Before renting a commercial unit, check that your activity is allowed there, that drainage, ceiling height and power suit your layout, that extraction or air-conditioning outlets are possible, what the landlord delivers, and what the lease says about works and reinstatement. A technician confirms the planning side, a lawyer the lease, and a contractor can give a practical view of the building work involved.
Is your activity allowed in this unit?
This is the first question and the one for your technician. Planning rules, building conditions and the activity’s own requirements decide whether a shop, an office, a clinic or a restaurant can operate in a particular unit. Some activities need specific procedures; in Andalusia the environmental licensing system changed in 2026, which matters for hospitality and other activities with noise or emissions. Ask before you sign, not after.
The community’s statutes can also restrict certain uses. Your lawyer can check them. Our licences guide outlines the framework with sources.
Will the building work what you need?
These are the practical questions a contractor can help with on a visit:
- Drainage: where is the connection, how deep is it, and can toilets or a kitchen go where you want them?
- Height: is there room for a suspended ceiling and the services above it?
- Power: is the existing supply enough, or will it need increasing?
- Condition: what can be reused from the previous fit-out, and what must come out?
- Access: can materials be delivered and debris removed easily, and at what times?
We can visit with you, if the landlord allows, and answer these from a builder’s perspective.
What does the landlord actually deliver?
“Local en bruto”, “local acondicionado”, “listo para entrar”: these phrases mean different things to different people. Ask for a written description of the condition in which the unit is handed over, with photos, and make sure it appears in the lease. Note what the landlord will do before handover, if anything, and by when.
Our guide on what a shell unit means explains the typical condition of an en bruto unit and what remains to be built.
Which outside changes will you need?
Signage, a new shopfront, an awning, an extraction outlet, air-conditioning units: anything that changes the outside of the building usually involves the owners’ community and often the town hall, as well as the landlord. If your business depends on one of these — a restaurant needs extraction, a brand needs its sign — confirm it is possible before committing.
The guide on works and the owners’ community explains why the façade is the usual point of friction.
What about the neighbours and the street?
A unit is not only four walls. Look at who lives and works around it. Flats directly above a bar or a gym are likely to be sensitive to noise and smells, and the owners’ community may be wary of any change. A unit next to a busy loading zone may be easier for deliveries but harder for customers. In historic centres, narrow streets and access restrictions can affect how materials arrive and how debris leaves, which matters during the works and afterwards for your own deliveries.
Visit at different times of day if you can: morning delivery hours, lunchtime, evening. Talk to the neighbouring businesses about the building, the landlord and the community. None of this appears in a listing, and all of it affects how easy the fit-out and the business will be. Ask, too, how long the unit has been empty and why the last tenant left; the answer is not always about rent, and occasionally it points to a problem with the building, the access or the neighbours that you would rather know about now.
What happens at the end of the lease?
Ask what you must leave or remove. Reinstatement clauses can turn a reasonable fit-out into an expensive one at exit. Knowing this from the start lets you design with removal in mind. Ask too about the rent-free period for works, the start date of the lease, and who is responsible for repairs to services during the tenancy. These are lease matters for your lawyer; the building implications are ours to explain.
How do you turn the answers into a decision?
Put the answers next to a realistic scope and an itemised estimate. If the unit needs much more work than you planned, you can negotiate, adjust the concept or walk away before you are committed. For the building side, see shell unit fit-out and shop refurbishment.
Bauman Raymond Attila · Reforma Locales Málaga · Avenida Antonio Belón 3, Marbella. Last reviewed: 05/11/2026.
