Apartment Renovation Permits in Madrid: A Practical Check

Use an address and a defined proposal

This guide concerns the city of Madrid, not every municipality in the Madrid region or the rest of Spain. Prepare the address, cadastral reference, existing plan and proposed changes. Describe walls removed, service movements, facade equipment and any work in shared areas. “Small renovation” is not enough information to establish the procedure.

The municipality’s OLDRUAM checklist starts with feasibility and restrictions. Use the heritage-protection guide to identify the property and protected elements. A normal-looking interior can form part of a protected building. The designer should check the actual record and any sectoral authorisations before promising that a familiar procedure will be sufficient.

First test whether the work is exempt

OLDRUAM article 6 excludes specified activities from licence or declaración responsable. One example is conservation consisting of replacing interior finishes in a single dwelling or premises, or common areas of residential buildings, when they are not architecturally protected. Its installation-renewal exemption has conditions including the same position, similar dimensions, equivalent requirements and the existing legal authorisation.

The municipal overview gives simple examples such as painting or replacing finishes. Do not turn those examples into a rule that every kitchen or bathroom remodel is exempt. Removing a wall, moving installations or affecting protected fabric changes the question. Ask the professional to record the provision and facts supporting non-subjection for your exact scope.

Then distinguish declaration from licence

Routes to establish for this Madrid project
Route	What must be established
No urban-planning intervention	The complete work fits the ordinance exemptions and their conditions
Declaración responsable	Intervention is required, the work is outside the licence list, and required documents/authorisations are in place
Licencia urbanística	The work falls within annex I or another applicable licence requirement
Other authorisations	Heritage, specialised installations, waste or street occupation are assessed separately

The official declaration procedure covers activities requiring municipal intervention that are not controlled by licence. The licence procedure points to annex I of the ordinance. A technician should assess structural changes, protected elements and other complex work against the actual list. The contractor’s use of “obra menor” is not a substitute for that classification.

A declaration is a responsibility, not a rubber stamp

Madrid states that the declaration takes effect on entry in the municipal register when accompanied by the required documentation and requirements. That condition matters. A receipt for an incomplete or inappropriate filing is not evidence that the proposal is lawful. Later checking, control and inspection remain possible.

Agree who prepares technical information, who is the holder, whether someone acts as representative and who keeps the submitted package. The procedure identifies SLIM as the municipal submission system and lists documentation according to the work. A private homeowner should not sign compliance statements without understanding the drawings, reports and other approvals on which they depend.

Separate the different money movements

Madrid’s tax service and the fiscal ordinance for 2026, articles 23–25, give ICIO at 3.75% for the relevant new work. A legacy 4% statement on the general licence page should not override the current fiscal text. The taxable base is material-execution cost with specified exclusions, not the builder’s entire gross invoice.

Keep urban-service fees, public-space charges, professional fees and any waste deposit on separate lines. A deposit expected to be returned still needs cash at the right time. Check the conditions for return and close-out; do not hide it inside a fee that appears permanently spent.

Do not lose the street and building questions

Article 6 expressly preserves requirements for construction waste and public-space occupation even when work is exempt from the urban-planning instruments. Madrid has a separate container and construction-waste-bag procedure. Confirm the proposed location, carrying route, duration, application and payment responsibility before booking delivery.

A municipal route does not settle ownership rights. Under LPH article 7, private work has limits and prior communication to the community representative is required. Shared drains, facade terminals and common structures need their own assessment and any required agreement. Keep the municipal file and the community correspondence connected, without treating either as a replacement for the other.

Ask precise questions before fixing a start date

Does this address or any affected element have heritage protection?
Which provision classifies these exact works, including installation movements?
Which drawings, technical documents and other authorisations are required?
When does this route permit work to begin, and what conditions remain?
Who pays each charge or deposit and keeps the proof?
What changes require reassessment and which completion documents close the file?

Send the plan and description when asking the municipal information service; an answer to a vague telephone question may concern a different project. Save the response with its date and assumptions. If the design changes after the classification, ask for the route to be checked again before building the changed scope.

Leave with a start-ready file

A defined scope and property/protection check.
A documented route confirmed for that scope.
The applicable technical documents, authority submissions and other approvals.
A cost and payment list with responsibility for fees, taxes and deposits.
A construction programme consistent with the actual start conditions.
A list of inspections, records and completion actions.

Reno Pro can hold notes, tasks and recorded costs alongside the plan. It does not issue permissions or verify urban-planning compliance. The useful preparation is not collecting the largest number of forms: it is establishing the correct route and the evidence required before the contractor opens the flat.

Sources, date and scope

Sources checked on 19 October 2026. Local procedures and examples concern the city of Madrid unless stated otherwise. IVA explanations concern the territory where that tax applies, rather than the separate tax systems of the Canary Islands, Ceuta or Melilla. Original worked calculations are teaching examples for the stated scope, not market averages or contractor offers.