Phase 2
Important Steps Before the Excavation of Land when designing and building a villa on the Costa del Sol



GEOLOGICAL SURVEY - COMPULSORY
When building a villa in Spain the law now obliges you to carry out a geological survey.  In this survey, villa  or
swimming pool is to be constructed. One piece of equipment will pound a hollow rod into the ground to a depth of
more than 15 metres.  As the hollow rod moves down sample of earth/rock enter the rod which are taken away for
testing.  Results from these tests will inform the Architect as to the condition/state of the ground i.e
distribution/composition of clay/rock/water etc.  The  design of the foundations of the villa will be based on this data
to avoid the property subsiding or being subject to damp problems etc.

TOPOGRAPHY REPORT
Another important task to carry out when Building a house in Spain Andalucia , is a topography report. This report is
carried out with a precision GPS device providing information  on boundaries of the plot, altitude i.e contours of plot.  
This information is very important in the design of the villa particularly with regard to respecting the local building
allowances from the townhall i.e minimum permitted length between the villa and surrounding boundary, permiitted
maximum height of the villa etc.

THE PROJECT
With the Topography report and Geological survey at hand the Architect will then design the villa and provide you
with a full project in the form of a large folder containingg building plans, plumbers plans, Electrical circuitry plans
etc.  This project will be sent off to the College of Architects for their verification. When approved the College will
return 4 copies of the project officially stamped to your Architect.

PLANNING PERMISSION
Before you start the excavation for the building of the villa, you will need consent from the local authorities.  This is
done by taking a copy of the stamped project to the townhall and completing an application form with initial stage
payment for the license.  The townhall may now take 1 month to several months in processing the request
depending on area.  It always helps if you are able to speak the language and keep on top of them with reminders to
move things as quickly as possible.  
Once approved by the townhall, you will be issued with the BUILDING LICENSE you are now ready to provide project
details to builders for quotes on building the house.

BUILDING CONTRACT
Be sure to arrange a building contract, for peace of mind it is best to draw up a contract between you and the builder.
 The contract will hold binding clauses for completion dates for the build and budgeting.  This will help avoid buiders
trying to charge extras and delay in the build.

FINANCE
There are various Banks in Spain which will finance the build of a villa on the Costa del Sol.  Normally, payments
are made monthly on the basis of how much you have borrowed in the progressive build of the villa.  These payments
are normally interest only until the building is complete.  Time span is currently around 2 years.

NOW YOU ARE READY TO BUILD A VILLA IN SPAIN
The Excavation starts............... Photo above shows JCB ready to begin movement of Earth for the foundations.

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