Short answer: can the unit go on the facade?
In Barcelona you cannot just bolt the outdoor AC unit to the street facade. The Ordenança dels usos del paisatge urbà (OUPU, the city bylaw on urban landscape) bans technical equipment on the facade surface, on bay windows and on balcony railings, and only accepts units and ducts on a facade under an integration project that the municipal technical services approve through the relevant permit. The preferred location is almost always the roof (terrat).
You can handle the paperwork yourself, but a qualified technician drafts the integration project, and a thermal installation of 5 kW or more is registered with the Generalitat by the owner with the installer's paperwork. With the City Council everything starts with the consulta prèvia (prior consultation) on the Seu electrònica, which tells you which procedure applies to your case. Rules change, so check the current procedure page and the latest text of the bylaw before you file.
Where a unit is acceptable: the city's criteria
The City Council published the Criteris de col·locació dels aires condicionats (criteria for placing air conditioning units), which apply the OUPU by facade type. The roof is always considered first. For buildings listed in the Catàleg del Patrimoni Arquitectònic (architectural heritage catalogue) it is the only option, and each building is assessed against its own catalogue record. For other buildings the roof is preferred, and other positions are only accepted when a roof installation is technically impossible.
For a typical Eixample building with a flat facade, where windows, balconies and ornament sit on one plane (most buildings from before 1920), the criteria accept two solutions. One is on the balcony slab, behind the railing and below its top edge, kept away from the wall and with no visible ducts, since pipes must run through the inside of the building. The other is inside the flat, behind the window frame, as part of an integration project, without changing the window's pattern or materials and with the unit hidden. A unit on the outer sill or in front of the frame is not accepted.
Buildings with projecting bays, galleries or setbacks get one more option: inside those semi-open spaces, built into a cabinet under one design for the whole facade. On the ground floor the unit goes inside, behind the frame and hidden by a grille; for shops the OUPU requires the same solution across every opening of the building and forbids drilling the facade for units or pipes. Facades onto the inner block courtyard follow the same criteria as the street side, although a unit built into a cabinet under a global project may also be accepted there.
When you need a permit and when you do not
A unit on the roof with pipes run inside usually raises no landscape issue, but the roof is nearly always a common element. The Codi civil de Catalunya requires you to tell the community's president or property manager about works in your flat beforehand, and works that touch common elements need a resolution of the owners' meeting. If the unit is visible from the street or the courtyard, it is a facade matter and you need an integration project and a permit. For catalogued buildings the OUPU expressly requires a municipal licence for any such equipment.
A few real cases. An Eixample flat with the unit on a balcony behind a solid railing: acceptable, but check first whether the building is protected and agree the pipe route with the community. A unit on brackets under a street window: exactly what the criteria reject. A café on the ground floor: a grille built into the shopfront frame, the same in every opening. A house in Castelldefels: the OUPU does not apply there and the town's own bylaws govern, so start by asking its planning information desk.
There is a second track that has nothing to do with the facade. If the heating or cooling installation is 5 kW or more, the owner or a representative files a declaració responsable (responsible declaration) with the Generalitat so the installation is entered in the RITSIC register. Only companies registered in RASIC may install thermal systems, and the installer gives you a certificate before the system goes into service. For premises with a business activity, the ORPIMO folds AC works into the procedure that applies to the activity itself.
What to prepare and who does it
As the owner, you gather the cadastral reference and colour photos of the facade, check the building's protection level and get the community's approval if the unit or pipes affect the roof, courtyard or facade. If you rent, you also need the landlord's written consent.
A qualified technician (architect, technical architect or engineer) drafts the integration project: description, drawings, budget, photos of the current state and a solution showing that the unit and pipes respect the facade composition. For comunicats and licences the procedure page asks for the reference number of an informe d'idoneïtat tècnica (IIT, technical suitability report) issued by a professional association, which the technician also arranges.
An installer registered in RASIC chooses the equipment, prepares the installation documents and certificate and, for systems of 5 kW or more, gives you what you need for the RITSIC declaration. Think about noise as well: the city's criteria point out that the installation must comply with the Ordenança de Medi Ambient (environmental bylaw), so pick quiet units and anti-vibration mounts.
How to file, step by step
Step one: check the building's protection and choose the unit's position with your technician, starting with the roof. Step two: complete the consulta prèvia on the City Council's Seu electrònica. It tells you which procedure applies (licence, comunicat immediat, comunicat diferit or assabentat) and which documents you need, and gives you a consultation number. Whoever files the application later must be the same person who ran the consultation, because the number is tied to that person's ID.
Step three: your technician obtains the IIT if your procedure requires it. Step four: file on the Seu electrònica. The form asks you to identify yourself (usually with idCAT Mòbil, Cl@ve or a digital certificate) and to sign electronically; you fill in the form, attach the files and sign. Companies and professionals must always file online, so if your technician files for you it will be an online filing with a power of representation.
Step five: payment. According to the City Council website in 2026, a comunicat carries a planning services fee plus ICIO at 4% of the construction budget; exact amounts and any rebates are set in the current ordenances fiscals. With a comunicat immediat you may start once you have paid. With a comunicat diferit the City Council has one month to review, then sends the admission and the payment slip. Step six: after installation the installer issues a certificate and, for systems of 5 kW or more, the RITSIC declaration is filed on the Generalitat portal.
After filing and after installation
Keep the comunicat admission or the licence on site, together with proof of payment. The payment slip is valid for three months: if you miss it, no duplicate is issued and you have to apply again. Works under a comunicat immediat or diferit must be finished within six months of the start date stated in the application.
If the City Council sends an avís d'ineficàcia (notice of ineffectiveness), you may not start: fix the listed defects and file again. For a licence, the procedure page gives two months to decide, or three when a heritage report is required. If you are asked for documents, answer within the deadline or the file will stall.
After installation keep the installer's certificate, the user and maintenance manual and proof of the RITSIC entry. The city's landscape website states that the installer, the promoter, the owner of the building or flat and the technical director are all responsible for OUPU compliance, so an order to remove a unit can reach any of them. If your facade is already cluttered with units, the Institut Municipal del Paisatge Urbà's 2026 call includes a programme to tidy up installations: 20% of the cost up to €15,000 for catalogued buildings, their surroundings and some other protected areas, with priority on moving units to the roof under a global project. Requests for the technical report are accepted until 16 November 2026 unless the budget runs out earlier; the community usually applies.
Common mistakes
The most common one: a unit on brackets under a street window with copper pipes running down the facade. The city's criteria rule this out explicitly, and it comes up when you sell the flat or when the facade is inspected. The second: in a shop, drilling the facade for pipes or fitting a grille in only one shopfront, when the same solution is required across the whole building.
The third: forgetting the community and putting the unit on the shared roof without a meeting resolution; the community can demand that everything be restored. The fourth: hiring an installer who is not registered in RASIC, who cannot issue the certificate or enable the RITSIC entry. The fifth: not checking whether the building is catalogued, where rules are stricter. The sixth: assuming that Barcelona's rules apply in Castelldefels or another town in the province.
If you would rather not deal with it yourself, BCN YARD can take over the paperwork together with the renovation.