees, plus a penalty, and the property is regularised. Where it is not compatible — it breaches setbacks, exceeds the permitted volume, or sits on land where it should never have been — legalisation is refused, and demolition may be ordered.

There are time limits after which the council can no longer act, but they vary by regime and by the nature of the breach, and certain categories never time out. Never assume you are safe because the work is old. Have it assessed against the current position before you buy, and before you apply for anything else — because the moment you file a new application, the council looks at the property as it stands today.

AFO and DAFO: why they don't apply here

English-language content about Spanish property routinely refers to AFO or DAFO certificates as the solution for illegally built rural property. This is Andalusian terminology — Declaración de Asimilado a Fuera de Ordenación — and it belongs to Andalusian planning law.

It does not apply in the Comunidad Valenciana. Valencia has its own framework under the LOTUP, with its own procedures for works that are fuera de ordenación and its own route for minimising the territorial impact of unlicensed rural building. The concepts are related; the procedure, the paperwork and the criteria are not. If an adviser offers you a DAFO for a property in Jávea or Denia, that is a sign they are working from Andalusian material.

The Land Registry problem when you sell

For overseas owners this is the point that bites hardest and is understood least. Unlicensed work cannot be registered at the Registro de la Propiedad. Your property stays recorded with the old floor area and the old volume.

In practice: the extension you built and paid for does not legally exist. On sale, the discrepancy between the Land Registry, the cadastre and reality surfaces during conveyancing, the buyer's bank declines to lend, and you are negotiating a price reduction or a rushed legalisation under time pressure. This is also why "sort your deeds first" is sound advice: check that the escritura and cadastre match the building as it stands before you apply for anything.

After the works: certificado final, certificate of habitation and the Land Registry

The paperwork does not end with the license. On an obra mayor the dirección facultativa signs the certificado final de obra. With that you then apply, depending on the work, for the licencia de primera ocupación or a renewed cédula de habitabilidad — the certificate of habitation, which confirms the property is fit to live in.

That document matters more than its dull name suggests: you need it for utility connections and contracts, it is routinely requested on sale, and in the Comunidad Valenciana it is required for a tourist rental license. It expires, and older properties often need a renewal (licencia de segunda ocupación) that nobody thinks about until a buyer's solicitor asks.

Where you have extended, the cadastre must be updated and the extension registered (declaración de obra nueva) at the Land Registry. Only then does your property on paper match the one you own.

Keep the whole file: decision notice, ICIO and fee receipts, the project, the certificado final, installation warranties and invoices. On resale that folder is the difference between a smooth completion and three months of delay.

Seven mistakes that delay your license

Starting before the license is granted. The commonest mistake and immediately the most expensive.
Declaring too low a construction budget. The council checks against reference values and assesses the difference.
Cadastre and Land Registry that don't match the building — usually thanks to a previous owner.
Choosing the wrong route, such as a declaración responsable for what is really an obra mayor.
Not checking the plot figures first and having a design drawn that exceeds them.
Filing an incomplete file, after which every requerimiento costs weeks or months.
Letting the validity lapse — six months to start, eighteen to finish — and applying to extend too late.

Building licenses by town hall: Valencia, Jávea, Moraira and Denia

The regional law is the same across the Comunidad Valenciana, but implementation is municipal. ICIO rate, tasa, forms, digital procedure and real processing time all differ by council. An experience in Denia tells you nothing about Godelleta — and an experience in Andalucía or Mallorca tells you nothing about any of them.

In Valencia city you are dealing with a large, digitalised administration, extensive planning rules and, in the old quarters, frequent additional protection. In Jávea (Xàbia) and Denia, coastal zone, sloping plots and protected surroundings come into play more often. In Moraira (Teulada) and the surrounding coastal municipalities there are detailed rules on volume, plot ratio and boundary setbacks on villa plots. Inland around Godelleta, L'Eliana and the Camp de Túria, rural land classification is the recurring theme.

Our rule: obtain your own council's ordinance and fee schedule before you budget, not after. On every project we take on, that is the first thing we do.

Not sure what applies in your municipality? Tell us the town and the type of work, and we'll tell you which route is likely to apply and where the delays usually sit there. It costs you one message. WhatsApp: +34 671 476 131

An English-speaking builder in Valencia: license and renovation in one contract

The difference between this guide and most English-language material on the subject: the rest is written by law firms, property portals and expat blogs, and it ends by advising you to consult a professional. We are that professional, and we run this process in these municipalities every week.

Martin Renovación 360° is led by Marcos Martin Feige, a German master craftsman with over 35 years' experience in construction and finishing, based in Godelleta with projects across Valencia and the Costa Blanca.

