Will your house in Spain pass its MOT? Homes over 50 years old to undergo mandatory inspections

YOU probably know that the Spanish equivalent of your car’s roadworthiness inspection (known in the UK as an ‘MOT’) is called an ITV in Spain. But did you know that houses may soon have to undergo a similar test?

It’s called the “ITCE”. This shock news has just emerged in Córdoba. Over the next five years, more than 34,000 homes in hundreds of buildings in Córdoba will be required to undergo the mandatory technical examination of constructions and buildings.

The areas most affected by this issue are the city’s established neighbourhoods, those with older buildings – “Fátima, Fuensanta, San Rosa, Ciudad Jardín, of course, and Parque Figueroa” will be affected, according to Pablo Muñoz, president of the Córdoba Association of Property Administrators.

Starting this year, buildings 50-plus years old must be inspected to verify their state of repair. The regulatory mess surrounding this controversy is considerable. On the one hand, the Córdoba City Council has approved the municipal ordinance on the Technical Inspection of Buildings (ITE) as long ago as 2012. At the same time, it has processed a new ordinance on this matter that has never been published.

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All owners, whether individuals or legal entities, are required to carry out the inspection.

The second question that needs to be resolved is which homes or buildings are required to undergo the “building inspection” in Córdoba.

This applies to all buildings that turn 50 years old. Once we know who must conduct the inspection and for which assets, the third key issue is to determine when – that is the deadline for conducting it.

Regulations and experts indicate that the first technical inspection of a building must be carried out “within the calendar year following the 50th anniversary of its completion date.”

An example is useful to illustrate this more clearly. A building in Córdoba, which will turn 50 in 2025, has until December 31, 2026, to pass its ‘vehicle inspection (ITV)’.

This is simply the first building inspection, but owners are required to repeat it every 10 years after the first. A building that passed the ITE (Electrical Inspection of Buildings) in 2024 will have to pass it again in 2034.

Regarding the personnel who must carry out the inspection, the regulation stipulates that a competent technician must be responsible for the inspection. The building assessment report will always be endorsed by an architect. Finally, the regulation explains that the technical inspection of buildings and structures aims to verify three fundamental aspects of residential buildings in Córdoba: first, to determine their state of conservation; second, to ensure compliance with current regulations on universal accessibility; and last, to diagnose their level of energy efficiency. Pablo Muñoz adds, in the same vein, that “in Sevilla and Malaga, they are already starting to issue warnings.”

SUMMARY
* There is a growing willingness on the part of Andalucian politicians to order house inspections
* The Junta de Andalucía, the regional council, can override town councils (and seems keen to do so with regard to ‘house MOTs’)
* In the first wave in Córdoba, houses built before 1975 must undergo the MOT
* Seville and Málaga are shaping-up to start these inspections (but no dates have been given)
* Your house MOT will need to be repeated every 10 years
* Houses which fail, or avoid being inspected, will not have insurance cover and may be subject to fines
* The ‘MOT’ must be signed off by an architect (house owner to pay)
* The examination will focus on the house’s state of conservation, its compliance with local laws and its energy efficiency
* As with a car, a failing house will be given a list of needed improvements, and a timescale in which to get them done

BUT (GOOD NEWS)
* Local authorities are nowhere near ready to start ordering inspections
* The regulations are in such a tangle, nothing can be enforced YET
* So far, only Córdoba is talking about implementing house MOTs, and has proved to be taking a lenient view towards failing properties

SO … no need to panic yet, but it looks like these inspections will eventually start happening. You heard it here first!