When you want to built your own house in Spain, you must take a few things into account in order to get everything right.
Any house being built must comply with the local construction laws and regulations, and a qualified architect will have to sign the plans. Architects normally work for a commission between 6 and 10% of the total building costs.

During the building period, a foreman will oversee the building project by making sure that the building is carried out according to the plans. He or she will also control that the materials used are those which are stated in the original building plan. The foreman usually works between a figure of 1 and 2 % of the total building costs. In most cases a foreman can be pointed out by your architect.

In the period where your architect designs your future home, he or she will also recommend the building materials. It is important to take your time with these decisions and the must be complied and noted in the ”memoria de materiales” before the foreman takes his team to start the building.

Some other important costs are:

• Building permit (between 4 and 5% of the estimated construction costs)
• Declaration of New Building (normally 0.5%)
• Safety Inspection by a technical engineer (0.8%)
• First occupations permit (0.5%)

If you have to buy your land before you can built you future home, you might want to take the following in account, as it may even be harder and more complicated:

The most important thing to do before looking for a suitable plot of land is to find a good lawyer. This lawyer can help you a great deal when it comes to checking paperwork with the local administration office if to inspect a plot of land.  The can check the use status of the land, organize the building permit and contract suitable land.

It is also very important to find out if the land you want to buy has got or will be given a building permission, as it has been proven that this sometimes isn’t clear enough after the land has been purchased. This information can be requested at the local town hall.

Some other important points are:

• Check if future plans exists for the land you wish to buy
• Check the land register to know the exact squared meters
• Check the owners register, as its not in common for land to be on several names
• Check local building norms