Conditional Permiso Único and Use Permit: opening with a licence pending, and the two years that kill it

They are the last two rules of Chapter 3.7 of Joint Regulation No. 9473. Rule 3.7.2 creates the Conditional Permiso Único for establishing, extending and operating certain businesses or uses compatible with the property’s qualification: it is the mechanism that allows opening while a licence or certification is still being completed. Rule 3.7.3 governs the Use Permit: its "in rem" nature, when it lapses and what happens with residential and domiciliary uses. They close Volume III of the regulation.

The Conditional Permiso Único may be issued by OGPe, by Autonomous Municipalities with Hierarchy I to III and by Authorised Professionals, for establishing a new business of one’s own or extending an existing one. Ministerial uses qualify, such as retail shops, commercial offices, professional offices, medical offices, barbershops, beauty salons and small trades for sale and service that do not involve the preparation or sale of food, uses analogous to those, and any other the regulation determines. Beyond that list, the regulation says conditional single permits may be issued for all Permiso Único renewals, whatever the use. And having a debt with any government entity will not be grounds to deny it.

• No separate application is needed: within the Permiso Único application, OGPe, the Authorised Professional or the Municipality determines whether the Conditional Permiso Único is appropriate and issues it automatically, once its appropriateness is validated.Verified against the official source
• Meeting the licence and certification requirements within the Conditional Permiso Único’s six-month term; if they are not met, the permit lapses on the expiry date and a new Permiso Único application must be filed.Verified against the official source
• If there is a debt with a government entity: satisfying the debt or evidencing having entered a payment plan, as an additional requirement. The debt cannot be grounds for denial.Verified against the official source
• Use Permit: establishing the authorised use within two years of the permit’s issue, except permits for residential uses, which have no expiry date.Verified against the official source
• Use Permit: not discontinuing the use for two years or more, because it then ceases to be valid, whether it is a permitted use or a legal non-conforming one.Verified against the official source

• The Permiso Único application, within which the Conditional Permiso Único is determined and issued; the regulation says expressly that filing a Conditional Permiso Único application is not a requirement.
• If there is a debt with a government entity: evidence of having satisfied it or of having entered a payment plan.

1. 1

   Step 1: What the Conditional Permiso Único is

   OGPe, the Autonomous Municipalities with Hierarchy I to III and Authorised Professionals may issue a Conditional Permiso Único for establishing a new business of one’s own or extending an existing one. The sentence that defines the device is this: every individual or entity will be allowed to operate a requested use through a Conditional Permiso Único where they cannot meet some requirement of the licences or certifications applicable to the Permiso Único application. That is: it is the route to opening while a piece is missing. The permit includes the applicable licences and certifications applied for for the uses to be operated.

2. 2

   Step 2: Which uses qualify, and the renewals

   Ministerial uses qualify for a Conditional Permiso Único, such as retail shops, commercial offices, professional offices, medical offices, barbershops, beauty salons and small trades for sale and service that do not involve the preparation or sale of food, uses analogous to those, and any other use the regulation determines. That food exclusion generates the most questions: a business preparing or selling food does not come in through this list. But the regulation adds a separate and broader rule: conditional single permits may be issued for all Permiso Único renewals, whatever the use.

3. 3

   Step 3: A debt with the government cannot be grounds for denial

   The regulation says it plainly: the fact that the individual or entity applying for the Conditional Permiso Único has a debt with any government entity will not be grounds to deny the Conditional Permiso Único’s grant. What is done instead is imposing on them, as an additional requirement, satisfying the debt in question or evidencing having entered a payment plan. It is a rule worth having to hand if someone tells you that you cannot open because you owe.

4. 4

   Step 4: It is not applied for: it issues on its own

   Section 3.7.2.2 is one of the chapter’s most useful. Filing a Conditional Permiso Único application is not a requirement. Within the Permiso Único application, OGPe, the Authorised Professional or the Autonomous Municipality with Hierarchy I to III determines whether the application qualifies for the Conditional Permiso Único to issue, and issues it automatically. The Conditional Permiso Único is granted once its appropriateness is validated. That is: there is no second filing and no second wait.

