How Long Does a Complete Home Renovation Take in Spain?
For an apartment of around 80 m², the building work itself usually takes about 10 to 14 weeks. A larger villa, or any project with structural changes, more often runs to four to six months. Licences, design and material lead times sit on top of that. Many owners find that the planning before the first day on site decides whether a project finishes on schedule. The sections below set out the stages, what each one takes, what causes delays on the Costa Blanca and how to agree a completion date you can rely on.
Key Takeaways
An 80 m² apartment: roughly 10 to 14 weeks of programme, including project and licence, in the indicative schedule we use as a benchmark below.
A villa or a home with structural work: plan on 4 to 6 months, and more if the layout changes substantially.
Permits are the least predictable stage. A responsible declaration for minor works is quick; a major works licence takes months.
Most delays come from late decisions, hidden defects (damp, old wiring, old pipework) and made-to-measure items ordered too late.
A realistic date comes from a phased quote, a written programme and a decision calendar, agreed before demolition starts.
Table of Contents
The short answer: timelines by type of home
No single figure fits every property, because a complete renovation covers anything from repainting and refitting a flat to rebuilding the services of a villa. These ranges are the ones we use as a starting point when we first discuss a project. They are planning estimates, and the final programme depends on the survey and the permit route.
Type of project | Typical on-site duration | Main time drivers |
Partial renovation (one bathroom or kitchen) | 2 to 4 weeks | Tile and fitting lead times, plumbing and electrics behind walls |
Complete renovation, small or medium apartment (50 to 100 m²) | 10 to 14 weeks including project and licence | Licence route, new installations, finishes |
Complete renovation, large apartment or townhouse | 4 to 5 months | Layout changes, number of bathrooms, custom joinery |
Villa with terraces, roof and façade | 4 to 6 months or more | Waterproofing, structural work, outdoor areas |
The only published breakdown in our research for a full apartment renovation is an indicative 80 m² programme from Motor de Presupuestos, which allows 10 to 14 weeks in total for the whole process. We treat it as a benchmark for a well-prepared project rather than a promise, because it assumes decisions are made on time and no hidden defects appear.
The stages of a complete renovation and how long each takes
A renovation runs in a fixed order, because each trade depends on the one before it. The same indicative programme gives a useful pattern for an 80 m² home.
1. Project, survey and licence: 4 to 8 weeks
This stage covers the technical survey, drawings where needed, the quote and the permit route. It often passes unnoticed by owners because nothing visible happens on site, yet it is where the calendar is set. We come back to permits below, since this stage varies most from one municipality to another.
2. Demolition and clearance: about 1 week
Removing old tiles, partitions, sanitary ware and kitchen units is quick compared with what follows. It is also the moment when hidden problems appear: damp behind render, corroded pipes, undersized wiring. Allowing for this in the programme is the difference between a managed adjustment and a stalled site.
3. Installations and partitions: 3 to 5 weeks
New plumbing, electrical circuits, air-conditioning pipework and any new partitions or plastering go in now. This is the stage that most affects safety and long-term running costs, so it should never be rushed to recover time lost earlier. If you are replacing old pipework or a consumer unit, our plumbing and electrical teams work to the same programme as the rest of the site.
4. Finishes: 3 to 5 weeks
Tiling, flooring, carpentry, doors, painting and the fitting of kitchens and bathrooms. Lead times matter most here. Made-to-measure wardrobes, kitchens and doors are normally measured only once walls are plastered, so ordering should be planned so that fitting follows on without a gap.
5. Reception, testing and snagging: about 1 week
Every circuit, tap, drain and appliance is tested, and minor defects are listed and corrected before handover. Allow for this week even when you are abroad: it is where a photo and video report earns its keep.
Pro Tip: Ask for the programme as a week-by-week chart showing which trade is on site and which materials must have arrived by then. A single end date tells you nothing; a sequence lets you spot slippage in week three rather than week twelve.
How permits and planning affect the timeline
In the Valencian Community, urban planning is governed by regional law, and the consolidated Valencian Urban Planning Code published in the BOE is the framework. The exact route for your works, whether a responsible declaration or a full licence, is decided by the town hall and the nature of the works. That is why a villa in Orihuela Costa and a flat in central Torrevieja can follow different paths.
The general split is this:
Minor works without structural change or alterations to the exterior: usually handled by a responsible declaration. One English-language guide to renovating in Spain says these can take a few weeks.
Major works: a licence that, according to the same guide, typically takes 2 to 4 months, and longer in some protected coastal zones.
The dividing line is set by national building law. The LOE requires a project for works that essentially alter the exterior composition, volume, structural system or characteristic use of a building. Moving a load-bearing wall, adding an extension or changing a façade therefore lengthens the planning stage considerably, while a new bathroom and kitchen inside the existing walls usually does not.
Do not start before the correct paperwork is in place. The same guide warns that working without a licence, even for something that seems cosmetic, can lead to stop orders, fines and demolition orders. A delay of a few weeks at the start is far cheaper than a stopped site. For a step-by-step view of what Alicante requires, see our guide on which renovation permits are required in Alicante.
What makes a renovation take longer in Spain
On the Costa Blanca, delays rarely come from one dramatic event. They accumulate from a handful of predictable causes.
Hidden defects in older properties
Many homes in Torrevieja and Vega Baja were built quickly during the holiday-home boom or are decades older. Once finishes come off, owners often find damp from poor waterproofing, salt damage, old electrical installations or pipes that cannot be reused. We recommend a technical survey before the quote, so these appear in the programme at the start instead of in week five. Our guide to renovating a villa on the Costa Blanca explains what to look for.
