Rules for business premises in Spain
Building assessment report (IEE) and ITE
The building assessment report (IEE) certifies the state of repair, accessibility and energy efficiency of a block of flats. Spanish national law only says the authorities may ask for it (art. 29.1 TRLSRU); when and how often, and the ITE inspection, are set by each autonomous community or municipality.
Also known asIEE · ITE · building condition survey · technical building inspection
What is left of the national law
The consolidated Land and Urban Renewal Act (Royal Legislative Decree 7/2015, known as TRLSRU) used to regulate a full report: who signed it, which buildings and on what timetable. Constitutional Court judgment 143/2017 of 14 December struck down sections 2 to 6 of art. 29, art. 30 and the second transitional provision, because the State was imposing the specific method and procedures. Art. 29.1 remains: owners of properties in blocks of flats “may be required” by the authorities to show the state of repair, compliance with universal accessibility rules and the level of energy efficiency.
The ITE is regional or municipal
The technical building inspection (ITE, inspección técnica de edificios) is the periodic check required by each autonomous community's planning laws and by municipal by-laws. One example read in its own law: in the Community of Madrid, owners of buildings more than thirty years old must commission, every ten years, an inspection of their state of repair from a competent technician or an approved body, and file the report with the town hall (Ley 9/2001, art. 169). Another region or municipality may set a different age, a different interval and different contents.
For a business with premises: if your bar occupies the ground floor of a 1985 block of flats, the inspection covers the whole building and the owners' community runs it. If it reveals necessary works, all the owners pay for them, including the owner of the premises, and the owners' meeting only shares out the special levy and sets the payment terms (LPH, the Spanish Horizontal Property Act, art. 10.2.a).
Worth knowing
The national IEE no longer requires an inspection at any particular age. Guides that still talk about a nationwide timetable are quoting the one the Constitutional Court struck down. Besides, art. 29.1 only covers blocks of flats: an industrial unit or an office building falls outside it, although its municipality's ITE may reach it. And it is not the building logbook: the logbook records the works; the report looks at the building's condition today.
Sources
Related terms
- Horizontal property (propiedad horizontal)Horizontal property (propiedad horizontal) is the Spanish legal regime for a building divided into flats or commercial units: each has its own owner and shares the common parts with the rest according to its share. It is governed by Ley 49/1960 (LPH), except in Catalonia, whose Civil Code has its own rules.
- Building logbook (Libro del Edificio)The building logbook (Libro del Edificio) is the record of the finished works handed over to those who use the building: the design and its changes, the handover certificate, the parties involved and the instructions for use and maintenance, with a maintenance plan. The LOE (art. 7) and the CTE (art. 8) require it.
- Property manager (administrador de fincas)The administrador de fincas is the person who manages an owners' community in Spain: drafts the budget, sees to upkeep, orders urgent repairs and collects and pays. The Horizontal Property Act simply calls this role the ‘administrador’ and lets an owner or a professional fill it (arts. 13 and 20).