One of the most significant factors in both the calendar and the budget of a villa in Marbella is the major building permit (licencia de obra mayor). It is the municipal authorisation that enables construction, sets legal timelines, determines several of the fees you will pay and verifies that your project complies with the municipal planning framework.
And this year, that framework is in a moment of important change. In this article I explain how the major building permit works in Marbella, what fees it involves, how long the process actually takes and the current status of the new General Municipal Ordinance Plan (PGOM) that will replace the 1986 PGOU still in force after four decades.
What a major building permit is
The major building permit is the administrative act by which the town hall authorises the execution of new construction, an extension or a substantial structural renovation. It is mandatory for any new-build villa and for most full renovations affecting structure, facade, volume or change of use.
It differs from the minor building permit in that it requires a technical project signed by a licensed architect, the involvement of a technical architect for execution supervision, and a more extensive process by the municipal planning service.
Documentation required
To apply for a major building permit in Marbella, you generally need:
- Basic project signed by a licensed architect, validated by the corresponding professional association (colegio).
- Basic health and safety study.
- Technical certificates related to compliance with sectoral regulations.
Before starting construction, the full execution project must be submitted, developing the basic project with all construction detail and fully complying with the Spanish Technical Building Code (CTE).
The updated documentation and forms can be consulted at the Electronic Office of the Marbella Town Hall. (Link to the major building permit application procedure)
Municipal fees and taxes involved
Obtaining the permit and starting construction involves several items paid to the town hall, typically adding up to between 4% and 6% of the material execution budget (PEM)*:
- Planning service fee: charged by the town hall for processing the permit. In Marbella, roughly between 1% and 2% of the material execution budget.
- ICIO (Tax on Constructions, Installations and Works): between 3% and 4% of the material execution budget, under the applicable fiscal ordinance.
- Construction and demolition waste management bond, set by Andalusian regulations.
- Urban planning deposit, where applicable to the works.
For a villa with a material execution budget of €1 million, these items can range between €40,000 and €70,000. Worth including in the first budget calculation rather than discovering them later.
(*) The PEM is the official construction price declared in the project. It does not necessarily match the actual cost. In fact, a considerably lower figure (up to 50% below, or even less) is often declared to reduce the permit cost. However, the town hall has the authority to review that official price and require an update to the permit cost, without any penalty, only the difference is paid.
Real processing timelines
The maximum legal timeline to resolve a major building permit in Andalusia, under current regulations, is around three months from the submission of complete documentation. The practical reality is quite different.
In Marbella, actual processing usually runs between 6 and 12 months, and for files with planning complexities it can take longer. Several factors influence this: the workload of the planning service, documentation corrections that the municipal technician may require, and the complexity of the project itself (sloped plots, proximity to public domain, environmental protections or sectoral constraints).
The practical recommendation is to plan from the start on at least 9 months for the permit, and to use that time to develop the detailed execution project, finalise finishes and select a builder.
To speed up these processing times in Marbella, however, it is possible to use preliminary technical reviews of the project, commonly known as urban planning qualification or ITCU (Independent Technical Urban Report).
It is worth distinguishing between the collegiate visa, issued by the Official College of Architects, which reviews formal, professional and documentary aspects of the project, and the urban planning qualification or report, which verifies compliance with applicable urban regulations.
Under Marbella’s public-private collaboration ordinance, certain certifying urban planning entities can issue reports such as the ITCU, which in some procedures may have effects similar to the municipal technical report. Its purpose is to detect errors before submitting the file, reduce corrections requested and provide greater certainty for the promoter, the technician and the Town Hall.
The cost varies depending on scope: from a few hundred euros for simple reviews up to several thousand for villas or complex files, without including municipal fees or ICIO.
If you would like more information on this, you can contact us HERE.
A planning framework in transition: from the 1986 PGOU to the new PGOM
Until now, planning verification in Marbella has been based on the 1986 General Urban Plan (PGOU), an instrument now four decades old. This plan has coexisted with successive revision attempts and with the judicial annulment of the 2010 PGOU attempt, leaving a framework with regulatory layers and additional verifications that slow down processing.
That scenario is changing. On 22 February 2026, the Andalusian Ministry of Development, Territorial Articulation and Housing issued a favourable report on the final document of Marbella’s new General Municipal Ordinance Plan (PGOM). The Town Hall is pending final approval in municipal plenary, expected in the weeks following the regional report.
Official information about the new plan can be consulted at nuevoplan.marbella.es, the Town Hall portal for dissemination and citizen participation.
What changes with LISTA
The new PGOM is the first in Andalusia adapted to LISTA (the Andalusian Territorial Sustainability Impulse Law), in force since December 2021. LISTA replaces the previous LOUA and substantially modifies the Andalusian urban planning system.
The most relevant changes for someone building a villa are:
- Replacement of the traditional PGOU with two separate instruments: the PGOM, with general municipal zoning, and the POU (Urban Development Plan), with the detailed ordering of urban land.
- Simplification of planning approval procedures.
- Broader use of the responsible declaration in certain cases.
- Modification of administrative silence treatment to prevent inactivity from halting files.
In practice, this means greater legal certainty and agility once the new framework is fully operational. Marbella’s POU, which will complement the PGOM with detailed urban land regulation, is in development and its approval is expected in the coming years. Meanwhile, the reference instrument remains the 1986 PGOU.
Checks before buying a plot
For an international buyer considering a plot in Marbella right now, some verifications are worth doing before committing any funds:
- Urban classification of the land under the 1986 PGOU still in force.
- Expected impact of the new PGOM on that specific plot, consultable at the new plan portal.
- Existence of environmental protections, sectoral constraints or easements.
- Availability of utilities, especially electricity, which in some areas has capacity restrictions.
- Estimated permit timelines for that type of action.
Doing this verification with architect and lawyer in parallel significantly reduces the risk of acquiring a plot with limitations that condition what you can actually build.
An initial conversation
If you are considering a specific plot in Marbella or Estepona and want to understand what can be built on it and how long the process will take, you can write to me. An initial conversation to review the plot and anticipate the key points of the process.
P.S. The shift from PGOU to PGOM will not happen overnight. There will be several months of coexistence between the old and new frameworks, and many specific decisions will depend on how the POU develops over the coming years. What is clear is the direction: towards a framework with greater legal certainty and more predictable timelines.