In practice that means:

One point of contact for the license route, the architect, the technical supervision and the build — you are not contracting three parties who blame each other.
English, German, Dutch or Spanish as the working language. No translated emails to a town hall, no interpreter's invoice.
Daily photographs and video of progress, so you follow the site without flying out — which matters when you only have 90 days in 180.
Material selection with you, showroom visits included; and when you're not here, we go and send you the options.
We hold the file. Electronic notifications are monitored, requerimientos answered, deadlines diarised — while you are at home.

Renovation checklist: from license to sign-off

Obtain the planning search and check what your plot allows.
Classify the work: declaración responsable, obra menor or obra mayor.
Check the ICIO rate and tasa for your municipality — and ask about reductions.
Confirm the escritura and cadastre match the building as it stands.
On an obra mayor: appoint the architect, prepare the project, obtain the visado.
Assemble documents: escritura, cadastre, NIE, budget, waste plan.
Check the special cases: coastal zone, listed status, rural land, community of owners.
File electronically — with a digital certificate or through a power of attorney.
Pay ICIO and tasa; diarise the decision and its deadlines.
Only now agree a start date with the builder.
Display the site notice; the supervisor oversees the build.
Obtain the certificado final de obra.
Apply for the certificate of habitation / primera ocupación.
Update the cadastre and register any extension at the Land Registry.
Archive the complete file — you will need it when you sell.

In short

There are three routes in the Comunidad Valenciana: declaración responsable, obra menor and obra mayor.
The dividing line is structure, floor area, layout and façade. Touch any of them and it is an obra mayor with a mandatory architect's project.
Check your plot's buildable figures before appointing an architect.
On an obra mayor budget roughly 9% to 12% of the construction sum for ICIO (2–4%), fees, project and supervision.
Timescales: immediate (declaración responsable), 4–12 weeks (obra menor), 3–6 months (obra mayor).
Licenses generally lapse after 6 months without a start and 18 months without completion.
Silencio administrativo is not approval in planning matters — get the decision in writing.
Applying from the UK is possible with NIE, a digital certificate or a power of attorney.
AFO/DAFO is Andalusian and does not apply here.
Every rate and deadline varies by municipality.

FAQ — building licenses in Valencia (Spain)

Do I need planning permission in Valencia for a small renovation?

Spain doesn't use the term "planning permission", but yes — you almost always need something, usually the lightest form, a declaración responsable. Only genuine household maintenance falls outside. Once a contractor, skip or scaffolding is involved, assume you need at least a declaración responsable.

What's the difference between obra mayor and obra menor?

An obra mayor affects the structure, floor area, layout, use or appearance of the building and requires an architect's technical project. An obra menor goes beyond maintenance but leaves the structure untouched, and generally needs no full project.

What is a declaración responsable?

A declaration in which you confirm, on your own responsibility, that your work falls within the permitted category. You can start in principle immediately; the council inspects afterwards. It's for maintenance and finishing work with no structural or pipework changes.

How much does a building permit cost in Valencia?

On an obra mayor typically 9% to 12% of the construction sum: the ICIO (2–4% depending on the municipality), the council's tasa, the architect's project and supervision fees (around 5–10%) and the visado. On a declaración responsable it's a low fixed fee.

How long does a building lisence take in Spain?

A declaración responsable is immediate, an obra menor around 4–12 weeks, an obra mayor around 3–6 months from a complete submission. After grant you usually have six months to start and eighteen to finish.

Can I get retrospective planning permission in Valencia?

There is a legalisation procedure for work already carried out, provided it complies with current planning rules. Where it doesn't — it breaches setbacks or exceeds permitted volume — legalisation can be refused and demolition ordered. Have it assessed before you buy or before you file anything new.

How do I find an English-speaking builder in Valencia?

Look for three things: a firm that carries out the work rather than sub-contracting everything on, demonstrable projects in your area, and willingness to take on the license process and site coordination rather than referring you to three separate parties.

Which license does your renovation need?

You don't need to work this out yourself, and you certainly don't need to appoint an architect to find out.

Send us three things on WhatsApp: the municipality and address of the property, a short description of what you want done, and a few photos of the room or façade in question.

You'll get back: which of the three routes applies to your project, an estimate of the licence costs based on your own town hall's ICIO rate, and the timescale you should realistically plan for. In English, usually within a few working days.

No quote to accept, no obligation. And if you'd rather carry on with your own architect afterwards, at least you'll be starting from the right figures.

WhatsApp: +34 671 476 131 · Martin Renovación 360° — Godelleta (Valencia) · EN · DE · NL · ES

Building License in Spain: Obra Mayor or Obra Menor? (Valencia & Costa Blanca)