A community of owners (comunidad de propietarios) in Spain has four basic inspections: the lift (every 4 or 6 years in a residential building), gas (every 5), fire equipment maintenance (every 3 months and every year) and the building assessment report, whose timetable your region sets. In the Comunitat Valenciana it is due once the building turns 50 and lasts 10 years. Communal electrics are only inspected in some buildings, and the law does not require insurance.
Below you will find each inspection, who carries it out, how often and the rule that requires it. After that, what is specific to the Comunitat Valenciana, the region that includes Alicante and the Costa Blanca, and a summary table. Everything has been checked against the consolidated texts in the BOE (Spain's official state gazette) and in the DOGV (the Valencian regional gazette). Where the answer depends on your town hall or on the type of installation, we say so.
Lift: inspection every 4 or 6 years and maintenance every month
Since 1 July 2024 the rules are set by Royal Decree 355/2024, which approves the technical instruction ITC AEM 1. An inspection body (organismo de control) must inspect the lift at least within these periods (art. 11.4 of the ITC):
- Every 2 years in industrial buildings or places open to the public (pública concurrencia).
- Every 4 years in buildings with more than 20 homes or more than 4 floors served.
- Every 6 years in all other buildings.
What counts is the main use of the building. The rule itself gives the example: a doctor's surgery or a law firm in a residential building does not turn it into a place open to the public.
The community hires the inspection, as owner of the lift. The lift maintenance company (empresa conservadora) can never hire it (art. 4.5). The maintenance company does have to tell you the date of the next inspection, reliably and at least three months in advance. If the deadline passes without an inspection, it has to take the lift out of service and notify both the community of owners and the regional authority within 24 hours (art. 7.6 and 7.7).
Maintenance is a separate matter. The maintenance company has to carry out an on-site check every month, with no fewer than 20 and no more than 45 days between one visit and the next. Some small lifts (those certified under the machinery rules, in buildings with up to three stops and no more than 20 homes) can be checked every four months (art. 5.4). And the lift may only be used while a maintenance contract is in place (art. 4.1).
After the inspection, the certificate sets the deadlines (art. 11.9):
- Pass with minor defects: you have six months at most to fix them.
- Fail due to serious defects: the inspector sets the deadline, never more than six months, and inspects again.
- Very serious defect: the lift stays out of service until it is fixed.
Lifts that already existed before the rule have to add safety improvements, except those certified under Directive 2014/33/EU or under the machinery rules. Most of the deadlines run from the first periodic inspection that detects what is missing. For example, if there is no two-way communication for a trapped person to call for help, there is one year to install it (annex VII). Missing these deadlines counts as a serious defect (art. 11.8).
The rule also set three dates that have now passed. Maintenance companies had until 1 July 2025 to have a maintenance plan in place (sixth additional provision) and until 1 July 2026 to prepare the user manual for each lift and give you a copy (seventh additional provision). Unregistered lifts had one year from the entry into force to be registered (first transitional provision). If you still do not have the manual, ask for it.
Keep at the community the commissioning record, the technical data sheet, the manual, the maintenance log, the contract and the inspection certificates (art. 4.8).
The building assessment report: your region sets the timetable
The national land law says that owners of buildings with several homes "podrán ser requeridos" (may be required) by the competent authority to prove the building's state of repair, accessibility and energy efficiency (art. 29.1 of Royal Legislative Decree 7/2015). Alongside that sits the general duty to keep the building safe, healthy, accessible and presentable (art. 15.1.b).
What no longer exists is a national timetable. The Constitutional Court struck down the parts of article 29 that said which buildings had to do it and when, and also the provision that set the timetable (Judgment 143/2017). That is why the frequency depends on your region (comunidad autónoma) and, often, on a by-law from your town hall: the technical building inspection (inspección técnica de edificios, ITE). Ask your town hall's planning department (urbanismo). In the Comunitat Valenciana the rule is clear, and we explain it further down.
