Spain CTE: Building Code Compliance Requirements

Spain’s Código Técnico de la Edificación (CTE) was approved by Real Decreto 314/2006 and applies, under Article 2, to public and private buildings whose projects need a licence or authorisation: new construction (except simple, small single-storey buildings that are not residential or public) and interventions in existing buildings. This guide uses the BOE compilation of the CTE updated to 10 March 2026 and the current Documentos Básicos (DB) published by the housing ministry on codigotecnico.org: DB-SI (updated by Real Decreto 164/2025), DB-HR (2019 edition), DB-SUA and DB-HE (updated by Real Decreto 450/2022).

What numbers define CTE compliance?

The CTE is a performance code. Its Documentos Básicos set the technical levels, and their solutions are accepted ways of meeting the basic requirements. The table lists key values. Each comes from the DB or law named in the table.

What are the LOE liability periods and when do they start?

The Ley de Ordenación de la Edificación (Ley 38/1999) sets how long each party answers for damage. Under Article 17, counted from the reception of the work (recepción de la obra) without reservations, or from the correction of the reservations: 10 years for damage from defects in foundations, columns, beams, slabs, load-bearing walls and other structural elements that directly compromise mechanical strength and stability; 3 years for defects in construction elements or installations that breach the habitability requirements; and the constructor also answers for one year for execution (finishing) defects. These are liability periods, not guarantees. Claims lapse after two years. For housing, the law also requires insurance cover for the 1, 3 and 10-year periods.

Why does the CTE organize around Documentos Básicos?

The CTE has two parts. Part I holds the general provisions and the basic requirements. Part II is the Documentos Básicos, which give procedures, technical rules and example solutions for meeting those requirements. The DBs are not exclusive: other solutions are possible if compliance is shown. The set is: DB-SE (structural safety, with parts for actions, foundations, steel, masonry and timber), DB-SI (fire), DB-SUA (use safety and accessibility), DB-HS (health), DB-HR (noise) and DB-HE (energy saving). Each can be updated on its own; DB-SUA, DB-HS and DB-HE were updated by Real Decreto 450/2022, and DB-SI by Real Decreto 164/2025. Check the “disposiciones normativas” list on the first page of each DB for its edition.

What does DB-SI require for fire safety?

DB-SI sets requirements on propagation inside and outside the building, evacuation, detection and alarm systems, firefighting equipment, rescue access and the fire resistance of the structure. Resistance is stated as R (load-bearing capacity) for structural elements and EI (integrity and insulation) for fire-compartment boundaries, in minutes.

Table 3.1 gives the R required of structural elements by use and evacuation height. For example, Residencial Vivienda, Docente and Administrativo need R 60 up to 15 m, R 90 up to 28 m and R 120 above 28 m, and R 120 in basements. Comercial, Pública concurrencia and Hospitalario need R 90, R 120 and R 180 for the same height bands (R 120 in basements, R 180 above 28 m). Detached houses need R 30. Table 1.2 sets the EI of walls and ceilings that separate fire compartments in a similar way (for example EI 60 / 90 / 120 for housing up to 15 m / 28 m / above).

Read the table for the use and height of each sector, and check the footnotes (for instance for car parks beneath other uses).

What are the DB-HR acoustic requirements?

DB-HR sets limits for airborne sound insulation (DnT,A, in dBA) and impact sound (L’nT,w) between rooms of different user units, and for facades against exterior noise. Between a protected room (such as a bedroom or living room) and a room of another user unit that is not a plant or activity room, DnT,A must be at least 50 dBA (45 dBA for a habitable room that is not protected). Where the rooms share doors or windows, the doors need RA of at least 30 dBA (20 dBA for habitable rooms) and the enclosing wall RA of at least 50 dBA. Against rooms for installations or activities, a protected room needs DnT,A of at least 55 dBA.

For impact noise, L’nT,w in a protected room against another user unit must not exceed 65 dB, and against an installation or activity room must not exceed 60 dB. Facade insulation depends on the exterior noise index (Ld) for the site, using the noise-area rules of Ley 37/2003 and Real Decreto 1367/2007. DB-HR section 2.3 asks that noise and vibration from installations not noticeably raise noise levels; it sets no single bedroom limit in dB(A) there.

How does DB-SUA address accessibility?

