Renovating on the Costa Brava sounds manageable — until the contractor stops sending updates, the budget starts shifting, and decisions get made on site without you. On site or from a distance: different country, different working culture, different rules. And no one keeping the full picture together for you.
Casa Connecta coordinates the renovation on your side: contractors, architects, permits, budget, timeline, communication. Independent, working only for you, in your language. So the project actually gets finished, with budget, timeline and communication kept coordinated throughout.
We don't build. We coordinate. The architects, contractors, and ayuntamientos already have their experts. What's missing is someone with only one job: making sure everything connects — in your interest as the buyer.
We work primarily in the Baix Empordà — Begur, Pals, Palafrugell and the coastal villages around Calella de Palafrugell, Llafranc and Tamariu. The houses here are typically older masias, village houses, or coastal apartments — often beautiful, often more complicated than they look in the photos.
The renovations we coordinate typically run between 3 and 12 months, depending on what's involved. A standard project involves an architect, a main contractor, and three to five trades — electrician, plumber, tiler, carpenter, sometimes a structural engineer. Managing them is our job. Building is theirs.
Where things usually drift: the work expands quietly if no one is watching. Budgets creep up. Trades wait on each other instead of working in parallel. And by the time you notice from abroad, the work is well behind schedule and the budget is well over.
It rarely goes wrong all at once. It slips, week by week, until it's too late to correct course.
Almost any structural renovation on the Costa Brava requires a permit from the local ayuntamiento. The two most common ones:
For work that doesn't touch the structure: updating kitchens or bathrooms, replacing tiles, painting, basic electrical or plumbing work.
For structural changes: extensions, removing walls, façade modifications, new builds, swimming pools. Requires architect-signed plans.
Older homes sometimes also need an updated cédula de habitabilidad — the certificate of habitability — before work can be approved and utilities reconnected.
Each ayuntamiento applies the rules slightly differently. What runs smoothly in one village can take twice as long in the next. The permit application itself is the architect's job. We coordinate the process around it: built into the plan early, prepared for municipality-specific requirements, and alert to permit requirements that weren't yet on the radar.
Most renovations don't stall because of the trades. They stall because no one is connecting the parties.
The contractor speaks Spanish or Catalan, the architect uses their own technical language, the supplier shows up on a different day than agreed, and the ayuntamiento sends a letter you can't read. On site or from a distance: without someone actively connecting these parties, miscommunication and delay happen on their own.
That's where it drifts. Costs no one mentioned upfront. Decisions taken on site that you only hear about three weeks later. A schedule no one is actively holding.
What's missing is someone watching independently. Not to replace the trades — to make sure they deliver what was agreed, when it was agreed, within the agreed budget.
Most renovation projects on the Costa Brava run between 3 and 12 months. We're with you for the full duration.
Send us a short message about your property and what you're considering. We come back with a first read: what's likely involved, what the timeline could realistically look like, and what's worth a closer look before any contracts are signed. A renovation project usually involves a site visit: we come by the property to see the situation first-hand and map out what's involved.
Based on what the renovation involves, we pull together the team — architect, main contractor, trades — from our local network. Not the cheapest, but people we know deliver what was agreed, with clear communication and realistic budgets. We brief them properly, gather comparable quotes, and review them with you independently. No referral fees, no kickbacks, no hidden interests.
Once work starts, we keep everyone connected: contractors, architect, suppliers, ayuntamiento. We track progress against plan and budget, flag deviations early, and translate what's happening on site into clear written updates — in your language, on a rhythm we agree upfront.
We sign off the work together with you, check that cédula de habitabilidad and final permits are in order, and make sure outstanding items are resolved before handover. After handover, we stay available for any questions or loose ends.
We bought our own place here in 2025 and renovated it fully — electrics, plumbing, bathrooms, kitchen, plastering and window frames. We know every step of the process, including the moments when the schedule slips and course correction is needed.
We work only for you. No commissions from contractors. No referral fees. No hidden interests. Our income comes from you. That's why we protect your interests, even when it means sending a contractor back.
We live and work in Baix Empordà. Our network of architects, contractors and trades has been built over years and tested on our own projects. We know who delivers what was agreed, and who doesn't.
No jargon. No vague updates. We translate what's happening on site into clear written updates in your language. Even when the news is inconvenient. Especially then.
One short message. We come back to you with a clear picture: what's involved, how long it takes, and what it is likely to cost. You don't need finished plans yet — a starting point is enough. No obligation. No sales pressure. Just clarity.
Reply within 24 hours · In your language
We coordinate. Building, design and technical responsibility remain with the independent trades we select and work with — not with Casa Connecta itself.
