{"id":24485,"date":"2025-01-28T19:56:14","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T19:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/architect-in-marbella\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T12:31:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T12:31:06","slug":"architect-in-marbella","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/architect-in-marbella\/","title":{"rendered":"Architect in Marbella: one-off houses on the coast and the islands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group fcg\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n\n\n<style>\n.fcg{\n  --surface:#fcfcfb; --ink:#0b0b0b; --ink2:#52514e; --muted:#898781;\n  --grid:#e1e0d9; --axis:#c3c2b7; --ring:rgba(11,11,11,0.10); --band:#f0efec;\n  --c1:#2a78d6; --c2:#eb6834; --c3:#1baf7a;\n  color-scheme:light;\n}\n.fcg .fcg-caja{background:var(--surface); border:1px solid var(--ring);\n  border-left:3px solid var(--c1); border-radius:8px; padding:16px 18px; 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line-height:1.6; color:var(--ink2); margin:0}\n\n\/* cierre *\/\n.fcg .fcg-cta{background:var(--ink); color:#fff; border-radius:11px;\n  padding:26px 28px; margin:32px 0 8px}\n.fcg .fcg-cta h2{color:#fff; font-size:20px; margin:0 0 11px; font-weight:650;\n  letter-spacing:-.018em; line-height:1.28}\n.fcg .fcg-cta p{color:rgba(255,255,255,.80); font-size:14.5px; line-height:1.62; margin:0 0 10px}\n.fcg .fcg-cta .btns{display:flex; gap:10px; flex-wrap:wrap; margin-top:18px}\n.fcg .fcg-cta a{display:inline-block; padding:11px 20px; border-radius:6px; font-size:14.5px;\n  font-weight:600; text-decoration:none; border:1px solid transparent}\n.fcg .fcg-cta a.p{background:#fff; color:var(--ink)}\n.fcg .fcg-cta a.s{border-color:rgba(255,255,255,.34); color:#fff}\n.fcg .fcg-cta a:hover{opacity:.86}\n\n\/* fuentes *\/\n.fcg .fcg-fuentes{font-size:12.5px; color:var(--muted); line-height:1.6;\n  border-top:1px solid var(--grid); padding-top:14px; margin-top:30px}\n.fcg .fcg-fuentes strong{color:var(--ink2)}\n\n@media(max-width:781px){\n  .fcg .fcg-cards, .fcg .fcg-cards.dos, .fcg .fcg-faq,\n  .fcg .fcg-check, .fcg .fcg-datos, .fcg .fcg-datos.dos{grid-template-columns:1fr}\n  .fcg .fcg-cta{padding:21px}\n}\n<\/style>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"fcg-caja\"><p><strong>Short version.<\/strong> We design and supervise <strong>one-off detached houses<\/strong> on the Spanish coast and the islands, from the first sketch on the plot to the signed completion certificate. The complete professional team starts at <strong>26,000 \u20ac plus VAT<\/strong>, billed per square metre of house and never as a percentage of what the works end up costing.<\/p><p>We take on few commissions a year and keep no catalogue: every house is designed for its own plot, orientation and set of municipal by-laws.<\/p><p>There are a hundred pages claiming to be architects in Marbella. The only thing worth checking is what has been built. Ours stands in three places: the Costa del Sol, the Alicante coast and Ibiza.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where we have built on the coast and the islands<\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Where a house is linked with a floor area, that is the built area published on its own page. Where it is linked without one, we have not published the area and will not invent it.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><thead><tr><th>Coast<\/th><th>Municipality<\/th><th>Completed house<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Costa del Sol<\/strong><\/td><td>Marbella<\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/villa-rs61\/\">Villa RS61<\/a> \u00b7 209.90 m\u00b2<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><\/td><td>M\u00e1laga<\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/house-fp9\/\">Casa FP9<\/a> \u00b7 136 m\u00b2<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><\/td><td>Fuengirola<\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/villa-ra4\/\">Villa RA4<\/a><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><\/td><td>Estepona<\/td><td>We work here<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><\/td><td>Mijas<\/td><td>We work here<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><\/td><td>Benalm\u00e1dena<\/td><td>We work here<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><\/td><td>Torremolinos<\/td><td>We work here<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Alicante<\/strong><\/td><td>Altea<\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/villa-r25\/\">Villa R25<\/a> \u00b7 1,138.17 m\u00b2<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><\/td><td>Calpe<\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/house-r37\/\">Casa R37<\/a><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><\/td><td>J\u00e1vea<\/td><td>We work here<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Balearics<\/strong><\/td><td>Ibiza<\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/villa-c58\/\">Villa C58<\/a> \u00b7 539.62 m\u00b2<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><\/td><td>Palma de Mallorca<\/td><td>We work here<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The range is the point. <strong>Casa FP9 is 136 m\u00b2 and Villa R25 is 1,138.17 m\u00b2<\/strong>, and both were designed the same way, for the plot they stand on. The floor plans are published in full on the <a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/house-plans\/\">house plans<\/a> page; we would rather you judged us on those than on a photograph.