How can I check that an electrician is authorised in Spain?

What “authorised” means in Spain today

Since Royal Decree 560/2010 the old individual installer’s card no longer exists. What counts is that the installation company is registered (empresa instaladora habilitada) for low voltage work, entered in the Integrated Industrial Register and answerable for what it signs. There are two levels:

• Basic category: most work in homes, including ordinary EV charging points.
• Specialist category: installations that need a project or special premises, such as places open to the public or swimming pools.

The company must also hold civil liability insurance.

How to check, step by step

1. Ask for the company’s legal name and tax number (NIF). A registered professional has no problem giving them.
2. Ask for its registration number as an installation company and its category.
3. Ask about its civil liability insurance.
4. Confirm it will issue the boletín (the electrical installation certificate, CIE) when the job requires it, and file it with the Industry department of the Junta de Andalucía.
5. Insist on a written quote and an invoice with the company’s details.

Why it matters to you

• Only a registered company can sign the boletín. Without a boletín there is no new connection, no power increase and no legalisation.
• The 15 % income tax deduction for a home EV charger requires a registered installer.
• After an incident, your insurer will look at who did the installation.
• The registered installer answers for the work meeting the REBT, Spain’s low voltage regulations.

An electrician qualified in the UK, Ireland or elsewhere cannot sign a boletín in Spain on that basis alone: it has to come from an installation company registered here. It is one of the oldest questions on expat forums.

Warning signs

• Offering to work without an invoice.
• Refusing to give the company’s details.
• Promising a boletín without seeing the installation.
• Using “authorised by Endesa” as a selling point. That phrase does not correspond to any official qualification: the registration belongs to the company, before the Junta.

Ask any company for these details before hiring, us included: our about page explains how we work. If you need a certificate or to legalise an installation in Seville, Spain, see electrical certificate (boletín) and legalising an installation.