Amending plans, the horizontal property regime and a use permit for an existing building

It is the part of Chapter 2.7 of Joint Regulation No. 9473 dealing with filing certified plans, signs, registration plans, the horizontal property regime and the certification of the single permit for existing buildings or structures. The chapter’s logic is that certain filings, once the work is built and accepted, can be resolved by a professional’s certification rather than a full evaluation. That is why the designer may certify horizontal property regime plans and the use permit for existing buildings, and any professional authorised to practise surveying may certify registration plans for urbanisation projects. The rules on the designer, the contractor and the Construction Work Inspector are in a separate guide on this site, written from the same reading.

The designer may certify Horizontal Property Regime plans for buildings taking up the Horizontal Property Act that have construction plans approved by OGPe or a hierarchy I-III autonomous municipality, once the works are completed and accepted by the corresponding agencies. They may also certify the use permit for existing buildings or structures that entail no new works, alteration, expansion, reconstruction or remodelling, in two cases: those with an approved consulta de ubicación, and those conforming with the planning regulations in force, conforming with the Puerto Rico Land Use Plan or the Municipal Territorial Ordination Plan, and having complied with Act 416-2004. Any professional authorised to practise surveying may certify registration plans for urbanisation projects that have approved construction plans, once the authorised works are completed and accepted by the agencies. And the designer may certify the installation of signs or advertisements on buildings, structures or on the ground that have approved plans, once the works are completed and the single permit obtained.

• To amend approved certified plans: filing the corresponding application before starting the works on the part of the project whose alteration is proposed, following, as applicable, the same procedure used for filing the original project.Verified against the official source
• To issue the Single Permit: having the recommendation of the Infrastructure, Health and Safety Units, or the certifications of the Authorised Professional and the Authorised Inspector.Verified against the official source
• For historic zones, historic sites or the towns’ foundational centres — the plazas de recreo and surrounding blocks — the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture’s recommendation, both for the Single Permit and, before authorisation, for installing signs or advertisements.Verified against the official source
• To certify a registration plan for an urbanisation project: that the project have approved construction plans and that the authorised works be completed and accepted by the corresponding agencies; and that the certifier be a professional authorised to practise surveying.Verified against the official source
• To certify Horizontal Property Regime plans: that the building take up the Horizontal Property Act, have construction plans approved by OGPe or the municipality, and that the works be completed and accepted by the corresponding agencies.Verified against the official source
• To certify the use permit for an existing building: that it entail no new works, alteration, expansion, reconstruction or remodelling, and that it have an approved consulta de ubicación, or conform with the planning regulations in force and with the Puerto Rico Land Use Plan or the Municipal Territorial Ordination Plan, having complied with Act 416-2004.Verified against the official source

• For every Horizontal Property Regime application to be certified, the following must be uploaded: the information required by Rule 2.1.9; a certified copy of the escritura matriz describing all the building’s details, or in its place a certified letter if the building was built before 1955; a complete and faithful copy of the building’s original construction plan; complete legal-size copies of each apartment’s plot plans, describing every room with its dimensions in feet and coinciding in all their parts with the construction plans; and the designer’s certifications.
• For an existing building taking up the Horizontal Property Regime whose original plans are not in OGPe’s files or do not exist: As Built plans of the building, prepared and certified by an engineer or architect authorised and licensed to practise in Puerto Rico, with that stated on the plans.
• For the registration plan of an Urbanización Vía Excepción to be certified: it is filed under Rule 2.1.9 of Volume II, and only plans conforming with the Land Use and Transportation Plan or with the Ordination Plan are certifiable.
• To conform and authorise the use of works of structures built without a permit: the plans of those structures, filed through the corresponding application. The chapter opens this route without describing further requirements, and we do not supply them here.

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   Step 1: Amending already approved plans

   Certified plans for which a construction permit was issued may be amended before or after the work has started, by filing the corresponding application, following, as applicable, the same procedure used for filing the original project. The timing rule is what matters: that application is filed before starting the works on the part of the project whose alteration is proposed. Not once it is built. This guide’s companion adds the other side of the same coin: where changes must be made to approved plans to conform them to the regulation in force, the Construction Work Inspector will not permit construction of that stage until the designer evidences having followed this procedure.

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   Step 2: If the structure was built without a permit

   Section 2.7.4.2 opens the door in a single sentence: plans of built structures for which no construction permit was approved may be filed through the corresponding application to conform and authorise the use of works of structures built without permits. That is all the chapter says about this route. It describes no requirements, documents or further conditions, and we do not supply them: to know what the application asks for you must go to OGPe’s form and instructions.

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   Step 3: What is needed for the Single Permit

   To issue the Single Permit, the recommendation of the Infrastructure, Health and Safety Units, or the Authorised Professional’s and Authorised Inspector’s certifications, is required. And there is a condition added by location: for historic zones, historic sites or in the towns’ foundational centres — meaning the plazas de recreo and surrounding blocks — the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture’s recommendation is required. If your premises face the plaza, count on that step from the start.

