The Government approves a Construction Regulation adapted to universal accessibility

The Government has approved Decree 449/2026, of November 4, 2026, which fully replaces the Construction Regulations in effect since 2020. The text is published in the Official Bulletin of the Principality of Andorra (BOPA) no. 128, of November 11, 2026, within section 03. Government / Regulations, and enters into force the day after publication, that is, November 12.

The regulation comes at the proposal of the Minister of Territory and Urban Planning and with the favorable report of the Technical Urban Planning Commission. It was signed, by delegation, by Conxita Marsol Riart, Minister of Presidency, Economy, Labor and Housing, in the Government session of November 4. The repealing provision eliminates the Decree of May 13, 2020, approving the Construction Regulations and all its subsequent modifications, as well as any provision of equal or lower rank that opposes it.

The stated objective is to adapt the building regulations to the legal framework approved over the last two years. The statement of reasons justifies this by the impact of four laws:

• Law 6/2025, of April 3, amending the General Law on Land Use and Urban Planning (LGOTU).
• Law 14/2025, of July 15, amending the same LGOTU.
• Law 24/2025, of November 13, on universal accessibility.
• Law 25/2022, of June 30, on circular economy, which identifies construction as a key sector for reusing waste as raw materials.

A consolidated text of 142 articles

The decree is not a specific amendment but a complete consolidation that integrates the seven partial modifications accumulated since 2020 —decrees 181/2021, 300/2021, 407/2021, 29/2022, 486/2022 and 72/2026, in addition to the correction of errors of September 30, 2020— and renumbers all the articles. The resulting structure is:

• A preliminary title on general provisions and scope of application.
• Title I, dedicated to building planning parameters and street alignment systems, isolated building and volumetric definition.
• Title II, on the regime of uses and activities, parking and service stations.
• Title III, with the construction and habitability conditions in buildings.
• Title IV, which regulates administrative intervention: licenses, urban certificates, urbanization, demolition and use license.
• Two transitional provisions, the repealing and the final, and six annexes, including the models for the certificate and sworn declaration of waste management and the justification of accessibility.

The RICCH as the sole route for the habitability certificate

One of the changes with the most immediate effect for developers and owners is the consolidation of the Computerized Registry of Certificates of Habitability (RICCH) as the sole means of processing, management, and centralization of requests. The registry, developed in compliance with Law 15/2021, of June 17, creating the National Housing Institute, is already fully operational.

Regarding accessibility, the regulation incorporates accessible itineraries, the conditions for common areas and dwellings, and the homogeneous technical criteria established by Law 24/2025. Annex VI contains the justification for compliance with these requirements, which includes parameters such as:

• A minimum of 3% of adapted parking spaces out of the total, with a maximum requirement of 10 spaces.
• Usable elevators in buildings with a ground floor and three or more floors of access to the dwelling, and adapted elevators of at least 630 kg in those with more than four floors.
• Ramps with a maximum longitudinal slope of 10% for sections under 10 meters and 8% for longer sections.

Efficiency, waste, and river protection

Sustainability runs throughout the entire text. In new construction, at least 40% of domestic hot water production must come from renewable energies, the maximum height for generating elements may be exceeded up to 1.5 meters, and the use of asbestos materials is prohibited. Urban planning must provide spaces for the selective collection of glass, packaging, paper and cardboard, and refuse.

Waste management is linked to finances: guarantees deposited before the entry into force can be recovered when the applicant submits the corresponding waste management certificate to the Department of Environment and Sustainability. Regarding natural risks, any license affecting land along a river or stream must include a hydrological study signed by a competent technician and the official limits of the riverbank, with a non-buildable strip of five meters on each bank.

Parking and non-urbanizable land

The new articles maintain and organize the minimum standards for parking spaces, which the parish planning plans must specify: two spaces per dwelling of more than 150 m² built, one space for dwellings of less than 90 m², one space for every 80 m² in offices, and one for every 60 m² of useful surface in commerce and catering. Parking lots with more than 350 spaces, or those that reach this figure combined with existing ones within 15 meters, will require a study on the capacity of the streets to absorb the traffic.

On non-urbanizable land, the regulation develops the requirements for forestry, agricultural, livestock, and beekeeping facilities introduced by Law 14/2025, with a maximum height of 10.5 meters at the ridge and the possibility of installing solar panels on roofs and facades.

The scope of the change is broad: it affects any work in the country, from single-family housing to multi-family developments, and requires architects, technical architects, builders, and developers to work with a renumbered set of articles and new electronic procedures. The text does, however, maintain a transitional path inherited from Law 5/2025, of March 6, which allows for the application of rehabilitation or change-of-use licenses to allocate entire buildings to residential rental for a period of 20 months.

Source: Official Bulletin of the Principality of Andorra (BOPA), no. 128, November 11, 2026, section 03. Government / Regulations, p. 1 (official reference: Decree 449/2026).