The opening license application It involves a series of procedures that you cannot skip, and that we will explain throughout this article so that you do not forget any of them, since if so, you would be denied the opening license and you would have to wait longer to open your business.
The first step is to develop an opening project or the adequacy of the premises, for which you have to call a Technical industrial engineer. In addition, depending on your activity, you may have to submit applications to a body of your Community.
The second step is take the project to be visa, that is, that it is approved by the Official College of Industrial Technical Engineers, which gives the project legal validity. For the visa you will have to pay fees, and for the project you will have to pay the engineer.
The third step is go to the town hall of the town in which you are going to open your business, and pay the fees to request the opening license. If you live in a town with many inhabitants, you may be able to pay the fees, and if the town hall is small, it is normal that they give you a payment letter so that you can go to the corresponding bank.
With the fees paid it’s time for you ask for the license to your city council, contributing the project that the Official College of Engineers. With the project done, you should not have problems, although if there are, the city council will tell you the errors that you have to correct.
The fourth step is the most tedious, since it is your turn wait at least three months, in which your business cannot open to the public. That is why if you are moving your business from one city to another, we recommend that you do the procedures from the beginning, so as not to waste time in the business. As advice, we tell you that if you have a very seasonal business, such as a toy store, which concentrates its highest volume of sales at Christmas, take into account the time it takes to give you the license, so that you can open on the dates on which your business has more sales.
Watch: Where to get the opening license?
Important: Application for the opening and activity license
Royal Decree Law 19/2012, of May 25, on urgent measures for the liberalization of trade and certain services introduced important innovations to rationalize and make the granting of opening licenses by city councils more flexible, which at that time were called licenses express.
Thus, in the case of premises of less than 300 square meters, the prior opening license is not required but a responsible declaration or prior communication to the City Council in which the entrepreneur agrees to have the corresponding opening license is sufficient. This change is applicable to new business, but also to changes in ownership of business activities and services, as well as construction permits in reforms that do not require a construction project.
In practice, this rule does not imply big changes since it is still necessary to present a technical report and pay municipal taxes, so that the costs for the employer and the income for the municipal coffers remain similar. It must be accompanied by a responsible statement.
But with the presentation of these three documents, it is possible to start working in anticipation of obtaining the definitive opening license once the City Council has carried out the relevant inspections.
Therefore, the usual procedure to apply for an opening and exploitation license consists of the following five steps:
Preparation of the report or technical project for the license to open and / or adapt the facilities, generally by an accredited competent technician (industrial engineer, technical architect, etc.).
Approval of the project by the corresponding Official College. It involves the payment of fees.
Payment of the corresponding municipal taxes, at the bank or at the Town Hall itself, as appropriate.
Presentation of the responsible declaration and the application for the opening license, together with the technical project and receipt of the payment of municipal taxes, in the registry of the competent area of the City Council, generally urban planning or environment. It must be done at the time of the opening of the premises to the public.
Visit of a qualified technician from the City Council to verify that the premises comply with the stipulations and ratify the granting of the opening license.
The city council’s deadline to resolve or reply is generally several months, very often up to almost a year. It also varies depending on the workload and the City Council in question.
It is important to have it insured when you open your facilities to the public and request the license that meets all the necessary requirements for your activity, since otherwise you will be forced to close or correct the deficiencies detected when visited by municipal technicians, and may even have to pay a fine.
This regulation, together with the Sustainable Economy Law of March 4, 2011, which was already a first step to accept the presentation of a prior communication of opening to the City Council and compliance with the requirements of the activity, comes to legalize is the “Administrative silence” by which in many cases the opening was tolerated once the application was submitted pending the municipal response. However, it was always subject to compliance with the requirements, so the technical projects and costs associated with the opening or activity license were not modified. The goal, long desired and requested by Brussels, was to reduce part of the bureaucracy associated with starting a business.