València’s 2026 ordinance is the starting point, but the address and complete scope decide the route. València’s licensing ordinance was approved by the Pleno on 22 December 2025, published in the BOP on 27 January 2026 and has been in force since 28 January 2026. It repealed the 2012 Ordenanza de Obras y Actividades.[1] Describe structural, installation and external changes before deciding that a project is a simple interior refurbishment.
The three routes
Listed exemptions. Article 14.f exempts specified interior jobs, including painting, replacing kitchen units and sanitaryware, adapting access doors and fitting appliances or air-conditioning, only when they do not affect the dwelling’s installations or the building’s general installations. The scope and any heritage restrictions must be checked first.[1] The condition matters: replacing units differs from moving plumbing or adding a circuit. A project cannot be classified only from the most visible finish.
Declaration. 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.[1, 2] A declaración responsable is a signed statement that the requirements are met, supported by the documents and consents required for that intervention.
Licence. A licence is needed for the works listed in TRLOTUP art. 232, and for art. 233.2 works that do not carry a certificate.[1, 2] A licence route involves municipal assessment and the conditions of the granted title. An owner’s preferred start date does not establish permission.
Structural work is not one uniform category. UR.LC.140 includes certain structural modifications that do not replace or reinstate principal structural elements. A competent technician must establish the intervention, documentation and correct permission route before demolition; a structural change is not automatically covered by a simple interior-works declaration.[3, 2] Likewise, a protected property requires a check of the affected elements and applicable regime. The municipal ordinance provides a heritage viability consultation and specific documentation for protected properties and archaeological areas. Check the building’s catalogue entry, protected surroundings and the proposed intervention before choosing a permission route or altering original elements.[1] Historic descriptions of a job as obra menor or obra mayor are insufficient: use the categories in the 2026 ordinance.
Assemble the file before choosing a start date
- Define the complete work. Record the address, existing and proposed use, retained elements, layout, services, structure and external changes.
- Check protection and ownership. Obtain the relevant planning and catalogue information. Establish community and affected-owner requirements separately from municipal permission. [5]
- Identify professional documents. Under UR.LC.140, layout changes, specified secondary structural repairs and works affecting general installations require additional technical documents. These include the relevant technical report and drawings, basic safety study, waste study and technical direction appointment listed by the procedure.[3] The scope determines the technical report, project and appointments; a drawing alone is not necessarily a complete file.
- Use the right procedure. UR.LC.140 covers the specified maintenance and reform works in a dwelling or common element of a non-catalogued building. Its documentation changes with the scope; natural persons may file electronically or in person, while persons legally required to use electronic filing must do so.[3] UR.LC.135 covers the specified reform or rehabilitation of façades, roofs and party walls in non-catalogued buildings, subject to its scope and documentation requirements.[4] Public-space occupation is an additional check. A works declaration does not itself authorise scaffolding or temporary equipment to occupy public ground or airspace. UR.LC.135 requires the applicable public-domain occupation authorisation before that occupation begins.[4]
- Resolve uncertainty before commitment. Before buying or designing, the Ajuntament offers an informe urbanístico and planning or heritage viability consultations. Article 13 sets response periods of 1 month for the report and 3 months for the consultations; these are statutory periods, not promised project dates.[1] These are statutory periods, not a promise of a project decision on a particular day.
- Pay and submit the correct package. The tasa and ICIO are paid before the declaración responsable is filed.[3] We can prepare electronic filing with your authorised representation; individuals have the channel choice described in UR.LC.140.
Starting, changes and completion
A valid declaración responsable with all required documents enables the covered works to start on filing, subject to municipal checks. Filing is not a licence or confirmation that an unsuitable project is lawful.[1] Essential omissions, incorrect classification or non-compliant works can prevent lawful commencement or lead to enforcement. Keep the filing receipt and the complete submitted documents, not only a payment receipt.
Declared works must start within 6 months of filing and finish within 24 months of starting. The ordinance does not allow extensions except for stoppages caused by force majeure.[1] The 24-month completion period runs from the start, not submission. The start and completion of declared works must each be notified to the Ajuntament within 15 days of the event, with the documents required by article 28.[1] Record the actual dates and the documents supporting the notices.
A design change may affect the technical documents or permission route. Check that before executing it. At completion, keep the relevant notices, installation certificates and final records. Our handover checklist explains the file.
Owner and project team responsibilities
You provide the property documents, intended use and authority to represent you. We coordinate the agreed preparation with the appointed independent professionals and communicate decisions and conditions. The professional roles guide explains those appointments.
For a protected address, read the Ciutat Vella guide; for community consent use the owners’ community guide.