Sales rarely collapse because of the buyer. They collapse because of a certificate ordered on the day the buyer appeared, which takes three weeks to arrive.

The documents split into two groups: the ones you can get online in an afternoon, and the ones that need a technician to visit, a decision by the owners' association, or a queue at an administration. The second group decides when the property can realistically go on the market. Below is the whole list, with the timings as they actually are.

What to order first

Document Who issues it How long
ITE and certificate of fitness the owners' association, through a technician weeks, sometimes months
Cédula de habitabilidad, if expired technician, then the Generalitat 2–4 weeks
Energy certificate technician, registered with ICAEN a few days upwards
Bank certificate of the outstanding mortgage your bank days
Association certificate of no debt the building's administrator days
Nota simple Land Registry, online a day
IBI receipt town hall or your bank a day
Escritura, your own deed of purchase you already hold it —

The order is by lead time, not by importance. The first three rows are the "two to four weeks before we publish" that I raise at the start of every instruction.

Cédula de habitabilidad

The certificate that a dwelling is fit to live in. In Catalonia the seller has to hand it to the buyer at completion, and without it the signing does not usually go ahead.

One exception is worth knowing about. Decret 141/2012 allows a transfer without a cédula where the buyer declares in the deed that the property will be substantially rehabilitated or demolished, supports that with a technician's report, and the notary records the exoneración. In Barcelona this is the route a gut-renovation purchase takes. It is not something to rely on when selling an ordinary finished flat: it depends on the buyer's plans rather than on yours.

The certificate runs 15 years on resale property, and 25 on a new build at first occupation. Where it has expired, a new one means a technician visiting, inspecting, and filing with the Generalitat. Allow two to four weeks.

The energy certificate

Certificado de eficiencia energética. It is required not "for completion" but to publish the advertisement: the energy rating has to be visible in any sale or letting listing. A portal that does not show it is in breach, and the obligation is the seller's, not the portal's.

An accredited technician issues it and registers it with ICAEN within a month of the date of issue. It runs 10 years — but only 5 where the property is rated G, the lowest band. Barcelona's older stock is rated G regularly, so this is another date worth looking at rather than assuming.

The ITE: inspecting the building

Inspecció Tècnica de l'Edifici — a technical inspection of the whole building, not of your flat. Under Catalan decree 67/2015 residential blocks must pass it before the building turns 45. The inspection produces a certificate of fitness (certificat d'aptitud), which runs 10 years where there are no defects or only minor ones.

Two things matter here.

You are not the one who orders it. It is the owners' association's obligation, arranged by the building's administrator. Your job is to establish whether there is a current certificate and, where there is not, to raise it as early as you can.

The buyer will ask. Particularly in the Eixample and Ciutat Vella, where almost the whole stock is over 45 years old. A missing ITE is not only a formality: it reads as a building that does not look after itself, and a buyer prices that in.

The association's certificate of no debt

Issued by the building's administrator, ready in a few days. The notary requires it at completion: a previous owner's debts attach to the property, and the buyer is entitled to know there are none.

A debt does not block the sale — the amount is settled out of the buyer's money on the day. But it is better to know at the start: sometimes the "debt" turns out to be a disputed charge from two years ago, and sorting that out takes time.

Nota simple

The extract from the Land Registry: who owns the property, what it is, and what charges sit on it. Ordered online, costs a few euros, arrives the same day.

The buyer's lawyer will certainly order one. It is worth ordering your own before going to market: registries sometimes still show a mortgage repaid years ago and never formally released, or an inheritance charge the owner knew nothing about. Clearing either takes weeks, and it is precisely the kind of thing that makes a sale fall through.

If there is a mortgage on the property

You need the bank's certificate of the outstanding balance (certificado de deuda pendiente). Order it early: banks issue it in a few days, but in the holiday season that stretches.

The mortgage itself is repaid out of the buyer's money on the day, at the notary. The entry is then released at the Land Registry, which is a separate procedure with its own costs — notary, registry and gestoría, usually around a thousand euros in total. Those costs are deductible when the tax on the gain is calculated, so keep the invoices.

IBI and the utilities

The latest IBI receipt — the municipal property tax — is needed at completion. The year's tax is apportioned between the parties by days of ownership: it is payable by whoever owned the property on 1 January, and the buyer reimburses their share unless the parties agree otherwise.

Separately: electricity, water and gas are either transferred to the buyer or closed. If you are abroad, check there are no arrears on them — water cut off during a viewing makes a strong impression.

Frequently asked questions

Which of these are compulsory and which merely advisable?

Compulsory: the cédula de habitabilidad, the energy certificate, and — for buildings over 45 years old — a current ITE. The rest is not strictly obligatory, but the buyer or the notary asks for it at completion, so the distinction makes no practical difference.

What do these documents cost?

As orders of magnitude: a nota simple is a few euros, an energy certificate one to two hundred, a cédula about the same, and the association's certificate is usually free or nominal. The expensive item is releasing a mortgage charge — around a thousand euros all in.

I have no cédula and I already have a buyer. What now?

Order it immediately and tell the buyer the honest timescale straight away. Two to four weeks is usually survivable when it is flagged early, and almost never when it surfaces a week before the notary.

Who orders the ITE — me or the building?

The building, meaning the owners' association through its administrator. You can establish the status and press for it, and that conversation is worth starting before the property goes to market.

I do not live in Spain. Can I order all this remotely?

Some of it, online. For anything that needs a technician to visit or a signature, you need a power of attorney — which is one more reason to arrange that first.

Should I renovate before selling?

As a rule, no: a full renovation almost never comes back in the price. Small things do — lights that work, a tap that does not drip, possessions cleared out, clean windows. What is worth doing in your case is something I would rather say after seeing the property.

The list looks long, but half of it closes in a day. The work is in starting the other half in time. I say what to order first, and order it myself where you have given me a power of attorney: how a sale runs, step by step.

The place to start is the price — send me the address and the floor area and I will reply within one to two working hours.

Sources

Links checked on 29 September 2026.

For general information, current as of September 2026. Timings and costs depend on the property, the municipality and how busy the administrations are; confirm the specific requirements before going to market.