Fire protection: every 3 months, every year and every 5 years
If your building has fire extinguishers, fire hose reels (bocas de incendio equipadas, BIE) or a detection system, the Fire Protection Installations Regulation (RIPCI, Royal Decree 513/2017) applies. Its annex II sets the minimum maintenance:
- Every 3 months. Check that each extinguisher is in its place, visible, with the pressure gauge in the operating zone and the seals intact. For hose reels, the pressure gauge reading and the condition of the hose and the nozzle. For detection, that the control panel and the batteries work. The maintenance company or the community's own staff can do this.
- Every 6 months. Check the manual alarm call points and, if there is a dry riser (columna seca), its valves and inlets.
- Every year. Maintenance of extinguishers, hose reels and detectors by an authorised maintenance company.
- Every 5 years. The level C test of the extinguishers (the pressure test known as retimbrado) and the five-yearly check of the hose reel hoses. Hoses are replaced at least every 20 years, unless the manufacturer certifies a longer life, and detectors have a service life of 10 years if the manufacturer does not set another.
Maintenance records must be kept for at least five years (art. 21.2).
What about the ten-yearly inspection by an inspection body? The regulation expressly excludes residential housing, unless it has areas of high special risk or storage areas (art. 22.2). Car parks are only excluded if they have less than 500 m² of built area. If your community's garage is larger, ask your maintenance company or an inspection body whether it applies to you.
Gas: inspection every 5 years
If the building receives piped gas, the receiving installation (instalación receptora) has an inspection every five years, within the calendar year in which the period ends. It is done by the gas distribution company or by an authorised installer, whichever you choose. The building's common part is also inspected every five years (ITC-ICG 07, section 4.1, of Royal Decree 919/2006). For central heating and for installations over 70 kW, the inspection starts from the building's shut-off valve.
The distribution company has to give you three months' notice. If by the deadline it has not received a certificate from another company, it assumes you want it to carry out the inspection and gives you at least five days' notice. If the inspection finds a leak or a main defect that cannot be fixed on the spot, the supply is cut off and sealed. Minor leaks (faltas de estanquidad secundarias) must be fixed within fifteen working days.
If the installation is not supplied from a distribution network (for example, from the building's own LPG tank), the owner has to commission a check every five years from an installer (ITC-ICG 07, section 4.2). The fixed tank is checked every two years if it supplies a distribution network, and otherwise together with the receiving installation (ITC-ICG 03, section 6.2). Without that certificate, LPG cannot be supplied. Ask your installer which case applies to you. In every case, the duty to request the periodic check lies with the owner of the installation (art. 7.2).
Communal electrics: only in some buildings
The owner has to keep the installation in good condition (art. 20 of the Low Voltage Electrotechnical Regulation, the Reglamento Electrotécnico para Baja Tensión), but periodic inspection by an inspection body does not apply to everyone. ITC-BT-05 requires it:
- Every 10 years for the common installations of residential buildings with a total installed power above 100 kW.
- Every 5 years for installations that needed an initial inspection. In a community, the most common are a swimming pool with more than 10 kW installed and a garage with 25 or more spaces classed as premises with a fire or explosion risk. ITC-BT-29 gives garages as an example of that risk, unless the designer justifies that there is none.
If the result is "condicionada" (conditional), you have six months at most to fix the defects. If you do not know the installed power or how the garage was classified, ask your electrical installer.
Central heating above 70 kW
If the community has central heating with generators above 70 kW, the Regulation on Thermal Installations in Buildings (RITE) requires an energy efficiency inspection every 4 years. Once the installation is more than fifteen years old, an inspection of the whole installation is added every 15 years. These are carried out by qualified or accredited experts. There are exemptions, for example for buildings with an automation and control system that meets the RITE itself.
Is building insurance compulsory?
Not by law. The Horizontal Property Act (Ley de Propiedad Horizontal, LPH) says that the community "podrá" (may) take out insurance covering damage to the property, paid from the reserve fund (art. 9.1.f). It is an option, not a duty. What can require it is your building's founding deed (título constitutivo) or the community statutes, which may include rules on insurance (art. 5). Check them. And the owners' meeting can always agree to take out a policy. If an owner needs insurance for their mortgage, that is a matter for them and their bank, not for the community.
