In short: five levels and what happens at each
Works permits, street occupation, business activity in premises and municipal taxes belong to Barcelona City Council: online through the Oficina Virtual de Tràmits and in person at the Oficines d'Atenció Ciutadana (OAC). Refurbishment grants and advice go through the Oficines de l'Habitatge and the Oficina de Rehabilitació Municipal. The Generalitat de Catalunya handles the ITE, energy certificates, registration of installations and habitability papers. The state runs the Catastro and the Land Registry and grants tax deductions. Professional bodies issue reports without which the Council will not accept a project.
As an owner you can file nearly all of this yourself with a digital ID: idCAT Mòbil, Cl@ve or an FNMT certificate. A technician is needed wherever a professional signature is required: projects, certificates, reports. Below is the map by level, and at the end a cheat sheet of which guide in the series fits your task.
City Council: Oficina Virtual and OAC
The Oficina Virtual de Tràmits at seuelectronica.ajuntament.barcelona.cat is the main door. This is where you run the prior query for works and for business activity, file the comunicat immediat, comunicat diferit and llicència d'obres majors, apply for skip, scaffolding and lifting platform permits, and file the activity notice. It also generates the self-assessment form for the ICIO tax and fee, payable online or at a partner bank.
The OAC offices are for filing on paper or getting help. According to the appointment procedure page: same-day appointments are not available; the booking must be in the name of whoever attends and must match their DNI, NIE or passport; and it is free. Video-call appointments exist, and the Council recommends them for, among other things, works permit questions. Bear in mind that companies and professionals must file online for most procedures.
The City Council also holds planning information (building protection, land classification) and the municipal archive with old drawings and licences.
Housing and grants: Oficines de l'Habitatge, ORM, Consorci
The Oficines de l'Habitatge de Barcelona operate in every district; the network is run by the Consorci de l'Habitatge de Barcelona, a joint body of the Generalitat and the City Council. They give technical advice on refurbishment and energy upgrades, run the Borsa d'Habitatge de Lloguer rental pool and offer housing law guidance. It is best to go with an appointment booked on their website.
The Oficina de Rehabilitació Municipal (ORM) specialises in grants: it informs, receives and processes refurbishment applications for buildings and flats. It works with the associations of architects and technical architects, which take part in processing the building grants. If you are an owners' association considering the façade, roof or a lift, start with the ORM.
In urban regeneration areas with their own neighbourhood schemes, applications go to the urban regeneration offices. Outside Barcelona, in Castelldefels or Gavà, the Consorci plays no part: look for your town hall's housing office and the Agència de l'Habitatge de Catalunya schemes.
Generalitat: Agència de l'Habitatge, ICAEN, Empresa i Treball
The Agència de l'Habitatge de Catalunya issues the ITE certificat d'aptitud. You apply on Tràmits Gencat; only private individuals may apply in person, at Generalitat offices by appointment, while companies and professionals must apply online. The cèdula d'habitabilitat, the habitability certificate, is also handled by the Generalitat.
ICAEN, the Catalan Energy Institute, keeps the energy certificate register. A qualified technician drafts the certificate, ICAEN registers it and issues the label; the process is fully online, and the register can be searched by address or cadastral reference.
The Departament d'Empresa i Treball oversees industrial safety of installations: electricity, gas, lifts. Commissioning declarations are usually filed by the installer or the installation holder, and for a lift the holder must also sign a maintenance contract. For businesses outside Barcelona there is Canal Empresa with the Finestreta Única Empresarial, through which many town halls receive activity notices.
State level: Catastro, Land Registry, Agencia Tributaria
The Catastro describes property for the IBI tax. After new construction, an extension or refurbishment you declare it within two months, online at the Sede Electrónica del Catastro with a certificate or Cl@ve, or in person at the Gerencia, Puntos de Información Catastral and town halls. You need not file if the notary or registrar has already reported it, or if the town hall reports licences to the Catastro itself.
The Land Registry records rights. An extension is entered by notarial deed with the licence and the technician's certificate; the notary drafts the deed.
The Agencia Tributaria grants IRPF deductions for energy-efficiency works; you claim them in your annual return, backed by energy certificates from before and after the works.
Professional bodies, technicians and gestors: who can do part of it for you
The professional bodies COAC (architects) and Cateb, formerly CAATEEB (technical architects), act in Barcelona as City Council partner entities. For works notices and licences the Council requires an informe d'idoneïtat tècnica, a technical suitability report on the project, which the technician requests from the professional body before filing. Cateb has issued these reports since February 2014.
The technician, whether architect, technical architect or engineer, signs projects, completion certificates, energy certificates and ITE reports. The property manager keeps the association's records and often files grant and ITE applications on its behalf. A gestor administrativo can file almost any procedure for you under an authorisation; it is convenient, but you remain responsible for the content.
A sensible split: the owner files and pays, the technician prepares anything that needs a signature, and the manager handles association matters.
Cheat sheet: which guide to open
No digital ID yet: start with the guide on idCAT Mòbil, Cl@ve and the FNMT certificate. Swapping finishes: comunicat immediat online. Layout changes with a technician: comunicat diferit. Structure, façade or added floor area: llicència d'obres majors. Paying the tax and fee: the ICIO guide. Unsure whether the building is protected: the planning status guide; need old drawings: the municipal archive guide.
After the works: cèdula d'habitabilitat, energy certificate and ICAEN registration, the CIE electrical certificate, Catastro and Land Registry. For owners' associations: ITE and certificat d'aptitud, façade and lift grants, installing a lift. For a flat owner: renovation grants and deductions. For businesses: the activity notice when opening an office or shop.
Rules and office addresses change, so check the current procedure page before each filing. If you would rather not go from office to office, BCN YARD can take on the paperwork together with the renovation.