tatts_19

Hi every body,

I have just bcome a member of this site and looking for as much advice as i can get.
I have owned a plot of land in marbella for almost 10 years and have a shell built for a 4 bed villa for almost 8 years(unfortunately with no building license)
everything stopped when every town hall official got there collars felt. finally there seems to be movement and will get permission as soon as i make amendments to our drawings.
Due to the downwards spiral of property prices and the ability to get the same credit as you could 8 years ago, i will have to finish the project myself. I am in the trade myself in the uk so know most of my way around a building site, but obviously want to protect myself when i comes to the more technicall stuff (and to getting certain things done for a fair price) which might have to comply with spanish regs, so if any one can help with the following it would be great.
1. electrics- i know these have to be signed off by spanish certified sparks but can it be installed the uk way, so that i dont have ugly inspection covers dotted around the place? if things are still done like this over there.
2. approx how much to install electrics first and second fix?( i know there will be extra's and will sort that, but just for basics to start with.
3. does solar panel supply make much of a difference?
4. approx price to do the plumbing first and second fix. hot water with 4 and a half bathrooms.
5. approx price to install a swimming pool measuring roughly 8m x 4m

any other tips that will help me in the ongoing Quest to master the spanish construction industry would be gratefully received!

Many thanks
Neil

Dxf

Hi

If you want to build an "English" house then build it in England. If you build it here then it will be "abnormal" after you are dead and buried.

There both advantages and disadvantages in the Spanish way of building; but for all that it is the way they build here. I have had cause to thank the "ugly inspection covers" when I installed electrics to the garden etc.

As the Spanish have lived here for a very long time - please - build like they do - there usually is a reason if you search it out

Davexf

tatts_19

Dxf

Far from wanting to build an "english" house, as far electrics go this is an area of construction that is forever changing with, new regulation's usually brought in under the watchfull eye of the EU, constantly trying to harmonise everything we try and do, i have searched this and other forums with regards to electric's and all tend to move towards the same idea that regs are getting closer aligned.
Once again the last thing i want in spain is to feel that im in England, but as countries we both have good and not so good ways of how we do things, then it comes to the legal aspect of constructing a new house, so no matter how long the spanish have been there, and whether they like it or not they have new laws and regs, willingly or not they have to comply to. so you never know that the latest directive might mean that i dont have to have inspection panels if i do ,then i do. This is what im trying to establish.

if you know somebody that might be able to stear me in the right direction i would appreciate it.(sort of lost faith in the people ive been dealing with, both English and spanish)

thanks
Neil

Michael74

Well I don't know much about electrics but I bought a new build in Nov 2004 which I believe should have been wired to EU standards. What a joke.

I have two bathrooms where the socket and light switch is adjacent to the sink, a separate toilet where the socket and light switch is actually over the sink. Two touch lamps in one of the bedrooms that come on when I switch the fan on. A flurescent in the kitchen that has two live wires and all lighting is just L, N & E

I had to pay €150 to upgrade from 4.5 to 9.5kw although I might have been ripped off by an English electrician over that.

Not much help to you I'm afraid but just a pointer to the way things sometime work here

Nige

Spanish plugs are different. Also I do know that in Spanish houses a RING main is unheard of. Or so I was told by an electrician here in Spain. Wires lead out from the junction box through many tubes to various points in the house. Like a crazy octopus. Best to find a reliable Spanish electrician in my opinion who can provide all the paperwork for the sign off.

Hillybilly

Many if not all of the electrical regs can be found here
http://www.ffii.nova.es/puntoinfomcyt/rebt_itcs.asp

It is now compulsory to have a certain percentage of your hot water provided by solar panels.

jimenato

Well, I just don't believe that last bit.

Mitzyboy

Its true that the infrastructure for solar heating has to be built into new builds now ... I'm not sure that it actually has to be up and running, but I'm told all the necessary wiring etc has to be there.

