Has the building passed its inspection, and what does it say?

What it is and why it matters when you buy

The building inspection (ITE or IEE in Spanish) is the periodic survey in which an architect or building surveyor walks through the common parts of a block, records what they find and sets a deadline for each repair. The owners' association (comunidad de propietarios) commissions it; it does not cover the inside of your flat, and in several regions it is filed in a public register.

For a buyer it matters for two reasons. It shows the state of the building on a given date and, above all, the work it leaves pending: the association pays for those repairs, and so will you, according to your share. The glossary has the full definition and each region's timetable; this page is about how to find the inspection and what the report shows.

Which public registers record the inspection?

Three: the Valencian government's search tool for building assessment reports, compulsory for residential buildings over 50 years old under Decree 53/2018; the Madrid region's single register, searchable by address; and the Basque government's register of technical inspections. Elsewhere in Spain, ask the owners' association or the property manager for the report.

Valencian Community: the building assessment report is compulsory once a residential building is more than 50 years old and is valid for 10 years from its online filing, under Decree 53/2018. The regional government runs a public search of summary reports, linked from its page on the assessment report.

Madrid region: the single integrated register has a portal that searches by municipality, street and number, or by registration number. Its data comes from the town halls and, as the portal itself states, is for information only.

Basque Country: the inspection is compulsory for mainly residential buildings over 50 years old, and a new one is due 10 years after the previous one was filed (Decree 117/2018). Town halls enter it in the Basque Government's register of technical inspections.

Elsewhere in Spain, ask the property manager (administrador de fincas) or the association's president, and ask the town hall which timetable applies. The seller should be able to give you a copy before you sign the deposit contract (arras).

What check 01 shows in each region

Whatever each register publishes, without filling gaps. In the Valencian Community, the date, the result, the defects in each part of the building with their deadline and the validity, which is 10 years; in the Madrid region, the overall rating of the latest report; in the Basque Country, the grade of each building system and whether defects were fixed.

Each register publishes different things, and the report shows what each one publishes without filling in the gaps. The Valencian register is the most detailed: the date and result of the report, the defects in each part of the building with their symptoms and deadline (urgent or medium term), accessibility and how long the report remains valid.

In the Madrid region the register only publishes the overall rating of the latest report, without the list of defects; the report shows it with its validity. In the Basque Country the register publishes the state of the inspection, the grade given to each building system (foundations, structure, roof, façades, water supply and drainage), from immediate action to routine maintenance, and whether the defects have been put right; if the inspection was due and has not been filed, the report says so.

The registered inspection appears in full in the Complete report with building condition (€19). The free report shows the check with your building's real data and the key information blurred, and the Essential report (€11) covers the other checks. That is 22 checks on official sources, as a PDF in a few minutes, with a single payment and no account.

What if the building is not in the register?

A building missing from the register does not prove it has no inspection: the town hall may not have sent it to the regional register, or the building may not be due yet. Equally, a register without a report does not mean the building is in good condition. The report says this, with the reason each register gives, and suggests asking the association or the seller for the document.

Outside the Valencian Community, Madrid and the Basque Country there is no register to search, and the report says so. Even then, the year of construction from the Spanish Cadastre (Catastro) points to what to review: the problems common in buildings of that period and the aluminosis likelihood, always in words and with the reason.

What does an unfavourable result mean?

That the inspector found defects that must be put right within a deadline, not that the building is about to collapse. In the Valencian Community, the regional register publishes each defect with its deadline under Decree 53/2018. For a buyer it means works and special levies worth knowing about before the deposit contract and agreeing in writing.

An unfavourable result does not mean the building is about to fall down: it means the surveyor found defects that must be repaired within a deadline. For you, that means building work and probably special levies (derramas). Ask which defects were recorded, which have been repaired, whether the owners have approved any work and who pays for it, and put it in writing in the contract.

Look at the date too. An inspection from nine years ago describes the building as it was nine years ago, and a new one will soon be due, at a cost. The land registry extract (nota simple) tells you who owns the flat; HOUSINGFAX tells you what state the building is in. Our blog article on the building inspection before buying lists what to ask the seller, step by step.

Limits

The inspection is visual and describes what the surveyor saw that day with the access they had; it does not look for hidden defects or say anything about later years. The report summarises what the registers say and does not replace an on-site technical inspection of the building.