Minor works in Barcelona: which procedure and time limits

Prior consultation: how to find out which procedure applies

If you are wondering which minor-works permit you need in Barcelona, the official starting point is the prior consultation. According to the Ajuntament, it shows the intervention regime that must be processed (licence, communication, assabentat or urgent action) and the documents to include with the application.²

The application is made by the owner of the works or their representative. It is free, it can be done online, by telephone, in person or by mobile, and a digital certificate is not needed. Legal persons, entities and professionals must do it electronically.²

Always ask for the cadastral reference of the property and the applicant's details. For communications or licences, also the budget for the works (material execution cost).²

What you receive depends on the outcome. If it is assabentat, you obtain admission directly online and can start once it is processed. For the other regimes you receive a guide and an identifying number for the consultation, which you must keep to request the works file.²

The prior consultation is valid for six months. After that period, or if you lose the identifier, a new one must be made.² In addition, the same applicant must submit the prior consultation and the file, because the number is linked to their identity.³

Interior renovations without changing layout, structure or façade: the assabentat

Type III works are governed by the assabentat regime. According to the ordinance, it is notified to the Ajuntament before starting, at citizen service offices, in writing or by electronic means. Works may start the next day, you do not have to submit documentation, and the execution period is three months. If that period passes without completion, it must be notified again.¹

There is an important limit: the assabentat does not authorise actions contrary to urban planning law or planning instruments, and it does not replace the licence or the minor-works communication where these are required.¹

Minor-works communication: what is submitted and when works can start

For type I and II works a communication is submitted. It is submitted before starting, on a standard form, with the documentation of annexes 4 and 5, a responsible declaration from the technician who signs the project or documentation, the technical suitability report and, in the cases set by the health and safety rules, the appointment of the coordinating technician.¹ Processing it draws on the prior consultation number and the reference of that report.³

Start times depend on the type:

• Type I: the municipal service checks the documentation within one month of receipt. If that month passes without notification from the Ajuntament, the works may start. In any case, the provisional settlement of the construction tax must have been paid and the corresponding guarantees lodged beforehand.¹
• Type II: works may start the day after the documentation is submitted to the municipal register, once it has been verified, the provisional settlement paid and the required guarantees lodged.¹

Finally, the ordinance sets six months from the start date stated in the communication, which may not exceed three months from when you are authorised to start. The period may be extended by half if you communicate it before it runs out.¹ These periods are those of the consolidated ordinance text we have read; check them against the current municipal sheet.¹

The municipal sheet uses different vocabulary: it speaks of immediate and deferred communication, and says that the deferred one is resolved in one month, not counting delays by the applicant or mandatory reports.³ It also indicates that immediate and deferred communications end within six months from the stated start date, and the assabentat within three months from notifying the Ajuntament.³ We have not verified that the equivalence with the ordinance types is exact, so we cite each source in its own terms.

If the communication procedure is not suitable for the type or circumstances of the works, the Ajuntament does not accept the communication and tells you the procedure you must follow.¹ It may also declare a communication ineffective where the works do not conform to the applicable regime, contravene urban or sectoral rules, or the information submitted is inaccurate or false. In that case the works may not continue.¹

Individuals may submit the file electronically or in person at a citizen service office. Legal persons, entities and professionals must do so electronically.³

If you hire a company: written quote and advance payments

When it is not possible to fix the price exactly in advance, the Catalan Consumer Code (Codi de consum de Catalunya) gives the consumer the right to receive a quote in writing, or by another means that proves its authorship. It must state at least the identity and address of the provider, the operations, the amount, the period of validity and the approximate date and expected duration of the service. The quote binds the provider until its validity expires.⁴

The same rule states that any sum paid in advance by the consumer is to be guaranteed.⁴