Do you need a survey when buying a property in Spain? What the system checks, what it does not, and what I do

Whether a survey is part of buying a home in Spain, and what takes its place. A buyer from the United Kingdom, Ireland or North America is used to a purchase that includes an inspection of the building, so its absence from the Spanish process is often the first surprise. This guide sets out what the notary and the Land Registry confirm, what the seller has to hand over, what passes to you with the property whether or not you knew about it, how long you have to claim for a defect you could not see, and when a building surveyor is worth commissioning. Each point is taken from the law in question, linked where it appears. The steps of the purchase itself, from the NIE to the deed, are in the Spanish buying process in plain English.

What the Spanish system checks, and what it does not

A Spanish purchase has two official checkpoints and one professional one. The Land Registry (Registro de la Propiedad) records who owns the property, its registered description and surface, and every mortgage, charge or embargo recorded against it. The notary confirms the identity and capacity of the people signing, reads the deed, checks the title against the registry, sees the seller’s community-fee certificate and the energy certificate, and records how the price was paid. Your lawyer obtains and reads the documents behind all of that before you commit to anything.

What none of them does is look at the building. The notary does not visit it. The registry records what the deeds say, not what stands on the ground. Your lawyer reads paper. The condition of the roof, the damp in a north-facing wall, the age of the electrics and whether the terrace drains are matters that nobody in the official process examines unless you arrange it. That is not a gap in the system so much as a division of labour: the law puts the paper in order and leaves the bricks to you.

The paper checks your lawyer makes

The first document is the nota simple, the registry’s summary of the property, obtained online from the Land Registry service. It shows the owner, the description, the surface and any charges. In Andalucía the seller’s information sheet for a resale, required by Decreto 218/2005, must be supported by a nota simple no more than three months old, and must state the year of construction where the seller’s deed records it, the community fee, and whether the building has its electricity, water, telephone and gas connections.

The second is the cadastral record at the Sede Electrónica del Catastro, the state’s property register for tax purposes. It carries the cadastral reference, the plot and built surface and the year of construction. Where the registry, the cadastre and what stands on the site disagree, your lawyer wants to know why before you sign, because a difference usually means an extension, a terrace enclosed or a pool added that the paperwork has not caught up with.

The third is the licence position: that the building was constructed under a licence and authorised for occupation, and that any later work was licensed too. In Andalucía, Ley 7/2021, at article 145, also provides for a periodic technical inspection of buildings, so on an older block your lawyer asks whether one has been carried out and what it found.

The fourth is the energy performance certificate. Real Decreto 390/2021 requires one for any building or part of a building that is sold, requires a registered copy and the label to be attached to the sale contract, and requires the rating to appear in any advertisement for the property. It is a document about consumption rather than condition, but it is one the seller has to produce.

What passes with the property

Two obligations follow the home rather than the owner, and both are checked before completion.

The first is community fees. Article 9 of the law on communities of owners states that a buyer answers, with the property itself, for unpaid community fees from the year of purchase and the three calendar years before it. The same article requires the seller to declare at the notary that the fees are paid or to state what is owed, and to produce a certificate from the community confirming it, issued within seven days of asking by the community’s secretary with the president’s approval. Without that certificate the notary cannot authorise the deed, unless you expressly waive it, which I would not. The same article requires every community to hold a reserve fund of at least 10% of its last ordinary budget for conservation, repair and accessibility works, and a lawyer reading the community’s accounts and the minutes of its recent meetings can see whether a large piece of work has been voted through and is about to be billed to the owners.

The second is the property tax (IBI) and, on a home with a mortgage, the loan itself, both of which show on the paper checks above and are cleared or accounted for at completion.

The six-month limit on hidden defects

The Civil Code gives a buyer a remedy for defects that could not be seen, and it is narrower than many buyers expect. Article 1484 makes the seller liable for hidden defects that make the property unfit for its intended use, or that reduce that use to the point where the buyer would not have bought it, or would have paid less, had they known. The same article states that the seller is not liable for defects that are evident or visible, nor for those that a buyer who is an expert in the field ought easily to have recognised. Article 1490 gives six months from delivery to bring the claim.

Two things follow. What can be seen is yours to see, because the seller is not answerable for it. And what cannot be seen has to be found within six months, which on a home you visit for a fortnight in the first year is not long. Both point to the same conclusion: the time to look properly is before the arras contract, when what is found can still change the price or the terms, and not after the keys.

When a surveyor is worth it

A building survey in Spain is a private report commissioned by the buyer. It is carried out by a technical architect (arquitecto técnico, also called an aparejador), an architect, or a chartered surveyor practising in Spain. There is no set format. A good one covers the structure, damp and water ingress, the roof and the waterproofing of terraces, the electrical and plumbing installations, the windows and their seals, and whether what is built matches what is registered. It is not a legal requirement. A mortgage lender’s valuation (tasación) is an assessment of price for the bank, not an inspection of condition for you, so the decision to have the building looked at is yours.

Where I would have one done:

• A villa or townhouse, because you own the roof, the walls, the drains and the pool, and there is no community to share the cost of putting them right.
• An older building, in a block or on its own, where the installations may be original and the community’s history of works tells you what is coming.
• Anything extended, altered or enclosed, where the survey and the paper checks together show whether the work was licensed and built properly.
• A rural property, where the water supply, the drainage, the access and the boundaries all need someone to walk them.

Where the paper checks and a careful walk-through are usually enough: an apartment in a modern block with an active community, recent accounts and no history of major works, and a new build, where the developer’s guarantees and the checks before the keys are described in buying off-plan in Spain. The schemes themselves are listed in new developments on the Costa del Sol.

The walk-through itself is worth doing properly whatever the property. It is a visit with a written list rather than a viewing: every window and door opened, every tap and shower run, the boiler and the air conditioning switched on, the drains watched, the terrace looked at after rain if the season allows, the electrical panel opened, the ceilings and the tops of walls looked at for staining, and the outside of the building walked. On a villa, the same for the roof, the pool plant and the garden drainage.

How I handle it

My approach is the same on every property: proper research on the property and its area, a straight assessment of what it is genuinely worth, and careful negotiation on your behalf. On the condition of the building that means walking the property with you with a written list before the arras contract, saying plainly when I think a surveyor should see it, introducing you to a technical architect I know and trust, and keeping the timetable so that the survey is in hand before the deposit is paid. I am not a surveyor and do not claim to be. The report is the surveyor’s, the legal checks are your lawyer’s, and I work alongside both rather than in their place. Where the report finds something, it goes into the negotiation on the price or the terms, which is the point of having it early. That sits within the buying service. The checks I put first on any purchase are in five checks to make before you buy on the Costa del Sol, and to talk it through, book a call.

General guidance, not legal advice. The rules described are those of the Spanish Civil Code, the law on communities of owners, Real Decreto 390/2021, Decreto 218/2005 of Andalucía and Ley 7/2021 of Andalucía, all last checked against the official texts on 17 September 2026. Every property is its own case, so take advice from an independent Spanish lawyer, and from a surveyor where one is warranted, before you commit.

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