Other than SETENA, this is probably the most complicated part of permitting a project – the real heart of the matter. INVU (pronounced EEN-VOO) is the branch of the government in charge of regulating all urbanizacions, meaning subdivisions, condominium projects, etc. The following is a run-down of the different OKs you need from the many different arms of the Costa Rican bureaucracy to get the final go-ahead from INVU on your Master Plan. Strangely, though it appears that there is a flow to the process, there really isn’t. The professionals doing your permitting, if they’re good at what they do, will have contacts inside INVU and other agencies that allow them to have multiple processes going at once. It’s not illegal to do it this way – just flexible – and it makes things move a lot faster. The following, therefore, is just a list of the things required for the INVU visado, not in chronological order.

Construction plans: Five copies, submitted to INVU, with CFIA visado. INVU will distribute the copies to the regional Health Ministry office, the AyA, and the municipality for their respective review. The Health Ministry will review your wastewater plans and your water treatment plant.

Property information: The official document, obtained and stamped at the National Registry containing the property’s information (owners, location, size, etc.).

Cadastre copy: Property map from the National Cadastre, also stamped.

Authorization by property owner: Needed if you don’t own the property. This can come in the form of either a sales agreement or a letter of authorization from the owner. Either one must be stamped by a notary to be valid.

Soil studies: In the case of sloping land. If the slope is greater than 15 degrees, you need to get an authorization from the Instituto Nacional de Innovacion y Transferencia en Tecnologia Agropecuaria (INTA), for some odd reason. Typically, that’s the organization that approves/disapproves land for agricultural purposes. If the slope is greater than 30 degrees, you will also need to hire a geologist to do a soil stability study, to be presented with the Master Plan to INVU.

Uso de suelo: Obtained from the Municipality.

Water availability: Proof that your project has been granted water rights by the prevailing authorities. There are several different places you could go to get this, depending on where your property is located. In the Central Valley, it’s almost always AyA. Outside the Central Valley, it could also be either an ASADA or a Municipality that manages water access. Finally, you might need to drill a well. Since all water use requires a concession granted by MINAET, so does a well. Be sure to apply for the well concession early, as MINAET inspectors will only grant the concessions after carrying out an inspection during the dry season (December thru March).

Alineamientos: Documentation that your project will not interfere with or encroach upon, public roads or natural features of the landscape (rivers, creeks, river beds, gullies, lakes etc.). For public roads, it depends on the kind of road your property fronts. If it’s a municipal rode, you need to get the alineamiento (basically a letter stating your construction is no problem) from the municipality, by submitting your Master Plan to the appropriate department. For roads that are inter-cantonal or national, you need the OK from MOPT in their headquarters in Zapote. As for the natural features, the Ley Forestal 7575 (Forestry Law) places restrictions on construction near bodies of water. For example, nothing can be built within 100m of a permanent spring. If any such feature is found on your property, you submit your Master Plan to the local MINAET office to get the alineamiento.

Electricity: A letter from ICE (or from the local electricity supplier – there are several throughout the country) saying either that the property has an electrical hook-up, or that an electrical hook-up can be installed.

Wastewater: Two copies of the municipality’s letter giving you the go-ahead to connect your project to its storm drain system.

There are, of course, numerous exceptions and additions to this basic list of requirements, but this should get you started. Passing a project through INVU depends mostly on how long it takes you to line up all the other paperwork.