When as entrepreneurs we want to open a store to be able to serve our clients, we run into some mandatory procedures that are the activity license and the opening license. But among so many procedures that are usually required, the question arises: Are both licenses the same? And if not, what is the difference?
The quick answer is that they both have the objective of representing the permission granted by the City Council to carry out an economic activity, but the opening license is on the premises, and the activity license is the same, but authorizing the activity carried out by the entrepreneur. Let's take a closer look at the requirements and differences of both licenses.
Opening license
This license is basically a certificate that the City Council grants the permission for a place to open its doors to the public. This guarantees that it meets the requirements that are requested to be able to carry out this opening.
Requirements that must be met in order to obtain the opening license
- The first requirement that must be met is that both the use and the conditions in which the property is located must be able to comply with the urban norms that are had in order to guarantee the structural integrity of the property for the purposes that you want to use.
- The second requirement that must be met has to do with security issuesThe site must have all fire-fighting measures, which must be sufficient to meet the needs of the premises, depending on the size, structural issues, and exit routes, to meet the capacity of the premises.
- Another requirement that must be met in order to obtain the opening license is to have the necessary lighting to ensure that those who are in the premises can make optimal use of the facilities. In addition, you must have adequate ventilation depending on the type of business, in order to guarantee good air quality inside the premises.
- Another of the security points that must be complied with are the sanitation requirements necessary to offer optimal conditions for users. This point is mainly important for premises that want to use to be able to set up food businesses or other products or services that have a direct relationship with the health of customers, and of those who work in the premises.
- And since we mention the collaborators who work in the premises, it is important to mention that they must also be met health and safety regulations in all matters relating to employees.
On the other hand, currently one of the most important issues is the conservation of the environment, which is why it will be necessary to comply with the environmental protection regulations, such as CO2 emissions, sewage, etc. . So it is especially important that we inform ourselves about these regulations in order to fully comply with this aspect.
Another point that is very important today is the ability to meet the needs of people with disabilities.
How to ensure compliance with the rules to grant the opening license
But now that we know the rules that we must comply with, now another question arises
How does the City Council ensure that our premises meet the necessary requirements to be able to function?
To be able to guarantee compliance with these requirements It is essential that we hire a trained specialist to give an opinion. Trained specialists are usually architects or engineers; especially those who are specialized in security points or civil engineering. They are the ones who will be able to carry out an activity project.
Once you the specialist signs the activity project, thus certifying that the place meets the requirements to be able to open its doors to the public. Now, we must mention what is the best time to advise us of this specialist, and this will depend on our own experience.
If our experience in the area, the time to contact the expert will be when we require the activity project. However, as often happens, our case may be that we do not have enough experience in the field, in this case we must contact the specialist before starting to see the places where we could open our business.
The reason that we have to contact you from an early stage of the project is that when the project is defined, we can move on to defining the needs of the premises, in order to visit the premises options that suit our needs. The reason this is so important is that not all businesses have the same requirements, not all locations offer all the benefits that might be required.
Responsible declaration of activity
Before proceeding to the core point of our article, it would be beneficial to mention that there is a possibility of start operating without the need to wait until the moment of having an activity license. And this option is called responsible declaration of activity.
This possibility arises from the need to simplify bureaucratic procedures to allow Spaniards to open a company. In such a way that those commercial activities whose premises have a surface area of less than 300 square meters, have this possibility to accelerate the start of commercial operations of this type of business.
Now, it is important to clarify that the fact that there is a responsible declaration of activity does not exempt us from the need to carry out the process in order to have the opening license. It only allows us to open the doors from the day the process begins.
Activity license
Since we have analyzed the opening license, it is now necessary analyze the activity license. This document is necessary so that the premises that we want to open for our clients can be used. So the first thing we are going to mention is that it is required for all types of business, except for activities that are professional, artisanal activities, and artistic activities.
Another situation in which an activity license is not required is when commercial activities are not carried out in a premises, but in a private home. If the local does not have a direct sale to the public it also stays except from this license. Finally, we are exempt if our business is one harmless activity.
Activity license requirements
Now let's go on to analyze the requirements to be able to process the activity license, and at this point it is important to mention that these requirements cannot be generalized, since they depend clearly on the type of activity that is going to be carried out in the business.
But let's talk about the points that are common to all the procedures of Activity license. The first thing is to have a report made by a specialized technician with the appropriate capacity. This report will be made using the analysis results of this construction. In this technical analysis You will need to perform several measurements to guarantee the measurements of the property.
Later you must perform checks of the premises of the property, this includes water, electricity, and everything necessary to be able to carry out the commercial activity in an optimal way. At this point, the specialist will be able to indicate if the premises meet the requirements, and in case any deficiency is found, the specialist is responsible for making recommendations to improve the facilities.
In the event that recommendations are received from the specialist, the necessary adjustments must be made to the infrastructures, after which a second review by the specialist will follow. And this process will be repeated as many times as necessary until the requirements to be able to carry out a certain activity.
It is necessary to mention that the most advisable thing to avoid that there are deficiencies after several reviews, is that the reforms are in charge of the same specialist who carried out the review. This is advantageous because the same technician will be able to present a budget and take the responsibility of being able to determine that his own work complies with the requirements to be able to carry out the opening license process.
Once this report is available, in which it is indicated that the local complies with the requirements to operate, This report must be reviewed by a professional association, and the one that will have to give the approval to be able to deliver this report to the area of the town hall to which the activity to be carried out corresponds. At this point, some other documents must also be delivered that will serve to prove the identity of the entrepreneur who is applying for the license.
In addition, documents that prove possession of the infrastructure in which it is intended to lock, either by direct possession or by leasing, must be delivered. And finally, the documents that prove the payment corresponding to the fees that correspond to this procedure and everything related to the opening of this premises must be delivered.