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"fcg-nota\"><p><strong>The towns with no house next to them.<\/strong> Estepona, Mijas, Benalm\u00e1dena, Torremolinos, J\u00e1vea and Palma de Mallorca are places we work in and travel to. We have no completed house in them, and a page that implied otherwise would be opening with a lie.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Three roles the law requires on one house<\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This surprises almost every foreign client, and it is worth knowing before you compare quotes. Spanish law does not let one professional cover a dwelling alone: Law 38\/1999 on Building Regulation (<em>Ley de Ordenaci\u00f3n de la Edificaci\u00f3n<\/em>, the LOE) names three roles and reserves each to a qualification.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"fcg-cards\"><div class=\"fcg-card\" style=\"--tono:#2a78d6\"><div class=\"cab\">Article 10<\/div><h3>The designer<\/h3><p>The <em>proyectista<\/em> signs the design: the outline the permit is granted on, and the detailed design the house is built from.<\/p><p>On a dwelling, reserved to an <em>arquitecto<\/em>.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"fcg-card\" style=\"--tono:#eb6834\"><div class=\"cab\">Article 12<\/div><h3>The site supervisor<\/h3><p>The <em>direcci\u00f3n de obra<\/em> answers for the works matching the design, and for the decisions taken when site and drawings disagree.<\/p><p>Also reserved to an <em>arquitecto<\/em>.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"fcg-card\" style=\"--tono:#1baf7a\"><div class=\"cab\">Article 13<\/div><h3>The execution supervisor<\/h3><p>The <em>direcci\u00f3n de ejecuci\u00f3n<\/em> checks materials, workmanship and quantities, and signs off what the builder is owed each month.<\/p><p>Reserved to an <em>arquitecto t\u00e9cnico<\/em>, usually called a quantity surveyor.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So a house needs both qualifications, and both sign the <em>certificado final de obra<\/em> (the completion certificate). Usually that means two firms, two contracts and a gap between them where responsibility hides \u2014 harder to manage from another country, not easier.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here it does not arise. <strong>Fran Cort\u00e9s holds both qualifications<\/strong> \u2014 <em>arquitecto<\/em>, COAM member no. 21503, and <em>arquitecto t\u00e9cnico<\/em>, COAATM member no. 105287 \u2014 so all three roles sit under one contract: <a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/quantity-surveyor-in-madrid\/\">what the second one does with your money<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"fcg-nota ok\"><p><strong>A <em>colegio<\/em> and a <em>visado<\/em>.<\/strong> A <em>colegio profesional<\/em> is the statutory body an architect must belong to; the <em>visado colegial<\/em> is the stamp it puts on a set of drawings, certifying that whoever signed them is registered, insured and entitled to sign. Town halls ask for it, and so do banks on a <a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/guides\/self-build-mortgage\/\">self-build mortgage<\/a>. <strong>Its cost is included in our fee<\/strong>, which is not the norm.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The tax on the works is set by the town hall<\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most of what governs a house in Spain is national, including the Spanish Building Code (<em>C\u00f3digo T\u00e9cnico de la Edificaci\u00f3n<\/em>, the CTE). What the council takes off you before a lorry arrives is <strong>not<\/strong>, which catches people out when they compare two plots ten minutes apart.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <em>ICIO<\/em> (the municipal tax on building work) is charged on the <em>presupuesto de ejecuci\u00f3n material<\/em> \u2014 the construction budget of materials and labour, before the builder\u2019s overheads and profit and before VAT. Each council sets its own rate within a legal band, and each charges a <strong>permit fee on top<\/strong>, a separate line.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"fcg-datos\"><div class=\"fcg-dato\" style=\"--tono:#2a78d6\"><div class=\"v\">3 % to 4 %<\/div><div class=\"k\">The ICIO rate on the construction budget, council by council<\/div><\/div><div class=\"fcg-dato\" style=\"--tono:#eb6834\"><div class=\"v\">Plus the fee<\/div><div class=\"k\">The permit fee is charged separately and is also set locally<\/div><\/div><div class=\"fcg-dato\" style=\"--tono:#1baf7a\"><div class=\"v\">26,000 \u20ac<\/div><div class=\"k\">Where the complete professional team starts, plus VAT, billed per m\u00b2 built<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>We are not going to print a rate for Marbella, Calpe or Ibiza here.