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   Step 4: Signs: the designer may certify them

   The designer may certify the installation of signs or advertisements on buildings, structures or on the ground that have construction plans approved by OGPe or the hierarchy I-III autonomous municipality, once the authorised works are completed and the corresponding single permit has been obtained. Those are two cumulative conditions: works completed and single permit obtained. For properties included in the Register of Historic Sites and Zones and in the foundational centres — the plazas de recreo and surrounding blocks — the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture’s recommendation is required before authorisation.

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   Step 5: Registration plans: who certifies them

   Any professional authorised to practise surveying may certify registration plans for urbanisation projects that have construction plans approved by OGPe or the hierarchy I-III autonomous municipality, once the authorised works are completed and accepted by the corresponding agencies. In addition, an approved registration plan is necessary for every urbanisation via exception where all the urbanisation works are already built or turn out to be very simple; that approval may be obtained through Chapter 5.1 or by the designer’s certification. The certification for urbanisation via exception has a declared purpose: to speed up the segregation and registration of lots at the Registro de la Propiedad. And only plans conforming with the Land Use and Transportation Plan or with the Ordination Plan are certifiable.

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   Step 6: A timing rule that works in your favour

   The chapter says it twice, for registration plans generally and for those of urbanisation via exception: by their special characteristics, the authorisation of registration plans is not subject to the vigencia terms established in this Regulation. It repeats the same for the horizontal property regime: by their special characteristics, the authorisation of Horizontal Property Regime plans is not subject to the vigencia terms established in this Regulation. That is, those authorisations do not expire on you the way a construction permit does.

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   Step 7: Horizontal property regime: the designer certifies

   The designer may certify Horizontal Property Regime plans for buildings taking up the Horizontal Property Act that have construction plans approved by OGPe or the hierarchy I-III autonomous municipality, once the works are completed and accepted by the corresponding agencies. And there is a way out for old buildings: for an existing building taking up the Horizontal Property Regime whose original plans are not in OGPe’s files or do not exist, the petitioner may submit As Built plans of the building, prepared and certified by an engineer or architect authorised and licensed to practise their profession in Puerto Rico. In that case, it must be stated so on the plans.

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   Step 8: The horizontal property paperwork

   For every Horizontal Property Regime application to be certified, the following must be uploaded: the information required by Rule 2.1.9 of Volume II; a certified copy of the escritura matriz describing all the building’s details, or in its place a certified letter if the building was built before 1955; a complete and faithful copy of the building’s original construction plan; complete legal-size copies of each apartment’s plot plans, describing every room with its dimensions in feet and coinciding in all their parts with the building’s construction plans; and the designer’s certifications. That reference to 1955 resolves many cases of old buildings in urban centres where no escritura matriz exists with the detail asked for today.

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   Step 9: Use permit for an existing building

   The designer may certify the use permit for existing buildings or structures that entail no new works, alteration, expansion, reconstruction or remodelling. Two types are certifiable: use permits for existing buildings or structures that have an approved consulta de ubicación; and use permits for existing buildings or structures conforming with the planning regulations in force, conforming with the Puerto Rico Land Use Plan or the Municipal Territorial Ordination Plan, and having complied with Act 416-2004. If your project includes work — even a remodelling — this route does not apply to you.

Applications are filed with OGPe or the hierarchy I-III Autonomous Municipality. Horizontal Property Regime plans are uploaded to the system with the documents the chapter lists. Who certifies varies by filing: the designer certifies horizontal property plans, sign installation and the use permit for existing buildings; any professional authorised to practise surveying certifies registration plans; and for an existing building without original plans, the As Built plans are prepared and certified by an engineer or architect authorised and licensed in Puerto Rico. The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture’s recommendation is required for the Single Permit and for signs in historic zones, historic sites and foundational centres.

• Amending the plans after building the part you wanted to alter.
• Assuming a building without original plans cannot enter the horizontal property regime: As Built plans exist.
• Not knowing the escritura matriz may be replaced by a certified letter if the building was built before 1955.
• Submitting apartment plot plans that do not coincide in all their parts with the building’s construction plans.
• Putting up a sign before completing the authorised works and obtaining the single permit.
• Forgetting the ICP recommendation facing the plaza de recreo or inside a historic zone.
• Seeking certification of the use permit for an existing building when the project does include remodelling.
• Confusing a surveyor’s certification of registration plans with OGPe’s Authorisation of Registration Plans procedure.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Oficina de Gerencia de Permisos (OGPe)

  OGPe

  docs.pr.gov

• Permit Management Office

  ogpe

  ogpe.pr.gov

• Institute of Puerto Rican Culture

  icp

  www.icp.pr.gov