In short
The Construction Consultation (CCO) is, according to OGPe’s manual, a consultation on construction works to obtain a resolution issued by OGPe’s executive director approving the preparation of the final plans for the construction works of the proposed structures, in accordance with the recommendations and requirements established in the resolution, on a project of a ministerial nature but which entails variances to the construction parameters of the district where it is located. In plain language: your project departs in some measure from what the district allows — setback, height, lot coverage — and this is the route for OGPe to evaluate that departure before you spend money on final plans. The application requires the corresponding environmental document or a categorical exclusion certification, a digital plan with the project polygon geo-referenced to the State Plane Coordinate System, and information on soil condition, the structures to be evaluated, the number of construction units proposed by project type, the description of proposed and existing facilities, and the construction variances. The minimum base filing price is $150, and the final price depends on two parameters the manual names: the project type and whether the zone where it would be built is rural or urban. The application stays open a maximum of thirty days.
What is it?
Every zoning district carries construction parameters: how much of the lot you may occupy, how far back from the boundary you must set, how high you may go. When your project does not fit within those numbers, you cannot simply submit plans and wait. The Construction Consultation is the prior step: you present the works you want to do, present the variance you need, justify it, and OGPe resolves. If it approves, what it approves is not the works: it is the preparation of the final plans in accordance with the recommendations and requirements the resolution itself establishes. After that comes the construction permit. So it is best seen as what it is, a prior consultation telling you whether it is worth continuing, not a permit.
Who can do it?
The manual describes the case as a project of a ministerial nature entailing variances to the construction parameters of the district where it is located. Among the documents it requires evidence of title and, if the proponent is not the lot owner, the owner’s authorization to carry out the proposed action. It also requires the names of the owners of bordering lands as part of the application form.
Requirements
- The corresponding environmental document or a categorical exclusion certification, under the Environmental Quality Board’s Environmental Documents Regulation.Verified against the official source
- A digital plan with the polygon of the project’s territorial extension, geo-referenced to the State Plane Coordinate System.Verified against the official source
- Information on soil condition, the structures to be evaluated, the number of construction units proposed by project type, the description of proposed and existing facilities, and the construction variances.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
The minimum base filing price for a construction consultation is $150. The final price will depend on two parameters the manual names: the project type and the zone where it would be built, rural or urban. The manual does not publish the table translating those parameters into an amount.
Verified against the official source · August 15, 2026
Step by step
Step 1: Identify exactly which parameter you are exceeding
The consultation exists for a project that entails variances to the construction parameters of the district where it is located. Before filing, your designer must be able to state in numbers what the permitted parameter is and what the proposed one is, one by one. That is not a formality: it is literally document 7 on the list, the Comparative Table of Proposed versus Permitted Construction Parameters, and it is mandatory.
Step 2: The explanatory memorandum is where it is won or lost
The manual describes the memorandum as the document detailing the proposed works and also requesting and justifying the proposed or existing variances under the current Regulation. Note two words: requests and justifies. The comparative table shows the departure; the memorandum explains why it should be granted. And the manual says “proposed or existing”, so it also covers whoever has already built outside the parameters and needs to regularise it.
Step 3: The schematic plans carry a specific certification paragraph
Signing is not enough. The manual requires schematic plans with the digital signature and the certification paragraph established in Rule 5.3.6 of the Joint Regulation, in PDF or DWFX. It is a formal requirement that gets files rejected when missing, and it is the kind your designer knows and you do not: mention it to them.
Step 4: File under Consultations, not under Permits
In the Single Business Portal, the Construction Consultation is not where the permits are. You must press the box titled Consultations and then File under the Discretionary Consultations option. The system then shows a Consultation Selection screen and, depending on how you answer the question of whether your project falls within certain provisions, tells you which consultation corresponds to you. If you look for this under Permits you will not find it.
Step 5: Count from $150, not at $150
The manual sets the minimum base filing price at $150 and says the final price will depend on the project type and on whether the zone where it would be built is rural or urban. It does not publish the table converting those two parameters into an amount, so $150 is a floor, not a quote. And the application stays open a maximum of thirty days: if you do not complete it within that term, the process must begin again.
Where to do it
The Construction Consultation is filed in OGPe’s Single Business Portal, under Consultations and then Discretionary Consultations. The resolution is issued by OGPe’s executive director. The applicant manual is published in the Information Sources section of permisos.pr.gov.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
First, a tension inside the manual itself, unresolved here: the Description says the consultation concerns a project of a ministerial nature, and yet the same manual instructs filing it under Discretionary Consultations. Both sentences are in the same document. If that distinction matters for your case — and it does, because it decides who can resolve it — ask OGPe. Second, another copy-paste defect: the Construction Consultation manual says, in the middle of its instructions, “to request a Location Consultation”. It is the third OGPe manual with another filing’s name inside; if you read it, you did not go wrong. Third, what is not published: there is no fee table translating project type and zone into an amount, no published term for OGPe to resolve, and the manual does not say what happens if the resolution grants some variances and denies others. This guide does not invent it. And fourth, an expectation worth adjusting: if the consultation is approved, what is approved is the preparation of the final plans in accordance with the resolution’s recommendations and requirements. It is not the construction permit, and it does not authorise starting the works.
Common mistakes
- Looking for the Construction Consultation under Permits, when it is filed under Discretionary Consultations.
- Budgeting $150 as the cost: it is the minimum base price, and the final one depends on project type and zone.
- Filing without the Comparative Table of Proposed versus Permitted Parameters, which is mandatory.
- Submitting schematic plans without the certification paragraph from Rule 5.3.6 of the Joint Regulation.
- Writing a memorandum that describes the works but neither requests nor justifies the variances.
- Believing an approved consultation allows starting construction: it approves preparing the final plans.
- Leaving the application incomplete for more than thirty days and having to start over.
Frequently asked questions
Can I build something that does not meet the district’s parameters?
The route for raising it is the Construction Consultation, which seeks a resolution from OGPe’s executive director on a project entailing variances to the district’s construction parameters. The resolution may approve the preparation of the final plans in accordance with the recommendations and requirements it establishes.
How much does it cost?
The minimum base filing price is $150. The manual says the final price will depend on the project type and on whether the zone is rural or urban, but does not publish the table converting that into an amount, so this guide gives no total.
I already built something outside the parameters. Is this consultation any use?
The manual asks for an explanatory memorandum requesting and justifying the proposed or existing variances. The word “existing” is in the document, so the filing contemplates that case. What the manual does not say is what consequences already-built work carries, and this guide does not assume it.
With the consultation approved, can I start the works?
Not according to what the manual describes. The resolution approves the preparation of the final plans in accordance with the recommendations and requirements it sets. The construction permit is a separate filing.
Official sources
These are the government pages this guide is based on.
- Oficina de Gerencia de Permisos (OGPe)
OGPe
docs.pr.gov
- OGPe Information Sources: Single Business Portal filing manuals
ogpe
www.permisos.pr.gov
Last verified
August 15, 2026
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