What it is and who handles it
The llicència d'obres majors (major works licence) is the only works regime in Barcelona where the City Council examines the project and issues a decision before you can start. It is governed by the ORPIMO, the municipal ordinance on works procedures, and it is requested through the same Oficina Virtual procedure as the notifications.
You, as owner or developer, are the licence holder: you sign the application, pay the fee and the ICIO tax, and answer for the obligations during the works. But the basic and execution projects are written and signed by a qualified technician, usually an architect, and the application only counts as complete with a technical suitability report from a collaborating entity. So you can apply in your own name, but without an architect there is no file. This guide focuses on what falls to you and when.
When it counts as major works and when it doesn't
Under article 3 of the ORPIMO, the works needing a major works licence include: new buildings; major refurbishment, meaning a global intervention across the whole building with extra volume or dwellings, a change of main use, or a general redistribution affecting the facade, stair cores or courtyards; adding volume or buildable floor area; consolidation or renovation with global work on foundations or structure; renovation that changes the building's use; creating new dwellings; work on facades of buildings listed A, B or C, except routine upkeep; a lift on the outside of the building; earthworks; and building swimming pools.
Examples: turning a ground-floor shop in the Eixample into a home, splitting a large flat into two, or adding a floor to a house in Sarrià are major works. A thorough renovation of a flat that leaves the structure alone is not: it goes through a comunicat immediat. Partial structural reinforcement or a lift inside the building goes through a comunicat diferit. If the house is in Castelldefels or another town, that council sets the classification and procedure, although the logic tends to be similar.
What to prepare and who does it
You provide the identification of the developer and the owner, the cadastral reference and the commission to the technician. If there are tenants or other occupants in the building, the declarations on temporary rehousing and return with the list of legal occupants are yours too; for certain works the prior consultation checklist will also ask for a prior housing report, issued by the City Council itself.
The architect writes the basic project with the documents listed in annex 1 of the ORPIMO and the eco-efficiency measures, gets it stamped by their college where the law requires it, and handles the prior reports the checklist names: heritage if the building is protected, fire prevention, Parcs i Jardins if there are trees, or major works. Then they obtain the technical suitability report from a collaborating entity, such as the Catalan architects' college, the Barcelona building engineers' college or the inspection bodies listed on the Oficina Virtual. For new builds, major refurbishment or change of use, you don't request the prior planning report yourself: according to the City Council, the municipal service prepares it within the licence file.
Step by step: the application
Start with the prior consultation on the Oficina Virtual: it is free, lasts six months, confirms that the job is major works and gives you the list of documents and prior reports. The holder and representative in the case must match those in the consultation; if the architect is going to file for you, enter them as representative from the start or amend the consultation later.
Once the architect has the project and the suitability report, the application is filed through the procedure "Tramitació d'expedients d'obres o d'instal·lacions de radiocomunicació (llicència, comunicat o actuació d'urgència)". If you file yourself, you log in with idCAT Mòbil, Cl@ve, an electronic DNI or a certificate, fill in the form, attach the documents and sign. You can also book an appointment at your district's OAC; professional developers, companies and technicians must file online.
After you apply, the City Council emails you the confirmation and the self-assessment for the urban planning services fee. It must be paid within two months at most, online or at the banks on the slip, and processing does not begin until you pay. According to the procedure page (updated in 2026), the fee is 4.96 euros per square metre of works, with a minimum of 385 euros, for new builds, major refurbishment and added volume, and 385 euros for other licences.
Processing, deadlines and the decision
The ORPIMO sets a maximum decision time of two months under the general procedure and three when a mandatory fire brigade or heritage report is needed. That period counts only the Administration's time: it stops while your documents are being corrected. If something is missing, you will be asked to complete it within ten days or the application is treated as withdrawn; if the reports point to fixable defects, there is a single correction round of up to fifteen days; and if reports are unfavourable, you get ten days to respond.
The decision arrives by email together with the ICIO self-assessment, which is 4% of the material execution budget under tax ordinance 2.1 for 2026. You pay before starting, and then the City Council sends the licence decree by post with the start and completion deadlines. If none are set, you have one year to start and three to finish. If the Council does not decide in time, the ORPIMO provides for positive silence, but the procedure page says that for licences you must claim it expressly in writing, and it never grants rights contrary to planning rules.
One thing to watch: the City Council is working on an ORPIMO amendment, under the Barcelona Fàcil plan, to widen phased licences so that major works can start earlier. The public consultation ran in December 2025; check whether it is in force when you apply.
Before starting and during the works
A granted licence does not mean you can start yet. The ORPIMO requires you to file first the stamped execution project with the technician's declaration that it matches the approved one and, where applicable, the energy performance certificate; the appointment and acceptance of the site director, the construction manager and the health and safety coordinator; the appointment of the building contractor; and that of the collaborating entity that will carry out the inspections. You and that entity report the start date. For new builds and extensions there are checks at the start if setting-out is required, when the ground-floor structure is finished and when the roof is completed, and each stage is reported within five days with the entity's report.
During the works you must keep on site the licence, the approved project and proof of the technical appointments, and put up a sign visible from the street with the file number, dates, holder and contractor. When you finish, you remove fences and scaffolding, repair the pavement if you damaged it and report completion within fifteen days. With major works, the first occupation notification comes next.
Common mistakes
Letting the two months to pay the initial fee run out and losing the application; changing representative without amending the prior consultation; starting with the licence granted but without having filed the execution project and the appointments, which lets the City Council suspend the works; or planning the calendar without counting correction time, which does not count towards the two or three months. Another classic is assuming that splitting a flat in two is an interior renovation: if a new dwelling is created, it is major works. Rules change, all the more with the ORPIMO amendment under way, so check the current procedure page before filing. If you would rather not handle it, BCN YARD takes care of the licence together with the works.
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