See NEW BUILDING CODES HERE at the bottom of this page

Hillybilly

Why not?! Check the Código Técnico de la Edificación (CTE) Documento Básico HE Ahorro de Energia Sección HE 4 Contribución solar mínima de agua caliente sanitaria. Has been the law since 2004 for all new builds and reforms.

agoreira

I seem to recognise Hillybilly from other forum, I think you'll find she does know what she is talking about, I believe she makes a living from it.

snikpoh

Whilst it might be the law, it doesn't seem to be enforced particularly well.

I have a number of properties which have been completely reformed (or rebuilt in a couple of cases) and they have NO solar heating at all. The local council and architect have never mentioned the need to put any solar heating in nor have they mentioned it when the properties have been signed off.

I can see that for a completely new build, then it can be planned but for reforms with the massive restrictions as to what can be placed on the roof, I just can't see how it can be done.

EsuriJohn

The law has been changed and from Sept 2006 the Building Regs require solar heating if councils do not enforce it that is their choice but you may find that later on a higher authority decarles the build illegal for no conforming.

It does mean that if BR approval was given before the implemention date they may still be able to build and it will be legal. As ever in Spain there are no hard and fast rules.

angiescarr

Hi Tatts.
You will get lots of good advice on here and also lots of criticism from people who don't know what they're talking about. We've been self-building for about 5 years now. I think we must have got our project in just before the regs about solar. If your project was approved you'll need to wait until your plot is made legal and then apply for a Proroga del proyecto. (an extension) Depending on how helpful your council is this could be easy or difficult but they will need to know that you have an architect and a contractor on board and you'll find yourself going round in circles to prove that all 3 of you sign an important piece of paper about 'seguridad y salud' which means you're all jointly responsible for the security of the staff on your site and passers by etc.
If you've got your shell built I'd advise you get in a contractor to quote you for the roof and exterior walls ( casa en bruto) because it sounds like your keen to do much of the contracting or even the work yourself.
Self-Build isn't much understood by the Spanish so you're in a grey area when you start building yourself. But if you are lucky enough to find a really good contractor he'll walk away when his bit is done and leave you connected to Builders electrics and water so that you can get on with the rest. Or you might like him/her so much that you keep them on!
Electrics. Do seem a bit strange at first but those little junction boxes aren't so awful and you do find it's cheaper to do it the Spanish way. You just buy enough of the various individual cables and slot them in your tube or conduit according to your needs. This does actually make it a lot more future proof. We started with the tubing but found conduit much easier and more natural for us.
BTW On the 'English style building' thing. We did opt for the improvement of making proper English thickness internal walls. If your concrete skeleton was built to spec. it will take them. Tabiques are thermally ineficcient. Our neighbours are all impressed with our English wall building. And we really have noticed the difference already. (we used to live in a badly built house with wafer thin tabiques)
We're still only about 3/4 way through our build and, due to financial reasons,(husbands unemployment) may not even get to the end of it:-( But we've learned a lot along the way. And we're prepared to share that...(though we really need to get around to updating the website/blog which we haven't had time for) And we're living in our uncompleted dream house. Can give construction vocab and info on legal paperwork etc. Though we know nothing about illegal plots.

ForHotspot

I like to add about solar panels. I've solar panels which come with the house.

In winter the solar panels are useless as I've to plug in to get hot water. I was nearly frozen a few times thinking that the sun will heat up my water. In winter even with the sun it's not strong enough to heat up the water. In summer they're great.

My neighbor has solar tubes installed & she told me that it works on ultra violet. On a cloudy day she said that the tubes heat up her water. I certainly won't get hot water on a cloudy day. So go for the solar tubes & not panels.

jimenato

Sorry if I seemed abrupt, the reason I said it is that in our village you are not allowed to put solar panels on your roof. As most houses here are terraced with no garden, the statement

doesn't work. Not only is it not compulsory here - it's not allowed!

Many houses here are being reformed or at least re-roofed. The permiso or proyecto never mentions solar. Many of my friends are builders and they would know.