<\/strong> The table of rates we publish covers <strong>Madrid municipalities<\/strong>, read by-law by by-law; on the coast the figure has to come off the by-law of the council your plot actually falls under, which is one of the first things we check. What the <a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/guides\/icio-building-permit-tax\/\">ICIO and building permit guide<\/a> gives you anywhere in Spain is the mechanism: what the tax is charged on, what the fee is, and when each is paid.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"fcg-nota\"><p><strong>How big is the difference, really?<\/strong> In the Madrid table it is <strong>9,750 \u20ac<\/strong> between the cheapest and the dearest council on a house with a 300,000 \u20ac <em>presupuesto de ejecuci\u00f3n material<\/em>. That figure is Madrid\u2019s and does not transfer to the coast, but the order of magnitude is why we read by-laws instead of assuming. The <a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/tools\/construction-cost\/\">cost calculator<\/a> does the same arithmetic end to end \u2014 construction, tax, fee, professional fees \u2014 but its rates are loaded for thirty Madrid municipalities: on a coastal plot, use it for the shape of the total, not to price your council.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Buying a plot before you know what fits on it<\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A coastal plot is easy to buy as an opportunity rather than as a building site, and the two are not the same thing. <strong>The plot is the design brief.<\/strong> Setback, buildable floor area, the share you may cover and height are all in the municipal by-laws, and two plots that look identical can take very different houses. Send us the plot before you commit, or at least read <a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/guides\/what-can-i-build-on-my-plot\/\">what you can build on your plot<\/a> first. You will also need a <em>NIE<\/em>, the identification number Spain issues to foreigners; that is your lawyer\u2019s job rather than ours, but start it early.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How a commission runs from abroad<\/h2>\n\n\n<ol class=\"fcg-pasos\"><li><h3>The plot, before anything else<\/h3><p>We look at what the by-laws let you build there, and at what the plot itself wants: orientation, slope, views, where the sun lands in August. This is the cheapest moment to discover a problem.<\/p><\/li><li><h3>Concept design, then the outline design for the permit<\/h3><p>The concept settles the house. The outline design is what the council grants the permit on, and it goes in with the professional body\u2019s stamp. We prepare the file so that no delay is our doing, and promise no date we do not control.<\/p><\/li><li><h3>The detailed technical design<\/h3><p>The document the house is actually built from, and the one that decides how many arguments there are on site. Cutting back here is expensive later, doubly so if you are not in the country to settle them.<\/p><\/li><li><h3>Construction, with both supervision roles in one office<\/h3><p>The works are checked against the design, and every monthly progress certificate against what has actually been built and the contracted prices.<\/p><p>At the end both signatures go on the <em>certificado final de obra<\/em>, and from there to the <a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/guides\/first-occupancy-licence\/\">first occupancy licence<\/a> and the <em>declaraci\u00f3n de obra nueva<\/em>, the notarial deed that makes the house exist on paper.<\/p><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Commission to keys usually runs to about two years: roughly six to nine months of design and permit, twelve to sixteen of construction. Those are not dates we offer. <strong>The permit timescale is the town hall\u2019s, not ours, and it is not guaranteed.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Living abroad while it happens is normal for us: the design stage works over video calls and shared drawings, and you come over when there is something worth standing in front of. Supervision on site is the part that is physically ours, until the last signature.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Check us before you write<\/h2>\n\n\n<ul class=\"fcg-check\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/house-plans\/\">House plans<\/a> \u2014 completed houses with their plans and areas, including the coastal and island ones above.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/architect-fees\/\">Fees<\/a> \u2014 the 26,000 \u20ac figure and what it covers.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/guides\/\">The guides<\/a> \u2014 eleven of them, on the paperwork nobody explains: the <a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/guides\/icio-building-permit-tax\/\">ICIO<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/guides\/first-occupancy-licence\/\">first occupancy licence<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/guides\/self-build-mortgage\/\">self-build mortgage<\/a> and the rest.