The short answer
A full renovation of an 80–110 m² flat in Barcelona usually takes 3 to 6 months on site, plus the time needed for design, the quote and the council permit. A complete bathroom is roughly 3–5 weeks, and a kitchen 4–6 weeks if the units have already been ordered.
These are market benchmarks, not a promise: the real timeline depends on scope, permits and supplies. At the premium end the schedule tends towards the upper figure, because bespoke joinery, herringbone parquet, concealed doors or natural stone take longer to make and fit than anything picked off a warehouse shelf.
It helps to measure the timeline from the day you decide to renovate to the day you move in, not from the first swing of the sledgehammer. There are five stages between those two dates, and only one of them happens inside the flat.
Five stages between the decision and moving in
First, the site visit: measurements, test openings in walls and floors, and an itemised quote. Second, the design: layout, building services and choice of materials. Third, the permit from the Ajuntament and notice to, or approval from, the comunidad de propietarios. Fourth, the works. Fifth, cleaning, commissioning, the final snagging walk, furniture and the move.
The first three stages can overlap if they are organised properly. While the permit paperwork is being prepared, you can already choose tiles and order the kitchen. Run them one after another and preparation stretches by weeks while nothing happens in the flat.
How long the council takes depends on the procedure: comunicat immediat, comunicat diferit or a major works licence. We cover that in a separate article. What matters here is that this period is confirmed before the works schedule is signed, not afterwards.
How long each phase of the works takes
Take a flat of about 100 m² in an Eixample building with a full renovation. Demolition and debris removal: 1–2 weeks, plus whatever turns up once things are opened. First-fix work, meaning new partitions, electrics, plumbing, ventilation and air conditioning: 4–6 weeks. Screeds, plastering and plasterboard: 3–4 weeks, plus drying time.
Drying is where impatience costs the most. Parquet does not go down on a damp screed. We check moisture with a meter rather than by eye, because a timber floor that lifts three months later costs far more than waiting ten days.
Then come the finishes, tiling, parquet and painting, at 4–6 weeks. Fitting the kitchen, joinery, doors, sanitaryware and light fittings takes 2–4 weeks. Cleaning, commissioning and the snagging list, 1–2 weeks. The phases partly overlap, which is why the total lands at 3–6 months rather than the sum of every line.
What most often drags a job out
Hidden problems. Older buildings reveal damaged timber beams, lead supply pipes or cast-iron stacks. Stacks and risers are shared elements, so replacing them is agreed with the building administrator, which adds days of paperwork even when the work itself is short. That is why we open things up before the quote, not after.
Supplies. A bespoke kitchen, windows, concealed doors or built-in joinery are made to order and often take 4 to 8 weeks; the exact lead time is confirmed by the supplier while the quote is being prepared. If the order goes out after work has started, the crew ends up waiting for the lorry.
Changes along the way. Moving a socket before the wall is closed costs a day. Moving a bathroom after it has been tiled means redoing half a phase. And then there are the building rules: hours for noisy work, a shared lift and space for the skip, which on the narrow streets of Gràcia or Ciutat Vella needs its own plan.
Two examples from our work
A 250 m² child psychology centre in Eixample, January to June 2026: about five months. The scope was substantial: 24 concealed doors, air conditioning with heat recovery and the licensing needed to operate as a healthcare facility. In premises like this the schedule is built around the long-lead items. Concealed doors and the ventilation system are designed and ordered before the walls are closed, because afterwards there is no room to manoeuvre.
The example also breaks a common assumption: floor area is not what weighs most. A 100 m² flat with a lot of bespoke joinery can take as long as a well-planned 250 m² commercial unit.
A detached house with a pool, 2022 to 2024, a full build including solar panels. New construction is measured in seasons, not months: design, licence, earthworks, structure, roof, services, pool and garden. Those figures are no guide for a flat; we mention them so the two scales do not get mixed up.
How to shorten the timeline without losing quality
Settle the materials before you start. Tiles, parquet, taps, doors and light fittings should be approved from physical samples before the first wall comes down. Every decision taken while work is under way is a day when someone is waiting.
Order the slowest items first. Kitchen, windows, joinery and doors are ordered as soon as the design is fixed, not when the builder starts asking for them.
If you can, do not live in the flat during the works. Working zone by zone around a family stretches the schedule and adds cost for protection and daily cleaning. If there is no alternative, plan for it from day one and set the timeline accordingly.
Ask for a written schedule with milestones and tie the staged payments to them. That way both sides see the same thing: what should be done this week and what is still missing. And do not skip the preliminary test openings to save a week at the start; they usually pay back many times over by avoiding surprises halfway through.
How we put the schedule together
We reply to your enquiry within an hour and arrange a visit. After measurements and test openings we prepare the itemised quote and, alongside it, a phased schedule: what gets done each week, what needs deciding and by when, and which orders go out first.
The work is carried out by our own crew, with trusted subcontractors on specialist trades. You have one project lead who keeps you updated in Russian or Spanish. Payment is staged under the contract and tied to those milestones.
The schedule is a plan, not a dogma. If opening things up reveals a hidden defect, we show it to you on site and rework the timeline with you before carrying on.