Minor works licence

[gerryh]

I am about to apply for a minor works licence for some 1 metre high retaining walls.
I know most people where I live don't bother about such things. One of my neighbours is building a house without any licence/ permission.
I want a licence because my immediate neighbour says I'm not allowed to build the retaining walls.
Any way, the real purpose of my posting is that I did some other work, just over 5 years ago, without a licence.
Is there such a rule that if work was done more than 5 years ago it is now legal and doesn't need a licence?
Cheers
Gerry

[Jool]

Gerry was the work inside or outside? Was there a record of how your property looked before the works? I don´t know of a 5 year rule but I think a lot hinges on how good the official records on your house was, including photos, this is one of the reasons why the town halls invested in aerial and google maps connected to the catastro to show houses as they were on that date, any changes that are visible with no licence are thus actionable, ad infinitum I think but they will only enforce it if there is a good chance of success.

[gerryh]

The work was outside.
I replaced the pozzo negra with a fosa septica and extended the concreted area around it for a parking space.
The recent Google earth photos clearly show the work, previuos ones where so fuzzy and it is very difficult to make out if anything has changed.
Cheers
Gerry

[Jool]

Hi Gerry,

I had to go to my town hall about an issue affecting my house and together we looked at the aerial photos and other records, I pointed out they did not coincide with the catastro or the Autocad system drawing and the reply was they are only approximate and not expected to be identical so it was not an issue. Our google photo was blurry on the edges but you could see the outside ok, but the drawing and photo had a small part missing and that was fine so I think you will find you are the same, just keep quiet. I would be careful with anything from now on though.

[DavidSearl]

FROM DAVID SEARL

FOR GERRYH

No, there is no fixed rule that a structure, wall or other building work that has existed for five years can now be legalised.

My legal advisors agree with Jool that you ought to be perfectly okay with not declaring your new fosa septica, as long as it is in an area where they are accepted as "legal".

For a long time, before the new Andalusian land law and now at last the Reglamento for it, people who had built illegally in the countryside usually but sometimes even in towns would obtain a "Certificado de Notoriedad" with witnesses who declared that the old building had always been there, or for five years at a minimum. With this certificate in hand, you could then register the house in the Property Registry.

This no longer exists as such but it explains our belief in the five-year rule.

Good luck with it, David Searl

[Aunty Val]

A question for David in relation to his latest post -

David, you mention the ending of the 5 year ruling (or 4 years, in some cases) - is this a result of the new Reglamento which comes into force today?

My understanding was that this new application of the law affects the way in which properties are registered or re-registered (with increases in meters) at the Property Register but I was unaware of any changes in the 4/5 silence ruling.

In the past people have used a certificate of antiquity to establish a properties age and therefore use this to enable them to register extra meters. it will affect a huge number if this is now not possible.