5. 5

   Step 5: The six months, and what happens if they run out

   The Conditional Permiso Único runs six months to meet the licence and certification requirements, and during that term all the uses it authorises may be operated. If those requirements are not met within the term, the permit lapses on the expiry date and a new Permiso Único application must be filed. Moreover, the regulation authorises the Planning Board and the Autonomous Municipalities with Hierarchy I to III to order the business closed once the permit lapses without the Permiso Único having been obtained.

6. 6

   Step 6: The conditional permit’s sanctions

   For those in contempt of or rebellion against final orders issued by the Planning Board and the Autonomous Municipalities with Hierarchy I to III, electric or running-water service may be suspended, besides a fine of no more than one thousand five hundred dollars; and where the person or entity keeps operating without the corresponding permit, an additional fine of one hundred dollars per day may be imposed. A note on the source: the parallel provision of Rule 3.7.1, for the same conduct of continuing to operate without a permit, sets that daily fine at one thousand dollars. We publish each figure where it is printed and reconcile neither.

7. 7

   Step 7: The Use Permit is "in rem" and is not renewed

   Use permits are "in rem" in nature, so no new use permit or renewal is required, so long as the use continues to be the same. Use permits issued before the Permiso Único was established are considered to keep their validity and applicability intact when incorporated into the Permiso Único, for the acquired rights the use permit granted over the property. In plain terms: the permit goes with the property and with the use, not with the person or the date.

8. 8

   Step 8: The two years that do kill the use permit

   There are two two-year deadlines worth keeping in mind. The first: any decision authorising a use permit becomes ineffective if the authorised use is not established within two years from the permit’s date of issue, except permits for residential uses, which have no expiry date. The second, the one that surprises anyone who closes the premises temporarily: if the use for which a permit is issued is discontinued for two years or more, it ceases to be valid, whether it is a permitted use or a legal non-conforming one. That last part is the costliest, because a legal non-conforming use, once lost, is not recovered by asking for the same permit.

9. 9

   Step 9: Residential use and domiciliary use

   Section 3.7.3.2 carries two short rules. Permits issued for residential uses have no expiry date. And permits issued for domiciliary use are processed through a Permiso Único and require no environmental compliance determination. With this, Volume III of the regulation ends.

There is no separate window: the Conditional Permiso Único is determined and issued within the Permiso Único application filed in OGPe’s system, at permisos.pr.gov, or before the corresponding Autonomous Municipality with Hierarchy I to III or Authorised Professional. Closing the business, once the conditional permit has lapsed without the Permiso Único having been obtained, may be ordered by the Planning Board and those municipalities.

• Filing a separate Conditional Permiso Único application: the regulation says filing one is not a requirement.
• Treating the six months as extendable: once they run out, the permit lapses and a new Permiso Único must be filed.
• Continuing to operate after the conditional permit has lapsed without having obtained the Permiso Único.
• Accepting that a debt with a government entity is grounds for denying the conditional permit.
• Not producing the payment-plan evidence when it is imposed as an additional requirement.
• Counting on the conditional permit for a business involving the preparation or sale of food through the list of qualifying uses.
• Overlooking that the conditional permit does apply to all Permiso Único renewals, whatever the use.
• Believing a use permit must be renewed: it is "in rem" and is not renewed while the use stays the same.
• Letting two years pass without establishing the use authorised in the use permit.
• Closing the premises for two years or more and losing the use permit’s validity, even for a legal non-conforming use.
• Assuming a permit for residential use expires: it has no expiry date.
• Processing a domiciliary use expecting an environmental compliance determination the regulation does not require.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Oficina de Gerencia de Permisos (OGPe)

  OGPe

  docs.pr.gov

• OGPe Single Business Portal

  ogpe

  www.permisos.pr.gov

• Planning Board

  jp

  jp.pr.gov