Much of what you read online about building permits in Colombia is out of date, and what corrects it usually stops halfway: a permit for new build has lasted thirty-six months since 2021, but one for an extension or a structural retrofit still lasts twenty-four. Here every figure carries the decree behind it and the date it was checked.
The POT of Cali has been annulled and is running on borrowed time, which the court has extended to 9 July 2027. What is protected if you already hold a permit, what gets frozen when you file, and why the planning ruling you have filed away does nothing for you there.
11 min
Jamundí has no curador urbano, so the permit is issued by the municipality and no charges are payable. How much you really save, what you do have to pay, and why the real obstacle is not money but a water certificate.
10 min
Which POT governs today and exactly where it stands in court (which is not what the press reports), how many curadurías there are, when the deadlines really start running, and the four procedures they will ask of you at the same time that are not the permit.
18 min
You have been told your building needs strengthening. What that means in terms of the code, who may sign it, which permit modality applies, and why the procedure costs less than you fear, while the works do not.
9 min
A curador is not a department of the town hall, and you pick which one. What they do, how the charges are assessed in UVT, what they cannot charge you for (starting with verbal enquiries) and what documents you have to bring.
13 min
You extended, added a storey or enclosed the terrace without permission, and now you want to sell, to mortgage, or simply to sleep at night. What you actually risk, what an act of recognition is, and where to start.
5 min
You want to knock a wall through, enclose the balcony or change the window. What is yours and what belongs to the community of owners (even inside your own flat), what majority is needed, and why the meeting’s permission does not replace the building permit.
5 min
Site coverage ratio, plot ratio, setbacks and land dedications, explained without jargon. And the rule almost nobody states: national law gives you the vocabulary, but the numbers come from the POT of your municipality.
12 min
We check what the planning rules allow on your plot, what can be built and what it costs, before drawing anything. Then we develop the full project through to the drawings and the permit application with the curaduría (the licensed private office that issues building permits in Cali and other large Colombian municipalities; in smaller ones, the municipal planning office).