Your Spanish Building Team: Who Is Responsible for What?

On a Spanish house project, the person running the builder's workforce is not the same as the professional checking the execution on your behalf. Both may be called a site manager in an informal English conversation. That translation can conceal an important difference.

Start by recording the Spanish role, the named person and the contractual appointment. You can then add an English explanation that describes the work. This is more reliable than assuming an architect, quantity surveyor or project manager performs the same package of duties as in another country.

Understand your position as promotor

A self-builder who commissions and finances a home has the promoter role in the project. You do not need to be a property-development company for this to matter. Hiring a main contractor does not automatically transfer every owner decision or appointment to that contractor.

The Spanish Building Act, articles 9 to 13, distinguishes promoter, designer, builder, works director and execution director. Use that framework to identify who has been appointed before discussing optional management services.

Practically, you should settle the brief, fund decisions and authorise representatives clearly. If a friend visits the plot while you are abroad, make sure the team knows whether the friend is merely observing or can instruct changes. An ambiguous informal arrangement can create confusion very quickly.

Architectural design and direction are distinct services

The proyectista develops the project documentation. The director de obra has the direction role assigned to that appointment. On an ordinary new residential house, an architect occupies the relevant architectural role under the legal framework; the same professional may design and direct, but both services should be identifiable.

Ask who signs the project and who attends or responds during construction. A practice may use several staff members while retaining a named responsible professional. You need a clear communication arrangement, particularly for changes affecting the approved design.

Our guide to architect fees and service scope explains why design work should not be assumed to include tendering, cost management or unlimited administrative assistance.

Why an aparejador is not automatically your quantity surveyor

Aparejador is a commonly used name associated with an arquitecto técnico. In the usual residential arrangement, this professional acts as director de ejecución de la obra, with responsibilities relating to material execution and control. That is not a simple translation of a UK quantity surveyor's commercial appointment.

The professional may also offer measurement, tender or cost-management services, but establish their extent separately. If you want a regularly updated forecast of final cost, change register or procurement review, say so. Do not assume those deliverables appear merely because a person is involved in checking quantities.

The CTE, article 7, addresses control of received products, execution and completed work. Ask your team to explain how those checks fit the programme, what evidence is retained and which work needs inspection before concealment.

Separate the contractor's management from safety coordination

The constructor carries out the contracted work. Its jefe de obra manages the contractor's technical activity on site. This person is essential to delivery, but should not be confused with the independent professional appointments merely because everyone attends the same meeting.

The health and safety coordinator is another role. Under Royal Decree 1627/1997, the promoter appoints a construction-stage coordinator in the stated circumstances involving multiple companies or combinations of companies and self-employed workers. Clarify the applicable arrangement before work starts.

A compatible professional may hold more than one appointment, but each role must be clear. A project manager's presence does not by itself establish that the statutory design, execution or safety appointments have been made.

Map technical approval and spending authority separately

Technical acceptance is not always authority to spend your money. Conversely, your willingness to pay for a change does not establish that it is technically or legally acceptable. Keep both decisions in the record.

Follow one change through the whole team

Suppose you request a wider terrace door after drawings and prices have been agreed. The architect reviews the design effect; the relevant technical specialists assess the details; the builder prices and programmes the change. You then decide with those consequences visible.

If approved, the new drawing, price and instruction should share a reference. When the payment request arrives, the item can be checked against that record. Without it, one person may remember a verbal approval while another still holds the original specification.

The guide to Spanish construction drawings explains version control. Our article on stage payments follows the same information into the financial review.

Buy extra coordination by deliverable

A project manager can be valuable when you are abroad or coordinating separate contractors. Specify the service: meeting records, programme updates, tender analysis, cost forecasts or decision tracking. Then agree which instructions require your approval.

Check that management fees neither duplicate existing appointments nor leave an expected task unowned. Record them in the total project budget. For the construction business itself, use the builder selection guide to identify the actual site team rather than only the salesperson.

The simplest working document is a contact and authority sheet: person, Spanish role, scope, contact method and decisions they can make. Share it before work begins and update it when people change. This is particularly helpful if your builder, designer and owner representative operate in different languages.

To discuss a gap in your team, tell us who is already appointed and what you need someone to take responsibility for. Naming the missing task is a better starting point than requesting a job title whose meaning may vary.