Short answer: why and where to look
An old building permit file (expedient d'obres particulars) shows what was officially approved in the building and when: original plans, number of storeys, layout and sometimes facade drawings. Your technician needs it for a project, it helps when legalising an old layout change, and it is useful when buying a flat or in a dispute with neighbours. You can request it yourself, and access to the archives is free for anyone over 16.
Where it is kept depends on the year. According to the Arxiu Municipal de Barcelona: permits from 1772 to 1840 are at the Arxiu Històric de la Ciutat; records of the old annexed villages (Sants, Les Corts, Sarrià, Gràcia, Sant Andreu and others) are in the relevant district archive; roughly from the mid-19th century to 1989 they are at the Arxiu Municipal Contemporani de Barcelona (AMCB); from 1990 onwards, at the relevant Arxiu Municipal de Districte. Files from the last five years have not been transferred yet and are requested from the district's Departament de Llicències i Inspecció. If the file turns out to be elsewhere, you will be redirected.
When you need it: examples
A flat in an early 20th-century Eixample building. You want to open the kitchen into the living room, and your technician needs to know which walls were load-bearing in the original design. That permit is at the AMCB, and its plans are often already digitised.
A flat in a 1995 building in Gràcia where the previous owner enclosed the terrace. To see whether it was approved, you look for the file at the Gràcia district archive, which holds permits from 1990.
A ground-floor premises renovated about ten years ago. If more than five years have passed, the file is already in the district archive; if fewer, you ask the district's licensing department.
A house in Castelldefels. Barcelona's archives do not apply: old permits are requested from the Ajuntament de Castelldefels (its archive or planning department). Access rules are their own, so check the town's website.
What to prepare
The more precise your details, the faster they find the file. For a planning and works query the AMCB asks for: the type of document or licence (for example, a building permit); the address with street number, floor and door; the approximate year of construction; and the first holder or owner, if known.
You can find the year of construction on the Sede Electrónica del Catastro. The old street name, if it has changed, is in the municipal Nomenclàtor. The BCN PIC map tells you which district an address belongs to. Whether the building is protected shows up in the Cerca del Patrimoni Arquitectònic. The Arxiu Municipal itself points to these tools in its guide to finding permits.
For an online request you need electronic ID; the accepted methods are listed on the procedure page (usually idCAT Mòbil, Cl@ve or a digital certificate). If someone goes in your place, they need your signed authorisation and a copy of your ID, or they will not be seen.
Step one: search online
Many permits can already be viewed without a visit. The Arxiu Municipal and the planning department have linked files to addresses on the Portal d'Informació Urbanística (PIU). Type the address or click the plot, then open the Municipal Archive files section. Files are listed by code; clicking one takes you to the archive's online catalogue (catalegarxiumunicipal.bcn.cat), where digitised documents can be viewed and downloaded for free.
If the file is not yet in the catalogue or access is restricted, the PIU redirects you to the page for requesting an in-person consultation. If no file shows up for a plot, that does not mean none exists: geocoding is still under way, and recent files are digitised when data protection rules allow. In that case, move on to a request to the archive.
Step two: request from the archive
Records up to 1989 (AMCB). File the procedure Accés a la informació de l'Arxiu Municipal Contemporani in the Oficina Virtual: sign in electronically, fill in the form with the document details and wait for a reply. The archive team will contact you to arrange either an in-person consultation or copies sent to you. Requests by phone or email are not accepted, and neither are bulk requests. Individuals who are not required to deal with the administration online can request it in person at the AMCB. The appointment must be attended by the person named on it, with ID matching the booking.
Records from 1990 (district archives). The procedure is Cita amb els Arxius Municipals de Districte. It gives you an in-person consultation by appointment and certified copies (còpies compulsades). Copies are made only after you have identified the document in person; copy orders by phone or email are not accepted.
Last five years. Book an appointment with your district's Departament de Llicències i Inspecció through the Oficina Virtual.
You can bring a camera or phone: photographing documents is allowed with prior permission from staff, unless legal or conservation reasons prevent it.
Cost and waiting time
Consultation is free at every centre, and AMCB documents that are already digitised cost nothing either. You only pay for copies of non-digitised documents and for on-demand digitisation, under tax ordinance 3.1; the AMCB procedure page says these amounts are VAT-exempt and that retired people, the unemployed and students get 50% off copies. Exact prices are in the current ordinance.
The procedure pages do not set a response time. Bear in mind that several requests will not necessarily be handled together or in a single appointment, and that in summer the AMCB's in-person service may close temporarily: in 2026 the archive published a summer timetable suspending in-person service. Some documents are restricted because of personal data or poor condition.
Common mistakes
Emailing or phoning the archive. Both the AMCB and the district archives work through their procedures, not by phone.
Searching the wrong archive. Work out the permit year and the district first; that tells you where to go.
Concluding there is no permit because nothing shows on the PIU. A missing link on the portal proves nothing; you need to make a request.
Giving only the current address. For old buildings, the former street name and the first owner's name help.
Sending a friend without authorisation. Without your signed authorisation and a copy of your ID they will not be seen.
Archive procedures change, so check the procedure page before requesting. If you would rather not do the search yourself, BCN YARD finds and reviews the building's records while preparing the renovation.
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