Ourense approves the ordinance regulating licenses, prior communications, and ECCOM

The Plenary of the Ourense City Council definitively approved on September 4, 2026, the municipal Ordinance regulating enabling titles of an urban planning nature and municipal conformity certifying entities (ECCOM). The agreement, which resolves the allegations presented during the public information and hearing process for interested parties, is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Ourense on September 24, 2026, together with the full text of the regulation (official reference R. 2.183). The ordinance replaces the one in force since 2013 and regulates urban planning licenses, prior notifications, and the actions of certifying entities in a single text.

The processing corresponds to file no. 2026004155 and was based on the report from the head of the Urban Planning, Activity, Opening and Discipline Licensing Service, dated August 4, 2026. The regulation is developed under Law 2/2016, of February 10, on Galician Land, and Decree 143/2016, of September 22, and incorporates the ECCOM regime introduced by Law 9/2013, of December 19, expanded by Law 7/2022, of December 27, and detailed by Decree 60/2025, of July 21. It will enter into force the day following the full publication of its text in the provincial gazette and repeals the municipal Ordinance regulating acts of an urban planning nature, approved on November 8, 2013, and published in BOP no. 212, of September 15, 2014.

Licenses, prior notifications, and deadlines

The text establishes which acts are subject to prior notification and which require an urban planning license, referring to article 142 of Law 2/2016 and article 351 of its regulation. Acts subject to prior notification include:

• The first occupation of buildings.
• Minor works and installations of low constructive entity.
• Conservation and maintenance works that do not affect listed buildings or the structure.
• Land use for commercial, industrial, professional, or service activities.
• The modification of use of part of the buildings, the fencing and enclosing of plots, and the installation of greenhouses.
• The start of works authorized by license and changes of ownership of licenses in progress.

The deadlines are fixed: six months to start works with a license and three months in the case of prior notifications, which are understood to be effective fifteen business days after complete submission. Completion may not exceed three years for licenses nor one year for prior notifications, and execution may not be interrupted for more than six months without justified cause. License extensions require the prior completion of the exterior finish and the provision of a guarantee of 100% of the material execution budget for the pending exterior works.

The ECCOMs and the reduction of deadlines

Title IV regulates for the first time in the City Council the intervention of municipal conformity certification entities (ECCOM), legal entities that certify, verify, inspect, and control the conformity of works and activities with municipal regulations. Their action replaces the responsibility of the promoter, and municipal technical and legal reports become optional when the application is accompanied by a conformity certification.

• The deadline to resolve a license with ECCOM certification is reduced to one month.
• For business initiatives with a construction project and certification, the deadline drops to fifteen calendar days.
• ECCOMs are exclusively responsible for the content of their certifications and must have civil liability insurance.
• The City Council will maintain a public registry with the certifying entity, the promoter, the type of action, and the result.

The intervention of ECCOMs is excluded in provisional licenses, actions under the special regime of article 40 of the Land Law, properties outside of planning, actions on public domain or municipal assets, and within the city’s historical center and the PERI subject to the binding report of the Municipal Technical Commission for the Protection of Cultural Assets (CTMPBC).

Resolved allegations and annexes

The Plenary agreement fully accepted the suggestions for articles 10, 17, 18, 38, and 44, partially accepted those relating to articles 24, 26, and 29, and dismissed those presented against articles 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 13, 22, 25, 31, 32, 41, and 42. The regulation is structured into 67 articles, four additional provisions, two transitional, one repealing, and one final, and includes three annexes: the rules for the submission of technical projects in digital format, the manual for the simplified calculation of the material execution budget —with a basic module of 860.00 euros per square meter for 2026— and six standardized application and communication models.

An administrative-law appeal may be filed against the agreement before the Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Galicia within two months from the day following its publication in the bulletin.

The new ordinance directly affects promoters, technicians, construction companies, and residents processing works in the city, who, from its entry into force, must adhere to more precise deadlines, models, and guarantees. The incorporation of ECCOMs opens a faster processing route, but transfers all responsibility for the conformity of the actions to the certifying entities.

Source: Official Bulletin of the Province of Ourense, September 24, 2026, section IV. Local Entities (official reference: R. 2.183).