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/architect-in-madrid\/\">Architect in Madrid<\/a> \u2014 the studio\u2019s home ground, with the municipal tax table in full.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"fcg-faq\"><div class=\"q\"><h3>Have you actually built on the coast, or is this a landing page?<\/h3><p>We have: <a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/villa-rs61\/\">Villa RS61<\/a> in Marbella (209.90 m\u00b2), <a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/house-fp9\/\">Casa FP9<\/a> in M\u00e1laga (136 m\u00b2), <a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/villa-ra4\/\">Villa RA4<\/a> in Fuengirola, <a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/villa-r25\/\">Villa R25<\/a> in Altea (1,138.17 m\u00b2), <a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/house-r37\/\">Casa R37<\/a> in Calpe and <a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/villa-c58\/\">Villa C58<\/a> in Ibiza (539.62 m\u00b2). A missing area means we have not published it.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"q\"><h3>Why does one house need two different professionals?<\/h3><p>Because Law 38\/1999 on Building Regulation (<em>Ley de Ordenaci\u00f3n de la Edificaci\u00f3n<\/em>, the LOE) splits the job. Design and site supervision are reserved to an <em>arquitecto<\/em> (articles 10 and 12); supervision of the execution belongs to an <em>arquitecto t\u00e9cnico<\/em>, closer to a quantity surveyor (article 13). Both sign the completion certificate. It is not an upsell, it is the law. Fran Cort\u00e9s holds both qualifications, so both roles sit under one contract: <a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/quantity-surveyor-in-madrid\/\">how they divide up<\/a>.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"q\"><h3>What do you charge?<\/h3><p>From <strong>26,000 \u20ac plus VAT<\/strong> for the complete professional team on a detached house, billed <strong>per square metre built<\/strong> and never as a percentage of the construction budget. The professional body\u2019s stamp is included; interior design is a separate commission, from 40 \u20ac\/m\u00b2. The breakdown is on the <a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/architect-fees\/\">fees page<\/a>. There has been no official fee scale in Spain since <strong>1997<\/strong> (Law 7\/1997), so any percentage offered as \u201cthe standard\u201d is a habit of the trade, not a rule.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"q\"><h3>What is the building tax in Marbella, or in Ibiza?<\/h3><p>We will not put a number on this page that we have not checked. The <em>ICIO<\/em> runs from <strong>3 % to 4 %<\/strong> of the <em>presupuesto de ejecuci\u00f3n material<\/em>, and each council sets its own rate and its own separate permit fee in its own by-law. The rate for your plot comes off that council\u2019s by-law, and it is one of the first things we check. Our published table of rates covers Madrid municipalities only: <a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/guides\/icio-building-permit-tax\/\">how the tax is built up<\/a>.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"q\"><h3>Can we do this while I am living in another country?<\/h3><p>Yes. The studio works from Madrid, and the houses on this page were designed from there and built in Marbella, M\u00e1laga, Altea, Calpe, Fuengirola and Ibiza. What does not happen remotely is site supervision \u2014 that means being on the plot, and it is the part you are paying two qualifications for.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"q\"><h3>Do I need a NIE?<\/h3><p>Yes, a foreign buyer needs a <em>NIE<\/em>, the identification number Spain issues to foreigners. We do not process it and this page does not explain how it is obtained; your lawyer will. Start it early \u2014 it tends to be needed before you expect it.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"q\"><h3>I am about to buy a plot. Will the house I have in mind fit on it?<\/h3><p>That is decided by the municipal by-laws, not by national law: setback, buildable floor area, how much of the plot you may cover and height change from one council to the next. Read <a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/guides\/what-can-i-build-on-my-plot\/\">what you can build on your plot<\/a> before you sign, and send us the plot if you want it checked first.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"fcg-cta\"><h2>Tell us where the plot is<\/h2><p>Send the address or the <em>Catastro<\/em> reference \u2014 the land registry for tax purposes, a different body from the <em>Registro de la Propiedad<\/em> \u2014 and the house you have in mind, and we will come back with the scope and a fee in writing.<\/p><p>If the numbers here do not fit your budget, better you know now.<\/p><div class=\"btns\"><a class=\"p\" href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/contact\/\">Talk to the studio<\/a><a class=\"s\" href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/tools\/construction-cost\/\">Work out what my house will cost<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"fcg-fuentes\"><strong>Sources.