Repsol YPF

If this is the situation you are in, and you are going to carry out substantial renovations, you must inform the president of the residents’ association of the block where your property is located, communicating it in writing and detailing the scope of the work, the different tasks and the length of the project. Once the residents’ association has authorised the work, you must go to your local council’s town planning department in order to apply for the appropriate planning permission. 

There are no global regulations governing town planning, since the legislation is local in nature, neither is planning permission required in every case, however, it is worth enquiring about these issues if you are considering substantial renovations. Remember that the work on your home cannot affect the building structure, either inside or on the façade, it must not affect your neighbours and must not endanger the building. 

It is worth asking the council about the current regulations concerning the building criteria established by the Technical Building Code, which makes the use of non-pollutant materials and elements compulsory and promotes the implementation of systems which are safe and environmentally-friendly. It is essential that you find out about all of these issues and that you consider the possibility of including all kinds of environmental improvements as well as solutions which improve accessibility. Likewise, it is worth knowing what grants the Housing Department offers for renovating an old property. 

Disputes with neighbours  

Although obtaining planning permission and authorisation from the president of the residents’ association are the important steps for carrying out work on your home,  respecting the people who live in the building is a top priority that you should not neglect, since it is very easy for disputes to arise between neighbours when substantial work is involved.  

Irrespective of what the regulations state, be strict with the working hours which, although they vary in the different autonomous regions, are generally as follows: on working days, from 9am to 2pm and from 4pm to 8pm, and on Saturdays, from 10am to 2pm. Do not use the weekend to make progress because if you compromise your neighbours’ rights they could step in and start legal proceedings after having used other alternative routes of complaint. Remember that the noise of building work is highly annoying and look at things from other peoples’ point of view. 

Likewise, you must be strict with cleaning the communal areas of the property, which will undoubtedly become dirty with the builders’ comings and goings and when moving materials. You should hire a skip in order to dispose of rubble (you can find out about this from the council). We recommend that you clean the area affected by the building work every day, and that you ask the builders to take care when moving the different elements so that they do not damage any part of the building. Talk to the residents of neighbouring properties, ask them to be patient and pay twice the attention in the event that they are elderly or sick people, groups which are particularly sensitive to noise. Do not forget that disputes with neighbours can do more damage than the building work itself. 

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- Building your own house

- Your new flat