Swimming pool and legionella
Pools belonging to communities of owners are for private use (type 3A) and must comply, as a minimum, with some articles of Royal Decree 742/2013: those on the pool's features, water treatment and quality, chemical products, incidents and part of the information for users. The daily and monthly checks in article 11 are not on that list, but the health authority of your region can require the rest of the decree. Ask your town hall or the regional health department (Sanidad).
The legionella rules exclude installations in buildings used only as homes, as long as they do not affect the outdoor environment. Even so, the health authority can require measures if it suspects a risk (art. 3.2 of Royal Decree 487/2022).
What is specific to the Comunitat Valenciana
The IEEV.CV: at 50 years and every 10
In the Comunitat Valenciana, owners of residential buildings more than fifty years old must arrange a technical inspection at least every ten years (art. 189.2 of the consolidated Valencian planning law). That inspection is the building assessment report for residential buildings, the IEEV.CV (informe de evaluación del edificio de viviendas), governed by Decree 53/2018. This is what its article 3 says:
- It is mandatory if the building is more than 50 years old, and also if you want to apply for public refurbishment grants, whatever the building's age.
- The age is the one recorded in the cadastre (Catastro), unless you prove a different completion date. A refurbishment does not reset it, according to the Conselleria de Vivienda, the regional housing department.
- The deadline is 31 December of the year after the building turns 50.
- It is valid for 10 years from submission, and a new one has to be submitted before it expires.
- In a building divided into flats, the community of owners is responsible, and it must give the technician access, including through private units if needed.
The oldest buildings had their own timetable (fifth additional provision): those built before 1901 had until 31 December 2020; those from 1901 to 1950, until 31 December 2021; those from 1951 to 1971, until 31 December 2022. From 1972 the general rule applies. A building from 1975 turned 50 in 2025, so its deadline is 31 December 2026. One from 1976 has until 31 December 2027.
It is signed by a competent technician (art. 8): according to the Conselleria, an architect, a technical architect, an aparejador or a building engineer. No more than three months may pass between the technician's visit and the online submission (art. 9.4). The obligation counts as met from the moment registration in the regional register is requested (art. 5.6). The report then goes into the building's log book (libro del edificio) (art. 3.6).
The IEEV.CV assesses the state of repair of the common elements (structure, façades, party walls, roofs), accessibility and energy efficiency (art. 4). It does not replace the other inspections. Installations that have their own inspection under their own rules, such as lifts or the electrical, telecommunications, heating or hot water installations, are not checked: the report only records that they exist and what they are like (art. 4.5). A municipal ITE that was in force when the obligation began counts as an IEEV.CV for as long as it lasts, provided the energy assessment is added to it (first transitional provision).
Not having one is a planning offence (art. 3.7). The town hall can give you two months to submit it and, if you do not, commission it at the owners' expense (art. 11.4). The Conselleria can require you to show it and impose up to five monthly coercive fines, each of up to 20% of the cost of the report (art. 189.6). And note this: the decree does not provide for any reminder to the community beforehand. Keeping track of the date is up to you.
Lifts: the moratorium ended on 1 July 2026
In 2025 an exception was added for the Comunitat Valenciana (fifth transitional provision of Royal Decree 355/2024). Until 1 July 2026, the deadlines for the annex VII improvements did not apply here, and minor defects had one year to be fixed instead of six months. That date has passed and the consolidated text in the BOE includes no extension, so the same rules now apply as in the rest of Spain. Ask your lift maintenance company which improvements each lift still needs.