DB-SUA covers safety against falls, impact, entrapment, inadequate lighting, high occupancy, drowning, traffic and lightning, and, in section SUA 9, accessibility. Its Annex A defines the accessible route (itinerario accesible): clear passage width of at least 1.20 m in corridors and passages (1.10 m in common areas of residential housing), local narrowings of at least 1.00 m for no more than 0.50 m, a turning circle of 1.50 m at the entrance and at the end of corridors longer than 10 m, and doors with a clear width of at least 0.80 m. Level changes are solved with accessible ramps or lifts, not steps.

For ramps in accessible routes, SUA 1 section 4.3.1 allows at most 10% where the ramp is shorter than 3 m, 8% where it is shorter than 6 m and 6% otherwise; other ramps are limited to 12%. Cross slope is at most 2%.

DB-SUA is the national technical floor. Real Decreto 193/2023 sets basic accessibility conditions for goods and services available to the public, and Orden TMA/851/2021 covers urban public spaces. The BOE compilation also lists regional accessibility laws for 16 communities (items 12 to 27 of the compilation). Check the regional law for the project’s autonomous community, because a regional law can add requirements beyond DB-SUA.

What does DB-HE require for energy efficiency?

DB-HE limits energy consumption (HE0), sets the envelope and demand-control conditions (HE1), thermal installations (HE2), lighting (HE3), the minimum renewable contribution to hot water (HE4) and minimum renewable electricity generation (HE5). Winter climate zones are α, A, B, C, D and E, combined with summer zones 1 to 4. The zone is determined from the DB-HE climate zone tables, not from general geography.

HE5 applies to new buildings over 1,000 m² built (including car parks inside the building), extensions that add more than 1,000 m², and existing buildings that are fully renovated or change their characteristic use above 1,000 m². The installed power is the smaller of two results: P1 = Fpr;el × S, with Fpr;el of 0.005 kW/m² for private residential use and 0.010 kW/m² for other uses, and P2 = 0.1 × (0.5 × Sc − Soc), where Sc is the usable-for-maintenance-only roof area and Soc the part of it occupied by solar thermal collectors. Where urban, architectural or heritage-protection reasons make the minimum impossible, the project must justify it and install the maximum possible.

Energy performance certification is governed by Real Decreto 390/2021. For new buildings and for works sold or let before completion, the seller or lessor supplies the project’s energy label and then the finished-work certificate. For sale or rent of existing buildings, a registered certificate and the label are attached to the contract (Article 17).

What CTE errors should you avoid?

1. Applying one fire resistance to every element. DB-SI tables 3.1 and 1.2 depend on use and evacuation height; read them per sector.
2. Using the old 3,000 m² photovoltaic idea. HE5 applies above 1,000 m² built for the cases listed above.
3. Reading the airborne limit as one number. DnT,A is 50 dBA for protected rooms and 45 dBA for other habitable rooms, with other values for installation and activity rooms.
4. Ignoring regional accessibility laws. DB-SUA is a floor, not the only rule.
5. Counting LOE periods from the start of construction. They run from the reception of the work.
6. Skipping the facade noise check on sites exposed to road, rail or air noise.

How do existing buildings and protected buildings fit in?

Article 2(3) of Real Decreto 314/2006 applies the CTE to interventions in existing buildings. Where full application is not urban-planning, technically or economically viable, or is incompatible with the nature of the work or the building’s protection level, the designer may apply solutions that give the greatest possible practical adequacy, justified in the project or report. Existing conditions that are below the DB level may not be reduced. The final documentation must record the performance level reached.

What to verify before submitting permit documents

• DB-SI: R and EI values for each sector from Tables 3.1 and 1.2, by use and evacuation height.
• DB-SUA: accessible route widths (1.20 m, or 1.10 m in common areas of housing), ramp slopes by length, and the regional accessibility law.
• Real Decreto 193/2023, where it applies to the use.
• DB-HE: climate zone from the DB-HE tables, HE0 and HE1 calculations, and HE5 minimum power for buildings over 1,000 m².
• DB-HR: DnT,A of 50 and 45 dBA as applicable, L’nT,w limits, and the facade check against the exterior noise index.
• LOE: liability periods of 1, 3 and 10 years counted from reception of the work.
• Energy label and certificate under Real Decreto 390/2021.
• Edition of each DB in force on the permit date.