In short. The acta de replanteo, or de comienzo de obra (the setting-out record), documents that the builder has set out the perimeter of the building on the plot — marking on the ground what the drawings say — that the dirección facultativa, the technicians directing it, has checked and verified it, and that everything is ready to begin. It is signed by the architect, the aparejador and the builder.
Here one has to be precise, because almost nobody is: Law 38/1999 on Building Regulation (Ley de Ordenación de la Edificación, LOE) requires it to be signed, but no rule regulates its content, deadline or form. The Building Code does not require it, it is not given a visado, and since June 2022 the Ayuntamiento de Madrid no longer asks for it.
One document with two names
The LOE itself joins them with an “or”. Article 11.2.f obliges the builder to “sign the acta de replanteo or de comienzo”. Articles 12.3.e and 13.2.e impose the same on the director de obra and the director de la ejecución — in Spain an arquitecto signs the design and an arquitecto técnico directs the execution, and LOE articles 12 and 13 oblige both; Fran Cortés holds the two qualifications. The COAM, the Madrid architects’ professional body, calls its official form Acta de Replanteo y de Comienzo de Obra, and it is one document.
If a building contract shows two separate records — one for the geometric setting out, another for the start of the contractual period — that is a private agreement between developer and builder, perfectly valid, but not a legal figure.
What the law requires and what it does not
Signing it
LOE articles 11.2.f, 12.3.e and 13.2.e: a duty of signature for the builder, the director de obra and the director de la ejecución.
And the substantive duty to set out: verifying the setting out and its fit with the ground (12.3.b) and checking the setting out (13.2.c).
Its content and its form
No rule regulates what it must say, when it is signed, how many copies are made or where it is registered. The Spanish Building Code (Código Técnico de la Edificación) leaves it out of its annex II.1 of compulsory site-monitoring documents.
The visado
Royal Decree 1000/2010 limits the compulsory visado colegial — the professional body’s stamp certifying that whoever signed is registered, insured and entitled to sign — to the construction design and the certificado final de obra. The acta is stamped, not given a visado.
Madrid stopped asking for it in 2022, and half the industry has not noticed. The old 2004 municipal by-law did require it, in its article 21.3, alongside the notice of commencement on new-build works. That by-law is repealed by By-law 6/2022. In the current start-of-works documentation the word replanteo does not appear. Many pages still cite the article of a dead by-law. And the council, not the State, decides this paperwork, so the answer changes between municipalities.
Who signs
| Who | Basis | Nature |
|---|---|---|
| Director de obra, the architect | LOE art. 12.3.e | Legal duty |
| Aparejador, director of the execution | LOE art. 13.2.e | Legal duty |
| Builder | LOE art. 11.2.f | Legal duty |
| Health and safety coordinator | Box on the COAM form | Colegio practice |
| Developer (promotor) | Endorsement on the COAM form | Colegio practice |
The LOE does not oblige the developer to sign the acta. Its article 9.2.c only requires him to sign the acta de recepción, the handover record. On the COAM form the developer does not sign the acta: he signs a separate endorsement saying he “has been informed of the content of this Acta and gives his agreement to the start of the works”. A small detail that reveals who has read the form. In a self-build the developer is the owner.
What has to be closed off that day
What is genuinely useful about the acta: the photograph showing that everything is in its place. What is compulsory by rule:
- Planning permission granted
- Construction design with its visado (RD 1000/2010, art. 2.a)
- Health and safety study, or basic study
- Safety plan approved before the start by the coordinator (RD 1627/1997, art. 7.2)
- Notice of opening of the workplace, in advance, by the contractor
- Contractor entered in the REA (Law 32/2006), the register of construction firms
- Libro de órdenes y asistencias, the site instructions book, stamped by the Colegio
- Libro de incidencias and subcontracting book
The aviso previo no longer exists. Article 18 of Royal Decree 1627/1997 was repealed on 24 March 2010 by Royal Decree 337/2010, and its data were folded into the notice of opening of the workplace. It still appears as a live formality in a great many guides. It is not one.