Summary table
| Inspection | Who does it | How often | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lift inspection | Inspection body, hired by the community | 4 years (more than 20 homes or more than 4 floors served), 6 years (all others), 2 years (industrial or open to the public) | ITC AEM 1, art. 11.4 |
| Lift maintenance | Lift maintenance company | Every month (between 20 and 45 days); some small lifts, every 4 months | ITC AEM 1, art. 5.4 |
| Building assessment (Spain) | Competent technician | Set by your region or your town hall | RDL 7/2015, art. 29 |
| IEEV.CV (Comunitat Valenciana) | Competent technician | At 50 years (by 31 December of the following year) and every 10 years | Decree 53/2018, art. 3 |
| Extinguishers, hose reels and detection: checks | Maintenance company or community staff | Every 3 months | RIPCI, annex II, table I |
| Extinguishers, hose reels and detection: maintenance | Authorised maintenance company | Every year; extinguisher pressure test and hose reel hoses, every 5 years | RIPCI, annex II, table II |
| Fire inspection | Inspection body | Not for residential housing, unless high special risk or storage | RIPCI, art. 22 |
| Piped gas (common and individual) | Distribution company or authorised installer | Every 5 years | ITC-ICG 07, s. 4.1 |
| Gas without a network (LPG) | Installer | Every 5 years; the tank, every 2 if it supplies a network | ITC-ICG 07, s. 4.2 |
| Communal electrics | Inspection body | Every 10 years if above 100 kW; every 5 for a pool or garage that requires it | ITC-BT-05, s. 4.2 |
| Central heating above 70 kW | Qualified or accredited expert | Every 4 years; the whole installation, every 15 if more than 15 years old | RITE, IT 4.3 |
| Building insurance | The community, if it so decides | Not compulsory by law, unless the statutes say so | LPH, art. 9.1.f |
How not to miss a date
Look at who gives notice. The lift maintenance company has to warn you three months in advance (art. 7.6), so does the gas distribution company (ITC-ICG 07, section 4.1.1), and the fire maintenance company has to tell you the maintenance dates (art. 17.f of the RIPCI). For the IEEV.CV, the decree does not require anyone to remind you. And whoever gives notice, the duty to comply lies with the community.
The practical approach is one record per building: which installations it has, the date of the last inspection, the next deadline, the company that does it and where the certificate is kept. When an inspection leaves defects, treat them as an incident with an owner and a deadline. And if fixing them needs building work or a special levy (derrama), call the owners' meeting (junta de propietarios) in good time: the deadlines are in when an owners' meeting has to be called.
If you manage many buildings, doing this by hand is where dates slip. That is what Renewals solves: it emails you before an inspection, an insurance policy or a scheduled check expires, company by company. It checks automatically every morning, each company is kept separate in the database and a calendar view shows you what is coming. To see how it fits with the rest of a property management office's work, have a look at automation for property managers.
Sources
- Royal Decree 355/2024 of 2 April, ITC AEM 1 "Lifts", arts. 4, 5, 7 and 11, annex VII, sixth and seventh additional provisions, first and fifth transitional provisions (the latter added by Royal Decree 485/2025), and fifth final provision.
- Royal Legislative Decree 7/2015, consolidated text of the Land and Urban Regeneration Act, arts. 15 and 29.
- Constitutional Court Judgment 143/2017 of 14 December.
- Royal Decree 513/2017, Fire Protection Installations Regulation, arts. 17, 21 and 22 and annex II.
- Royal Decree 919/2006, Technical Regulation on the distribution and use of gaseous fuels, art. 7, ITC-ICG 03 and ITC-ICG 07.
- Royal Decree 842/2002, Low Voltage Electrotechnical Regulation, art. 20, ITC-BT-05 and ITC-BT-29.
- Royal Decree 1027/2007, Regulation on Thermal Installations in Buildings, IT 4.
- Law 49/1960 on Horizontal Property, arts. 5 and 9.
- Royal Decree 742/2013, technical and health criteria for swimming pools, art. 3.
- Royal Decree 487/2022, prevention and control of legionellosis, art. 3.
- Legislative Decree 1/2021 of the Consell, consolidated text of the Valencian Law on land planning, urban planning and landscape, art. 189 and fifth additional provision.
- Decree 53/2018 of 27 April of the Consell, building assessment report for residential buildings (DOGV no. 8288).
- Conselleria de Vivienda, Building Assessment Report Comunitat Valenciana (IEEV.CV).
This article summarises the rules published as of the update date; check your installer or the regional authority for your building.