Late decisions on layout and finishes
Choosing tiles, sanitary ware and kitchen layout after the site has started is the most common cause of idle days. Each choice has a lead time, and the trades behind it cannot proceed. Closing all major selections before demolition protects the schedule more than any other single action.
Made-to-measure items and lead times
Custom joinery, glazed screens and certain imported tiles can take several weeks to arrive. Because dimensions are confirmed on site, order timing needs to be built into the programme. Our carpentry team coordinates measuring and fitting around the plastering and tiling stages for this reason.
Weather and coastal conditions
Rain affects façade, roof and terrace waterproofing, which need dry surfaces and proper curing. Autumn storms on the Vega Baja can interrupt exterior work, so we plan outdoor tasks and waterproofing in the most stable weather available and keep interior work in reserve for wet days.
Owner changes during the works
Moving a socket is simple on paper; once walls are closed, it means reopening and making good. A change order should always state its effect on cost and on the completion date before the work is carried out.
Working from abroad
Many of our clients live outside Spain. That does not need to slow the project, as long as decisions can be made remotely, by photo and video, within an agreed response time. If this is your situation, read our guide on renovating a Spanish property from abroad.
How structural work and large kitchens and bathrooms change the schedule
A kitchen or bathroom renovation seems self-contained, yet it concentrates several trades into a small space: demolition, plumbing, electrics, waterproofing, tiling, fitting and finishing. Each needs the previous one to be complete and, in the case of waterproofing, cured and tested.
As a working guide:
A bathroom with a bath-to-shower conversion is generally the shortest wet-room job, because the layout is kept. Moving drains or enlarging the room adds days for pipework and floor levelling.
A kitchen is controlled by cabinetry lead time and the electrical and plumbing first fix. Opening the kitchen into the living area makes it a different project, because the wall may be structural.
Structural work (opening walls, reinforcing beams, extensions) adds a project, possibly a licence, and extra time for structural elements to be completed before finishes begin. This is why the extension and villa lines in the table above are longer.
When the scope includes an extension, a pool or new-build elements, the programme changes from weeks to months. Our overview of how new construction works on the Costa Blanca covers that longer path.
How to set a realistic completion date before work begins
A date you can trust is built, not promised. These are the steps we follow with owners.
Survey first. Have the property inspected for damp, installations and structure before the quote is closed.
Fix the scope. List every room and every trade. A vague scope produces a vague date.
Confirm the permit route. Establish with the town hall, through the technician or contractor, whether you need a declaration or a licence, and add its realistic duration to the front of the programme.
Ask for a phased quote and programme. Each phase should have a start, an end and the materials needed.
Build a decision calendar. Agree the date by which you must choose tiles, sanitary ware, kitchen, doors and lighting.
Add a contingency. We suggest allowing about 10 to 15 per cent of the programme as a buffer for hidden defects and weather. This is our own working practice, not a regulatory figure.
Agree how you will be updated. Weekly photos or video and a short written report keep owners in the loop even from another country.
Pro Tip: If you want to be back for a specific date, such as the start of the rental season, count backwards from it and add the licence period. Starting the paperwork months before you travel is usually what makes the difference.
For the planning side in our own area, see how to plan a complete home renovation in Torrevieja and our overview of the five stages, permits and coastal costs. Budget is closely tied to time, so read how much to budget for a renovation in Spain at the same time.
Our perspective: why we plan the programme before the budget
We manage complete and partial renovations in Torrevieja and the Vega Baja, and our experience is that the question owners ask first, “how long?”, is answered properly only after the survey. A fixed-price quote without a programme can hide the very risk that causes delay.
For that reason we work in phases. Each phase has its own detailed quote, its own deadline and its own quality check, and the same team coordinates plumbing, electrical work, carpentry, painting and air conditioning so that trades do not wait for one another. Our aim is for pricing, deadlines and quality to be agreed in writing before work starts, and for the project to be run with insurance and regulatory compliance from start to finish.
We also work with many owners who are abroad for most of the year. A clear schedule, photographic updates and one point of contact are what allow a renovation to progress without the owner being on site. Where the survey reveals damp, ageing installations or a layout that needs structural advice, we would rather put it in the programme on day one than discover it in week six.
— URU Reformas
Plan your renovation with a written programme
If you would like a schedule built around your property rather than an average, we offer a free consultation and a detailed phased quote. Tell us the size of the home, the rooms involved and the date you would like to be back, and we will set out the stages and a realistic timeline.
You can see the scope of our full renovation service, look at completed projects or contact us directly. If you are still comparing contractors, our guide on choosing a renovation company in Torrevieja lists the checks worth making.
FAQ
How long does a full renovation of an apartment take in Spain?
For a medium apartment, the indicative programme is about 10 to 14 weeks including project and licence. Larger or older properties, or those with layout changes, can take four months or more. The permit route and the survey findings decide where in that range your project falls.
Can I live in the property during a complete renovation?
In most complete renovations this is impractical, because water, electricity and dust are affected for weeks. Partial work, such as a single bathroom, can sometimes be phased so that part of the home stays usable. Discuss this at the quote stage so that the programme is built around it.
Do I need a licence for a complete renovation?
It depends on the works and the town hall. Works that change the structure, exterior or volume require a project under national building law, as the LOE sets out, and a licence. Interior works may follow a lighter route, so confirm with the municipality before starting.
What is the most common reason for delays?
In our experience it is late decisions on finishes and the discovery of hidden defects once old materials are removed. A survey before the quote and a decision calendar both reduce the risk. Weather can also affect exterior waterproofing and façade work.
When should I start if I want the work done before the summer season?
Start the survey and permit process several months ahead, because the paperwork comes before any visible work. Ask for a programme with a buffer, and confirm lead times for custom items early. Contact us with your target date and we will say whether it is realistic for your scope.
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