Talk Quesada forum

I am writing this post having just made the most expensive mistake.
I beg everyone to please be wary of purchasing a pergola or car port which could be illegal.

No matter what you are told by the salesperson, if you fall foul of a neighbour who reports to the Ayuntamiento or an inspection is carried out by the Ayuntamiento (which they sometimes do). You MUST contact an Architect to find out if what you want to buy is legal or not.
However friendly your neighbours may appear, it doesn’t mean to say they’ll accept what you have done.
Also the salespeople are only interested in the money and not the service they are providing. Also ask for a copy of the guarantee before the work is done.
Metal roofs are not allowed without a permit, and all structures have to be 3 metres from the street boundary

We were very niaive and believed what we were told and have paid financially several times over because of it.
Our structures are now double the cost we were originally quoted.

The same applies for sheds. Even if you are given permission you also pay extra suma. Check with the council first.

Good advice I didn’t realize the metal roofs weren’t allowed. I had a brick and pillar erected by a local Spanish builder who did apply for a license but it should have been a major not a minor and he our one of the pillars too close to the wall. Despite his assuring me he would sort everything out I had to have the council architect round and he advised me to pay the fine of 1100€ rather than have party of the roof removed and new plans and licences obtained. He assured me the council would be happy with that and the hope he’s right but it was 8 years ago now so I hope I’m covered by the antiquities law. I was new to Spain and trusted the builder. It is a strange law in that it was the roof rather than the offending pillar which had to be removed could plus as I pointed out next doors kitchen was nearer my wall and part of the house itself nearer the back wall but apparently that’s ok because it was on the original house builders plans. I advise anyone to get proper advice as there are some strange laws

Wizzy2 wrote:I am writing this post having just made the most expensive mistake.
I beg everyone to please be wary of purchasing a pergola or car port which could be illegal.

No matter what you are told by the salesperson, if you fall foul of a neighbour who reports to the Ayuntamiento or an inspection is carried out by the Ayuntamiento (which they sometimes do). You MUST contact an Architect to find out if what you want to buy is legal or not.
However friendly your neighbours may appear, it doesn’t mean to say they’ll accept what you have done.
Also the salespeople are only interested in the money and not the service they are providing. Also ask for a copy of the guarantee before the work is done.
Metal roofs are not allowed without a permit, and all structures have to be 3 metres from the street boundary

We were very niaive and believed what we were told and have paid financially several times over because of it.
Our structures are now double the cost we were originally quoted.

Your comments are correct, I had to apply via the town hall and you can't just build any size....they stipulate the area it can be erected and what type of material...

Yes but it’s not only the legality of the issue I was warning about. The salesmen are very slick and convince you that they are giving good advice, however if anything goes wrong they then deny responsibility and charge you to undo the work.
Also the recommend a legal product and charge again, then when that doesn’t work they deny again and want to charge again.
They also back out of the guarantee if they can. That’s why I suggested getting everything in writing.
It’s a shame that these things are not made public when you buy. All we have been told is we were unlucky.

We were told by the town hall (Torrevieja) they use drones and then compare the difference from a few years back and see if any pools, car ports etc have been added. Then you get the letter/fine.