The opening and activity license is a compulsory municipal license so that a commercial, industrial or service activity can be carried out in a premises, warehouse or office. It consists of a document that certifies compliance with the conditions of habitability and use of that activity.

The opening or activity license is granted to the owner of a business for the development of a specific activity.

It must be renewed every time the activity carried out in the premises changes, there are modifications to it or the business owners change, for example in the event of a transfer.

When looking for a place, warehouse or office for your business, you must always bear in mind its suitability to the requirements for the type of activity to be developed. It is very important that you find out these requirements before starting the search (ask your Town Hall or a specialized company) to be able to use them as a filter.

To avoid unexpected costs, make sure that the premises meet all the requirements before closing the purchase or rental. Check them even if this activity was already carried out on the premises, since the regulations are increasingly demanding and premises with old opening licenses often do not comply with the current regulations, which is what the City Council will require of you.

There are two types of licenses depending on the degree of annoyances, damages and risks to people of the activity to develop:

• Innocuous activities: are those that do not generate significant discomfort, environmental impact (health, hygiene), damage to public or private property or risk to property or people. Many small businesses such as fashion stores or non-perishable food products, as well as small offices for the provision of various services, are considered safe activities.

• Qualified activities: are those considered annoying, unhealthy, harmful and / or dangerous (hospitality, industrial activities, certain shops and services) and that require the adoption of sanitary, safety and / or environmental corrective measures. Many of them can only be done on industrial land.

The only exempt activities are those professional, artisan and artistic activities that are carried out at home, as long as there is no direct sale or attention to the public and no inconvenience is caused to the neighbors.

Safe activities have a simpler legalization procedure, with lower requirements and associated costs. Even so, in the application it will generally be necessary to attach a technical report that includes plans of the premises made by a professional.

In the case of qualified activities, it is necessary to provide a more complete technical project that allows the corresponding municipal reports to be issued, which will vary according to the characteristics and size of the business (urban, industrial, health, environmental or legal reports).

The project must contemplate all the characteristics of the establishment and the activity to be carried out: location and distribution plans, dimensions, reforms to be carried out, facilities and compliance with applicable regulations.

Specifically, in all activities it will be very important to observe all the requirements of the accessibility law for disabled people and building licenses in the event that it is necessary to carry out reforms and works in the premises.

Then there are the applicable regulations for certain activities, such as soundproofing (pubs, discos, shows, workshops, etc.), hygiene and food handling (restaurants, bars, cafeterias, etc.) or regulations in case of fires (tourist accommodation , shows, industrial activities).

And remember that for annoying activities the permission of the Community of Neighbors is usually necessary and that with respect to activities in homes, licenses are no longer usually granted above the first floor of a residential building.

The cost of the opening license has two components:

• City council fees: they are calculated for each premises taking into account three factors: commercial relevance of the street, size of the premises and type of activity. The rates are logically higher for qualified activities and the more relevant a street is and the larger the premises. They vary from one City Council to another, from a minimal amount in small municipalities to several hundred euros for innocuous activities and more than a thousand in qualified activities in cities like Madrid.

• Cost of the report or technical project: it will depend on the complexity of the project to be carried out and the price that the company or selected professional has, and can range from a minimum of 600 to 1,000 euros for innocuous activities to double for qualified activities. In projects that involve works or require special permits (certain industrial activities) the cost can skyrocket up to 10,000 euros.

Royal Decree Law 19/2012 of May 25, on urgent measures to liberalize trade and certain services, introduced important new features to rationalize and make the granting of opening licenses by city councils more flexible, which was called at the time as express licenses.

Thus, in the case of premises of less than 300 square meters, the prior opening license is not required but a responsible declaration or prior communication to the City Council in which the entrepreneur agrees to have the corresponding opening license is sufficient. .

This change is applicable for new businesses but also for changes of ownership of commercial and service activities, as well as for building licenses in reforms that do not require a construction project.

In practice, this rule does not imply major changes since it is still necessary to present a technical report and pay municipal taxes, so the costs for the entrepreneur and the income for the municipal coffers remain similar. It will be accompanied by a responsible statement.

But with the presentation of these three documents, it is possible to start working while waiting, of course, for obtaining the definitive opening license once the City Council has carried out the relevant inspections.

