There are three routes to authorise building work in Marbella, not two. Alongside the minor
works licence and the major works licence sits the responsible declaration, and that third route
redrew the map for anyone planning to renovate or build here. Which one applies is not your
choice: the law sets it by the scope of the work. And that classification decides the paperwork
you file, the taxes you pay and exactly when you pay them.
We explain it the way we see it on site. We coordinate
licences and permits on every project we build in Marbella and along the Costa del Sol, and
there is one part of the process that barely appears anywhere and is precisely where people get
stuck.
The three routes: responsible declaration, minor works, major works
Marbella Town Hall keeps all three procedures running, each with its own published
process. The responsible declaration covers the works listed in article 138
of the LISTA, the Andalusian land law. The minor works licence and the
major works licence remain in place for everything else.
Neither you nor your builder draws the line. The practical test is how far the work touches
three things: the structure of the building, the built volume and the use of the property. Retiling
a bathroom and building a new pool do not go the same way, and getting that wrong at the
start throws out the whole schedule.
Settle which of the three applies before you sign a quote. It is not a formality: it changes
the timeline, the technical documents that have to be drawn up, and when the money
leaves.
What you pay: the planning fee and the ICIO
Two separate taxes, constantly confused. On one side, the planning licence
fee. On the other, the ICIO, the tax on construction, installations
and works. Both apply on all three routes. What changes is how and when they are settled.
| Route | How the fee and the ICIO are settled |
|---|---|
| Responsible declaration | On a single payment order |
| Minor works licence | On two separate payment orders |
| Major works licence | The fee with the outline project; the ICIO later, when the detailed project is approved |
That last row is the one that surprises people. With major works the cost does not land all
at once: it splits in time, and the ICIO can arrive months after the fee, when you thought that
part was behind you.
The rates and the actual amounts are set by the municipal tax bylaw, so you will not find
an invented figure here. What you can anticipate is the mechanics, which is exactly what
catches almost everyone out the first time.
A granted licence is not permission to start
This is the most expensive mistake and the most common. Marbella has its own procedure,
the prior notification of commencement of works under a planning licence,
and it is a separate step from the licence itself. Plenty of people read the grant as the starting
gun, bring in the machinery and begin without filing it.
On top of that sits a cost that almost never appears in the quote you were given: the
public highway occupation fee, charged for hoardings, scaffolding,
trenches, test pits and skips. On any renovation touching the façade or generating rubble, it
turns up practically every time.
Buying a property with work already under way
It happens more often than you would think in this market: the property changes hands
with live works. The licence does not transfer by itself, but it can be transferred. The Town Hall
has a prior notification for change of holder and transfer of a licence or responsible
declaration, and that is exactly what has to be filed.
This is where being an estate agency and a construction company at once changes things.
The purchase and the continuity of the works are planned together rather than one after the
other, which avoids the dead weeks with the site stopped waiting on paperwork.
Work done without a licence: what to ask for before you buy
This is a question for before the deposit, not after the deed. Marbella has three specific
procedures to clear it up, and they exist precisely because the situation arises in this
municipality:
- Certificate of no planning infringement
- Administrative building certificate
- Recognition of assimilated out-of-plan status
An enclosed extension, a porch turned into a living room or a pool built without paperwork
will not always stop a purchase. But they change what you can do with the property afterwards,
they condition any future renovation and sometimes they change the price. Asking costs you
one procedure; not asking can cost you the deal.
How we handle it
On every project we build, coordinating licences and permits sits inside the brief rather
than beside it. You can see the work we have delivered, with before-and-after galleries, on our
construction page. If you are after finished product, the
catalogue of new developments across the Costa del
Sol is here.
