How does a home renovation in València work, from start to finish?

Renovating a home is a sequence of decisions, not just a sequence of trades. The useful question at each stage is: what must be known, approved or recorded before the next stage begins? This guide follows a flat or house from the first brief to the handover, with links to the detail when you need it.

1. Define what the home needs to do

Write a brief before choosing finishes. Who will live there? Which rooms feel too small, dark or awkward? Do you need a quieter bedroom, easier access to a shower, room to work from home or more storage? Separate essentials from things you would choose if the budget allows.

Record what should stay: a sound kitchen, original joinery, a patterned floor or a layout that already works. A whole-home renovation does not mean every existing material must be removed. Send the address, current photographs and any floor plan with your free-estimate enquiry. If the home is not yours yet, use the pre-purchase checklist before committing to a layout.

2. Understand the property before drawing the solution

A site visit establishes dimensions, access and visible condition. The team checks the existing installations and asks about leaks, previous work and the building’s shared services. Concealed defects may require opening-up or a specialist investigation; a visual visit cannot establish everything behind a floor or wall.

In a flat, ask for the community’s rules and relevant building reports. In a house, include the roof, façade, ground-floor walls and external spaces in the discussion. The address check covers the municipal planning information and any applicable protection. Our district guides help you identify local questions; the individual building must still be checked.

3. Agree the right design team

Interior layout and material selection, architectural design and structural calculations are different tasks. The scope determines which professionals are needed and who signs the technical documents. LOE article 2 requires a project for existing-building works that alter architectural configuration, including specified substantial changes to exterior composition, volume or the overall structural system, and changes of characteristic use. It also covers interventions affecting protected elements of listed buildings; not every interior refit meets these tests.^[1] For residential building work within the LOE’s project requirements, the law assigns the architectural project and works direction to an architect, and material execution direction to a technical architect. Specialist designers and other technicians act within their legal competence and the agreed project team.^[1]

We coordinate those appointments with independent professionals where required. The written scope identifies their work, deliverables, fees and responsibilities. You should know who is designing, who is directing any regulated work and who is installing each system. The professional roles guide explains the distinctions.

4. Test the options and freeze the specification

Compare layouts against real dimensions, furniture, circulation, daylight and the routes available for services. Resolve the position of the kitchen, bathrooms, heating or cooling equipment and key storage before finalising finishes. The Código Técnico de la Edificación applies to existing-building interventions within its scope, with compliance justified in the project or technical report. Where full application is not feasible for specified technical, economic, planning or heritage reasons, the competent designer must justify the achievable solution and its limitations.^[2]

Review drawings and samples together. A useful specification names what is included, how much is allowed for each selected item, what is excluded and what remains dependent on investigation. Approving a sketch is different from approving a complete construction package. Record which version is the agreed one.

5. Settle permissions, the community and the price

The applicable municipal route follows the proposed work and the building. A declaración responsable covers the works listed in TRLOTUP art. 233.1, and the art. 233.2 works when an ECUV or a professional college has certified them.^{[4, 5]} A licence is needed for the works listed in TRLOTUP art. 232, and for art. 233.2 works that do not carry a certificate.^{[4, 5]} Community requirements are a separate question. An owner must notify the community’s representative before works inside a flat. Article 7.1 allows those alterations only if they do not impair the building’s safety, general structure or exterior configuration, or prejudice another owner’s rights; notice alone does not authorise changes to common elements.^[3]

Our permits guide explains the routes. A free estimate comes first; the fixed-price quote in writing follows the agreed scope. It separates the works, professional appointments, taxes and official charges. Do not confuse a filing receipt, a community decision and a municipal licence: each records something different.

6. Prepare the site and construction sequence

Agree access, protection of retained surfaces, delivery arrangements, waste handling, the rooms available to occupants and the planned service interruptions. For works within RD 105/2008’s project requirements, the project includes a waste management study and the contractor prepares the corresponding management plan; waste transfers need documentary evidence. Minor domestic repair works have a specific exception from those national producer and holder duties and follow local requirements.^[6] Any suspected hazardous material is assessed before disturbing it; see waste and asbestos.

The programme follows the actual dependencies: preparatory work, any designed structural work, service routes, closing walls, finishes and final fittings. Delivery lead times and discoveries can affect that sequence. The programme should show which owner decisions are still needed and when they affect the work.

7. Check work before it disappears

Ask for planned inspection points before pipes, cables, waterproofing or structural connections are concealed. The relevant professional or installer decides the appropriate inspection and testing for their scope. Photographs provide a useful record, but do not replace required tests, certificates or technical supervision.

If a change becomes necessary, record the reason, proposed solution, price and programme effect before authorising it. The project manager keeps the decision trail together. Owners abroad can follow the same process through scheduled updates and written approvals.

8. Inspect, document and hand over

Walk through the property against the agreed specification. Record outstanding items with a responsible person and an agreed response, demonstrate the controls and identify any access panels or isolators. For building works covered by the LOE, the completed project with approved changes, reception record, identification of participants and use and maintenance instructions form the building book delivered to users. The documents required for a smaller renovation depend on its scope and installation work.^[1]

The handover pack should match the work actually carried out: approvals, drawings where applicable, installation certificates, operating instructions, product documents, waste records and a clear list of outstanding matters. Use our handover checklist to prepare the visit. Keep the documents with the property, including the versions that show approved changes.

What we coordinate and what you decide

We coordinate the design and construction scope, the appointed professionals, municipal submissions within our agreed appointment, trades, progress information and handover. You approve the brief, spending, design choices and changes, and authorise any representation or filings. Statutory decisions remain with the relevant authority and community; they cannot be promised by a contractor.