The term of resolution or answer of the City council usually takes several months, very often even almost a year. It also varies depending on the workload and the City Council in question.

It is important to have ensured when you open your premises to the public and request the license that you meet all the necessary requirements for your activity, since otherwise you will be forced to close or correct the deficiencies detected when the municipal technicians visit you, and you may even have to pay some fine.

Thus, and in a systematic way, the process from the beginning to the end to have the exploitation of the activity and begin to work and obtain the expected income that we had dreamed of is structured in:

1. Previous Steps:

Before deciding to buy or rent a premises or warehouse, it is essential to obtain advice on the requirements that it must meet, and which will depend mainly on the type of activity that is going to be carried out there.

2. Preparation of the Activity Project or Opening Project:

The Activity or Opening Project must be prepared by a competent Technician, usually a Technical Architect.

The Activity Project contains a Report, Specifications, Budget, Safety Study and Plans in which all the characteristics of the establishment, dimensions, distribution, modifications to be made, facilities, cost of the works are indicated. As well as a description of the activity to be carried out, justification of compliance with the applicable regulations.

3. Project Visa by the Professional Association:

Once the Project has been prepared, it must be submitted together with the complementary documentation to the corresponding Official College CAATVALENCIA for its visa.

4. Municipal License Fees and Taxes:

Once the Project is approved, the next step is to pay the Municipal Opening License Fees. Each City Council has established prices for Licenses that you can consult in Licensing Rates in Madrid. The cost of the municipal activity license generally depends on several factors: type of activity to be carried out, location of the establishment, built area and budget for the material execution of the project.In some municipalities, the payment of fees is made once the granting of the license.

5. Application for an Opening License to the City Council:

With the receipt of having paid the Municipal Taxes, and all the technical and complementary documentation duly endorsed, you can proceed to the application for the opening license before the City Council.

6. Processing of the file by the City Council:

Once the documentation has been presented in the corresponding municipal registry, the file will be registered with the application for the license. The documentation will be reviewed, and if it is complete, the files will be resolved within a maximum period of no more than 15 days, one month, two or three months, depending on the procedure.

These deadlines will be interrupted in the event of a request or when a report from a body other than the one with the competence to resolve is mandatory.

7. Obtaining the Activity License:

Once the documentation presented by the technical services of the City Council has been reviewed, and they have responded favorably in their case to the additional requirements requested by them, they will proceed to the granting of the activity license and works license in their case that have been requested in the project.

When the periods indicated to resolve the license elapse, with the legally appropriate interruptions, without the municipal Administration having adopted an express resolution, administrative silence will operate.

8. Execution of construction or reform works:

Once the activity license is obtained that makes the effects of the building license, we can legally begin the execution of the reform and conditioning works of the establishment in accordance with the criteria established in the Activity Project.

9. Commissioning of the facilities:

After the completion of the works, a set-up is carried out in which the correct operation of the establishment's facilities and their adaptation to the execution project is checked. At this point, the final guarantees and certificates of the installers are collected.

10. Final certificate of work:

Final work certificate endorsed by the official college of the competent technician, stating that all the facilities of the activity have been carried out under his direction, adjusting to the corresponding activities and facilities license and the conditions provided in the current ordinances and regulations that apply to you.

11. Application for Operation License:

The purpose of the operating license is to authorize the putting into use of the buildings, premises or facilities, upon verification that they have been carried out in accordance with the conditions of the activities and facilities license and that they are duly completed and suitable, according to urban, environmental and safety conditions of your specific destination.

The exercise of any activity considered as qualified and the start-up of any installation, for which a license has been granted, is subject to an operating license.

The operating license will be requested by the holders of the activity and facility licenses, prior to their exercise or start-up, by submitting the following documents.

12. Visit of a competent technician from the City Council

Verify that the premises comply with the stipulations and thus ratify the granting of the opening license.

Do not hesitate, contact me if you are interested and I will help you from the beginning to the end so that your Local through the project / activity license is possible in the shortest time. You will not regret it, I will be happy to help you. it will be an achievement and a goal more achieved in my long professional career. Animate I wait for you Call 601093372.