<\/strong> The roles of designer, site supervisor and works execution supervisor, and the qualifications reserved to each, are set out in articles 10, 12 and 13 of Law 38\/1999 on Building Regulation. Deregulation of professional fees: Law 7\/1997. The ICIO band of 3 % to 4 % of the <em>presupuesto de ejecuci\u00f3n material<\/em>, and the separate permit fee, are set by each council in its own by-law; the rates in the <a href=\"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/guides\/icio-building-permit-tax\/\">ICIO table<\/a>, and the 9,750 \u20ac difference on a 300,000 \u20ac construction budget, are Madrid municipalities, cited there by by-law and article. <strong>No rate is stated here for any coastal council.<\/strong> Registration numbers: COAM 21503, COAATM 105287. Floor areas are those published on each house\u2019s own page, and appear only where we have published them. Fees are agreed in writing before work starts; no permit timescale is guaranteed here, because none of them is ours to grant.<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Have you actually built on the coast, or is this a landing page?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"We have: Villa RS61 in Marbella (209.90 m\u00b2), Casa FP9 in M\u00e1laga (136 m\u00b2), Villa RA4 in Fuengirola, Villa R25 in Altea (1,138.17 m\u00b2), Casa R37 in Calpe and Villa C58 in Ibiza (539.62 m\u00b2). A missing area means we have not published it.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why does one house need two different professionals?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Because Law 38\/1999 on Building Regulation (Ley de Ordenaci\u00f3n de la Edificaci\u00f3n, the LOE) splits the job. Design and site supervision are reserved to an arquitecto (articles 10 and 12); supervision of the execution belongs to an arquitecto t\u00e9cnico, closer to a quantity surveyor (article 13). Both sign the completion certificate. It is not an upsell, it is the law. Fran Cort\u00e9s holds both qualifications, so both roles sit under one contract: how they divide up.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What do you charge?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"From 26,000 \u20ac plus VAT for the complete professional team on a detached house, billed per square metre built and never as a percentage of the construction budget. The professional body\u2019s stamp is included; interior design is a separate commission, from 40 \u20ac\/m\u00b2. The breakdown is on the fees page. 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The studio works from Madrid, and the houses on this page were designed from there and built in Marbella, M\u00e1laga, Altea, Calpe, Fuengirola and Ibiza. What does not happen remotely is site supervision \u2014 that means being on the plot, and it is the part you are paying two qualifications for.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Do I need a NIE?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes, a foreign buyer needs a NIE, the identification number Spain issues to foreigners. We do not process it and this page does not explain how it is obtained; your lawyer will. Start it early \u2014 it tends to be needed before you expect it.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"I am about to buy a plot. Will the house I have in mind fit on it?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"That is decided by the municipal by-laws, not by national law: setback, buildable floor area, how much of the plot you may cover and height change from one council to the next. Read what you can build on your plot before you sign, and send us the plot if you want it checked first.\"}}]}<\/script>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Short version. We design and supervise one-off detached houses on the Spanish coast and the islands, from the first sketch on the plot to the signed completion certificate. The complete professional team starts at 26,000 \u20ac plus VAT, billed per square metre of house and never as a percentage of what the works end up [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rank_math_title":"Architect in Marbella for a one-off house on the coast","rank_math_description":"One-off detached houses on the Spanish coast: built work in Marbella, M\u00e1laga, Altea and Ibiza, fees from 26,000 \u20ac, and how the municipal building tax works.","rank_math_focus_keyword":"architect in marbella","rank_math_canonical_url":"","rank_math_robots":"","rank_math_facebook_title":"","rank_math_facebook_description":"","rank_math_facebook_image":"","rank_math_twitter_use_facebook":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-24485","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24485"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34171,"href":"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24485\/revisions\/34171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/francortesarquitectos.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}