Mistakes when asking for a demolition quote from abroad

Mistake 1: sending a floor area and nothing else

A floor area is the least informative number in a demolition request. It tells the contractor how big the house is on paper, not how it is built, how a machine gets to it or what lies underneath. A request that says «150 m² villa in Mijas, how much?» can only be answered with a very wide range or with a list of questions.

Instead, send the floor area together with the number of floors, whether there is a basement, the roof type and a set of photos. If you have the plans or the catastro sheet, attach them. With that, the calculator already gives a more meaningful band, and a contractor can come back with a first view rather than a questionnaire.

Mistake 2: no photos of the access

Owners tend to photograph the house they want to demolish and forget the road that leads to it. For pricing, the access is often more important than the house itself: it decides which machine can work, how big the lorry can be and how many trips the waste will take.

Useful access photos are taken from the street towards the gate, through the gate towards the house, and along any lane or ramp in between. Add one showing the width of the gate with something for scale, and mention any barrier, weight limit or tight bend in the urbanización. If a skip would have to stand on the public road, say so; that needs an authorisation to occupy the public road, and it affects how the job is organised.

Mistake 3: forgetting what is outside the house

On the Costa del Sol the main house is rarely the only structure on the plot. Pools, pool houses, garages, barbecue areas, pergolas, garden walls, terraces and old paving are all demolition work, and each adds material and time.

A request that only mentions the villa will be priced for the villa. When the pool turns up later, it becomes a second job or a variation, often at a less favourable rate than if it had been included from the start, because machinery and transport were planned without it. List every element you want removed, and every one you want kept, even if it seems minor. For the pool specifically, see pool removal cost.

Mistake 4: not mentioning uralita

Grey corrugated roof sheets, flat panels on outbuildings, old flues and water tanks on the roof are frequently asbestos cement, known in Spain as uralita. Leaving them out of the request does not make them go away; it means the quote you receive is missing a whole phase.

Asbestos has to be removed before the demolition by a company registered in the RERA, under a work plan approved by the labour authority, and its waste is kept separate from everything else. In our jobs, that phase is carried out by a RERA-registered company working as our subcontractor, while we coordinate the rest. If you are not sure, photograph anything that looks like fibre cement and say so; we would rather ask than discover it with the machine on site. More on pricing this part in asbestos removal cost, and on recognising it on our sister site: how to recognise uralita.

Mistake 5: assuming the contractor handles the paperwork

Many owners abroad expect the demolition company to «sort the permit». We are a contractor: we do not draft projects, sign technical reports or obtain licences. The technical documentation is prepared and signed by a técnico competente you engage, and you, as the owner, file the declaración responsable or apply for the licence with the ayuntamiento.

The mistake is not knowing this, but discovering it late, after a quote has been accepted and a start date pencilled in. Ask your architect or técnico early which procedure applies to your property. For a building that is not protected, it is usually a declaración responsable since 2024; for protected buildings or historic settings, a licence and possibly heritage authorisation. We can tell you which documentation the ayuntamiento usually asks for and coordinate dates with your técnico.

Mistake 6: leaving the community and neighbours out

If the property is part of a building or complex under propiedad horizontal, the community of owners must be informed before walls, structure or façade elements are demolished, and works affecting common elements need the owners' meeting agreement. An owner who only tells the administrator once the quote is signed may face a delay that no contractor can shorten.

Even for a detached villa, mention close neighbours, shared walls and boundary walls in your request. They change the method near those edges and therefore the price. A short note such as «the garage shares a wall with next door» saves a revised quote later. The same goes for anything a neighbour has built against your boundary, such as a shed, a terrace or a retaining wall: it has to be protected or shored while your side comes down, and that work belongs in the quote from the beginning.

Mistake 7: comparing quotes that answer different questions

When each contractor receives a slightly different description, each prices a slightly different job, and the totals cannot be compared. The fix is to send the same pack to everyone: one scope sheet, one photo set, the plans, the municipio and the date range you have in mind.

Then ask for the same breakdown back: demolition, waste route with delivery receipts, any asbestos phase, protection measures, final condition of the plot and VAT shown separately. The demolition quote request form is built around exactly that information, and the guide the information we need to quote your demolition lists each item. If you would rather have someone coordinate the whole process while you are away, our sister site explains managing a demolition from abroad.