You may have a house with a garden or a yard. Or maybe a small piece of land in your village´s house and you are thinking of building a swimming pool on it. It would be great to having your own swimming pool to enjoy hours and hours with your family and friends.
If you also combine it with an enclosure, imagine what it would be like to be able to enjoy a heated pool all year round. But are you sure you can do it? Today we are going to analyse the question and try to answer where can I build a swimming pool on my land.
Legal aspects to build a swimming pool
First, is the legal aspect of the project because a swimming pool cannot be built anywhere.
To do this, the first thing is to consult the Land Law of the autonomous community and, the municipal regulations in which your dwelling is located.
Both the communities and the municipalities regulate the spaces and conditions in which a swimming pool can be installed and of what specific characteristics. This way we will also know what requirements they ask of us and the different authorizations and licenses that we must present.
Generally, what these regional or local regulations do is allow a pool or not depending on the type of soil where you want to install it.
So that you are clear, we are going to briefly explain the 4 types of soil that exist in Spain:
- Urban ground. It is all that land that has any legal construction or in which it can be done, even if it does not exist at present. Urban land is often mistakenly associated with city land, but this is not the case. A land built in a town or rural area is also urban land.
- Rustic soil. Neither is it about any land in a town, as we have already explained in the previous point. Rustic land is one in which no type of building can be built. They are soils linked to agricultural, livestock or forest areas. Here you can only build some facilities linked to these exploitations, but swimming pools under no circumstances.
- Land for development. It is about land that, although it is not currently urbanized and there is nothing built, can be urban in the future if requested and the competent authorities change its status to urban land.
- Rural core soil. This type of soil only occurs in some rural areas of Spain. It is a type of soil similar to urban soil, but with some specific characteristics and focused on rural areas.
Bearing this clear, it must be considered that, in general, in urban soils there will be no legal problems to install a swimming pool.
Fulfilling any condition or respecting certain rules, we could install our pool on our property’s urban land.
It would also happen on developable land if its possibility of urbanization is requested, and it is approved by the competent administrations. In this type of land, nothing can be built, not even a swimming pool unless regulation changes.
Regarding rural land, the most common is that a swimming pool cannot be installed just as nothing can be built. And we say that it is usual because, in certain circumstances, it can be built.
Only some facilities related to rural tourism can be built on rural land.
For example, a campsite, a rural hotel, etc. In this case, and with stricter regulations than for personal dwellings, it is possible to build this type of accommodation on rural land. And therefore, a swimming pool could also be installed in them, but always linked to said establishment.
How to process the licenses to build a swimming pool in your dwelling
If the land where you would like to install your pool fulfil the requirements, then it is time to request the corresponding licenses.
As a rule, we will be asked for a project and a technical report on the terrain and the actions that we are going to analyse. This is so because making a swimming pool usually requires activities such as earthworks, installation of conduits, light points, etc.
Municipalities and administrations in general, will always ask us for specific explanations to ensure that these measures do not involve altering the environment, environmental hazards, or public safety, etc.
Obviously, this type of project and necessary technical reports must be carried out by a registered professional. In addition, this same professional will be responsible for monitoring the works and certifying to the administrations that the execution of the work corresponds to what was established in the technical report presented.
The technical report in question will collect important data for the building site itself. From the specific location, dimensions and size of the pool, execution deadlines, human and material resources that will be used. This is important to ensure that the materials with which we will build will not pose a problem for health or the environment.
The same happens with the machinery that must be used, as well as the safety measures during the works.
Of course, it goes without saying that if the report and the project do not comply with current legislation, the building license will be rejected. The same would happen if, in the middle of the building site, the authorities verify that the execution does not adapt to what is presented in the project when requesting the corresponding license and authorization.
Cost of building a swimming pool
And the last phase is left before we get down to work. Make a cost estimate and specify the quote. How much can it cost us to make a swimming pool?
It will vary depending on the type of pool we want, if we use a standard prefabricated glass or want something personalized with irregular shapes or sizes.
As a reference and on average in Spain, building a standard rectangular pool 6 meters long by 3 meters wide usually costs about 14,000 euros to complete its installation. To which an additional 10% can be added in the project phase, building licenses, etc.
From there you can study more especially if what you are looking for is much larger or with infrequent shapes and elements. We hope that soon your idea of having a pool will be a reality.
