Guide · The fitting
Do you need a permit to replace a kitchen in Spain?
The KÜINA team · Updated October 11, 2026
The short answer
If you replace units and appliances without moving the sink or touching partitions or the façade, this is a prior notification: you file it at the town hall, pay a small fee and start almost immediately. Move the kitchen to another room, open a partition or cut a new extraction outlet, and you need a building permit and a technician. Either way, notify the owners association in writing.
The two cases, and how to tell which one you are in
Almost every doubt resolves with one question: are you moving something that is not yours? The units are yours. The partition, the soil stack, the light well and the façade are not entirely yours.
| What you plan to do | Usual procedure | Technician needed |
|---|---|---|
| Replace units, worktop and appliances in the same position | Prior notification | No |
| Change the wall tiling or the floor | Prior notification | No |
| Move the sink a few centimetres along the same wall | Prior notification | No |
| Move the sink to another wall (new waste run to the stack) | Prior notification, sometimes a permit | Advisable |
| Remove or open a non-load-bearing partition | Notification or permit, depending on the town | Nearly always |
| Touch a load-bearing wall or a column | Building permit | Yes, mandatory |
| Move the kitchen to a different room | Building permit | Yes |
| Cut a new extraction outlet to the façade or a light well | Building permit | Yes |
| Enclose a balcony or gallery to enlarge the kitchen | Building permit | Yes |
Most of the kitchens we fit fall into the first case, because they are designed around the services that are already there. That is why they are installed in two or three days rather than three weeks.
The prior notification, step by step
- Check whether your town hall takes it online. Almost all of them in the Barcelona and Girona provinces now do. You will need a digital certificate, idCAT or Cl@ve.
- Gather the data. Address and cadastral reference, a two-line description of the work, the construction budget (the building work, not the furniture) and the planned dates.
- Pay the fee and the ICIO. The fee is a small fixed amount; the ICIO is a percentage of the construction budget, set by each municipality in its by-law. Ask for the exact figure before you file.
- Keep the receipt. It is what you show if the local police come by or a neighbour asks. Many town halls require it to be visible on site.
- Notify the owners association in writing (next section), and in parallel arrange the skip or rubble bag if it will stand on the street.
Notifying the owners association: what the law says
The Spanish Horizontal Property Act lets any owner modify the architectural elements inside their own dwelling, on two conditions: that it does not impair the safety of the building, its general structure, its configuration or its external appearance, and that it does not harm another owner’s rights. And it adds one specific duty: to give prior notice of those works to whoever represents the association, meaning the president or the managing agent.
- In writing and dated. An email to the managing agent is fine and leaves a record. You are not asking permission: you are giving notice.
- Two lines are enough. What is being done, when it starts, how long it lasts, and the installer’s phone number.
- If a common element is involved, it changes. The main soil stack, the façade, the light well and the floor slab are common. That is no longer a notice: it is an authorisation the general meeting decides.
- A new extraction outlet to a light well or the façade is almost never just a notice. It is the single most common source of neighbour disputes in a kitchen renovation, and the one to settle in writing before you buy anything.
If your kitchen is in the top row of the table — same water points, no partitions — the notice is close to a formality. But it is a formality that takes five minutes and stops a complaint from halting the work on day two.
Hours, noise and the rubble
None of this appears on the permit, and it is what actually causes friction with neighbours.
| Item | How it is usually regulated |
|---|---|
| Hours for noisy work | Working days, generally 8:00 to 20:00; each municipal by-law sets its own |
| Saturdays and holidays | Many towns forbid noisy work; check yours |
| Rubble bag or skip on the street | Needs municipal authorisation to occupy public space, charged per day |
| Construction waste | Goes to an authorised handler or the municipal tip; keep the receipt |
| Use of the lift | Many associations require it to be protected; some ban it for building materials |
The paperwork you should be handed at the end
These are the documents that matter ten years from now, when you sell the flat or when something fails and someone asks who touched what.
| Document | When it is needed | Who issues it |
|---|---|---|
| Gas installation certificate (CIG) | If any gas point was touched, even just to cap it | Authorised gas installer |
| Electrical installation certificate (CIE) | If a new circuit was run or the power was increased | Authorised electrician |
| Receipt for the notification or permit | Always | Town hall |
| Waste management receipt | If there was rubble | Authorised handler or municipal tip |
| Warranty for the units and the appliances | Always | Manufacturer and store |
| Cleaning and maintenance sheet | Always | Manufacturer |
The gas certificate is the one most people forget, precisely when the gas is being removed. If you go from a gas hob to induction and the supply point is capped off, that is work on a gas installation and an authorised installer has to certify it. A cap fitted by hand is not enough, and it is exactly the sort of thing that surfaces on the day of a sale.
Questions we get asked
Can I replace a kitchen without filing anything at the town hall?
No. Even the simplest job — units, worktop and appliances in the same position — needs a prior notification. It is cheap and quick, and in most towns it is done online, but it is not optional. What it does not need is a permit or a technician’s project.
Do I need permission from the owners association?
Permission, no; notice, yes. The Horizontal Property Act requires prior notice of the works to the president or managing agent. It becomes permission — a vote at the general meeting — only if you touch a common element: the main soil stack, the façade, a light well or the floor slab.
How much does a permit for a kitchen renovation cost?
It depends on the municipality and on the construction budget. There are two items: a fixed fee, usually a few tens of euros for a prior notification, and the ICIO, a percentage of the construction budget set by each town hall in its by-law. Ask your town hall for the exact figure before filing, and do not include the furniture in the construction budget.
Who files the notification, me or the store?
The owner is the holder of the works, so normally the owner files it. Ask before you sign: some installers handle it as part of the service and some do not, and it is one of the things worth having in writing on the quotation.
Shall we look at it with your kitchen on screen?
An hour in the showroom, your kitchen on screen and the price fixed the same day. No commitment, and no follow-up calls unless you want them.
