Organising property documents

An inventory, not a folder of files

Having a file does not mean anyone has checked it. Keep one table: document, who issued it and when, when you received it, which question it answers, who reviewed it and what is still open. An empty row is more honest than a file nobody has read.

Add a new row with a date for each new version. A registry extract or a debt certificate describes the position on the day it was issued, so a document without a date loses its meaning.

Key documents and who checks them

This is the working minimum for a resale home. A new build adds the guarantees and ten-year insurance; a mortgaged flat adds the mortgage documents.

What the seller must hand over

The Generalitat de Catalunya lists the documents the seller provides on a sale: the cédula de habitabilidad (for new and resale homes), the energy performance certificate and label, a 1:50 plan with a description of materials, the list of professionals involved in construction and of utility suppliers, the guarantees and, where there is one, the mortgage documents. A new build needs ten-year structural insurance, without which it cannot be entered in the Registro de la Propiedad. The Agència Catalana del Consum adds the registry information note and the statutes of the comunidad de propietarios (owners' association), and points out that the buyer does not pay for these documents.

A cédula is valid for 15 years from issue; for a resale home it is processed by a technical specialist, and without it water, electricity and gas cannot be connected. Ask for the documents before the deposit, not after, as our article nota simple and arras also recommends.

What to cross-check between documents

• Area and annexes. Nota simple, plan, listing and draft contract: usable area, parking space, storage room.
• Owner. The person signing the contract is the owner shown in the nota simple or acts under a power of attorney.
• Property identification. The same address and property details in every document.
• Dates. Which documents are old and which need to be requested again. Registry sources give no validity period for a nota simple, so a new one is ordered before the notary appointment.
• Costs. Amounts from the association and IBI documents are carried into your purchase budget.

Who checks what, and what the notary does

Legal documents are read by a lawyer, technical ones (cédula, energy certificate, plans) by an architect or technical specialist, tax questions by a tax adviser. ReloVictory keeps the inventory and makes sure each document has someone responsible for it, but does not certify the documents itself.

When the escritura (notarial deed of sale) is signed, the notary checks the parties' identity and powers, the seller's title, charges, payment of association fees and the method of payment, and asks for the energy certificate, the IBI receipt and the cadastral reference. That does not replace the checks before the deposit. On the notary: the escritura and the notary; on the extract: what a nota simple is; on property tax: IBI and plusvalía.

Guide updated on 26.10.2026.