And the public works record, which is a different thing
If you search for “acta de replanteo” in Google, most results are about the acta de comprobación del replanteo of public procurement. It is a different figure, with a fixed deadline and financial consequences.
| Public works | Private works | |
|---|---|---|
| Rule | Law 9/2017, arts. 236 and 237 | LOE, arts. 11.2.f, 12.3.e and 13.2.e |
| Nature | A regulated formality; part of the contract | A private document; a duty of signature |
| Deadline | One month maximum from formalisation | No legal deadline |
| Who signs | The administration and the contractor | The dirección facultativa and the builder |
| Effect on the period | The execution period starts the following day | Only if the private contract agrees it |
| If it is breached | Termination of the contract and compensation of 2 % | No specific penalty for the acta itself |
What happens if you start without it
No fine attaches to the acta. But three things that matter are lost.
The evidence of the start date. The permit’s time limit runs from the day it was granted; the acta is what proves when work actually started if a lapse file is opened.
How liability for the setting out is shared. The LOE spreads it across three agents. Without a record fixing who set out and what was checked, individualising liability gets complicated and the tendency is towards joint and several liability.
And what the acta certifies. If the approved safety plan, the appointed coordinator or the opening of the workplace is missing, that is defined as an offence: a serious infringement, with fines of 2,451 € to 49,180 €.
And the risk that is not a legal one. A badly executed setting out is the only defect whose cost of correction grows exponentially with every day of works. Setbacks not respected, encroachment on a boundary or a level wrongly fixed are cheap errors to put right on the first day and irreversible once the foundations have been poured.
It is also the day the plot on the ground is compared with the deed and the Catastro, the land registry for tax purposes. They do not always agree, and boundary surprises turn up here or nowhere.
Frequently asked questions
Are the acta de replanteo and the acta de inicio de obra two documents?
No. The LOE cites them as a single figure: “the acta de replanteo or de comienzo de obra”. The COAM form is called Acta de Replanteo y de Comienzo de Obra and is one document. If a contract shows them separately, that is a private agreement, not a legal requirement.
Is it compulsory by law on private works?
Worth being precise. The LOE obliges the architect directing the works, the aparejador and the builder to sign it. But no rule regulates its content, deadline or form, the Building Code leaves it out of the compulsory site-monitoring documents, and it is not subject to a visado. The form, the stamping and the four copies are COAM practice.
Does the developer have to sign it?
Legally, no. The LOE only obliges him to sign the acta de recepción, the handover record. On the COAM form the developer signs an endorsement recording that he has been informed and agrees to the start. It is professional-body practice, and strongly advisable in a self-build.
Will the Ayuntamiento de Madrid ask me for it?
Not today. The old 2004 by-law did require it alongside the notice of commencement, but it is repealed by By-law 6/2022. The current start-of-works documentation asks for the letters of engagement from the dirección facultativa and the safety coordinator, a declaration that the guarantee deposit has been lodged, and a certification from the author of the health and safety study. The acta does not appear. Other municipalities may still ask for it.
Is it given a visado at the COAM?
No. The compulsory visado in building work is limited to the construction design and the certificado final de obra. The acta is stamped or registered: the COAM’s own information sheet says it is a document that is stamped.
Do I still have to submit the aviso previo?
No. The aviso previo was repealed on 24 March 2010 by Royal Decree 337/2010. Its data were folded into the notice of opening of the workplace, which the contractor submits before work begins.
I have read that it has to be signed within one month. Is that right?
That is public works, not private. The maximum period of one month from the formalisation of the contract is the one for the acta de comprobación del replanteo in article 237 of Law 9/2017 on Public Sector Contracts. On private works there is no legal deadline.
And if we start the works without signing it?
There is no fine for the acta itself, but you lose the evidence of the start date and of how liability for the setting out was shared. And if what the acta certifies is missing as well — approved safety plan, appointed coordinator, opening of the workplace — that is a serious infringement, with fines of 2,451 € to 49,180 €.
On setting-out day we are on the plot
We verify the setting out on the ground, check setbacks and levels, and do not sign the start until permit, visado, safety plan and opening of the workplace are closed off. It is the cheapest day to find a mistake.