You need your Master Plan approved (or visado) by the CFIA before most other regulators will look at them. The CFIA has actually been quite active in recent years in lobbying to speed up the permitting process, and it has headed up the creation of a Web site (www.tramitesconstruccion.go.cr) that tries (not always successfully) to provide a comprehensive rundown of the permitting process, as well as a portal to file some construction permits digitally. Getting your visado from the CFIA is therefore a relatively quick and painless process. The CFIA wants to know two things:

1. That you have all the parts in place, which is to say, that your construction plans include plumbing, electricity, walls, etc. It does not check that everything is up to code, but rather that it is there.

2. That professionals registered with the CFIA are in charge of the construction. There is a wide variety of studies and jobs that can be done, depending on a construction project, and the CFIA will want documentation that you have hired CFIA professionals to do each one. A list of professionals registered with the CFIA can be found atwww.cfia.or.cr. Click on Oficina virtual in the left-hand menu, then click on the icon labled Listado de Profesionales y Empresas autorizados, or “List of Professionals and Authorized companies.”

The other thing the CFIA will do is assess the value of your project. That value will serve for tax purposes in the municipality. The CFIA will also charge you a small fee based on the assessed value. Once all the necessary paperwork is submitted, it only takes a month or two to get the CFIA visado on your Master Plan. The process requires you to submit – either digitally or physically – construction plans (four copies in the case of a condominium, five if it’s a subdivision) signed by a civil engineer or architect; a copy of the contract signed between the professional in charge of the construction (probably your architect or civil engineer), the property owner, and the legal representative of any consulting company you’ve hired; the contract with the construction company doing the building (if it’s not you), as well as the company’s registration data; the form requesting a visado for the project’s electric plan, signed by a registered professional; and the cadastre plan for the property.

The CFIA requires most of its professionals to charge minimum fees, figured as a percent of the assessed value of the project. The current fees can be download from the Colegio’s Web site at www.cifa.go.cr/descargas/horas_profesionales.pdf