REA register in Spain: requirements and renewal

In short.

• Every company engaged as a contractor or subcontractor on a construction site in Spain must be registered in the Register of Accredited Companies (REA), and before it starts work there: article 4.2(b) of Law 32/2006 requires it. There is a single registration, held with the autonomous community of the registered office and valid throughout Spain. Self-employed individuals with no employees are exempt.
• Registration is valid for three years and is renewed by applying within the six months before it expires. If no application is made in time, it is cancelled automatically (art. 6.1 Royal Decree 1109/2007).
• A contractor that subcontracts to an unregistered company is jointly and severally liable for that company's employment and Social Security obligations on that site (art. 7.2 Law 32/2006). It is released if it obtained the registration certificate, requested in the month before the contract starts. That release applies to a single site only and does not relieve it of articles 42 and 43 of the Workers' Statute (art. 6.3 and 6.4 Royal Decree 1109/2007).

A company registered in the REA in autumn 2023 ceases to be registered in autumn 2026 if nobody in its administration applied for renewal between spring and summer. There is no decision to appeal: the system cancels the registration automatically (art. 6.1 of Royal Decree 1109/2007) and, from that day on, the company appears as unregistered. The REA system does send reminders, but only to the email address the company provided when it registered — an inbox that, years later, nobody may be reading.

For that company it is an administrative problem. For the contractor that has it on site, it can mean liability for someone else's employment debts.

What is the Register of Accredited Companies?

It is the register created by Law 32/2006 regulating subcontracting in the construction sector (the Spanish subcontracting act), and implemented by Royal Decree 1109/2007. The law seeks to improve working conditions in the sector, and in particular workers' health and safety, by bringing order to the subcontracting chain (art. 1).

Its basic features:

• It sits with the labour authority of the autonomous community where the company has its registered office (art. 6.1 of the law; art. 9 of the Royal Decree). In Ceuta and Melilla, with the central State Administration (art. 9.2 of the Royal Decree).
• A single registration valid throughout Spain (art. 6.2 of the law), identified by an 11-digit registration code (art. 5.2 of the Royal Decree).
• It is public: there is a national database (art. 10 of the Royal Decree) and a public registration search run by the Ministry of Labour.

Its scope goes well beyond putting up buildings. Article 2 of the law covers excavation, earthworks, construction, assembly and dismantling of prefabricated elements, installations, refurbishment, repair, demolition, maintenance, upkeep, painting and cleaning, and sanitation works.

For a large industrial account, maintenance, refurbishment or installation work on its own premises carried out through contractors can fall within the law. This is not a rule for construction firms alone: the framework of insurance for construction companies also concerns the company as a client that commissions works.

Who must register in the REA?

Contractors and subcontractors must register, and before they take part in the works (art. 4.2 of the law; art. 3.1 of the Royal Decree). REA registration cannot be regularised halfway through a project.

Article 3 of the law settles the borderline cases:

• A developer that carries out the works with its own resources is a contractor and must register. One that merely commissions the works need not.
• In a joint venture (UTE) that does not carry out the works directly, each member company is a contractor in respect of its own part.
• A self-employed person with employees is a contractor or subcontractor.

Self-employed individuals without employees are exempt, according to the official REA FAQs. Exempt from the register does not mean exempt from everything: we explain what cover to require of them in what liability insurance to require of a self-employed subcontractor.

Substantive requirements

Article 4.1 of the law requires the company to have its own productive organisation with material and human resources, to bear the risks of its activity and to directly manage the work of its staff on site. Article 4.2(a) adds that its human resources, at both management and production level, must be trained in occupational risk prevention, and that an adequate prevention organisation must be in place. For managers, failing a collective agreement, article 12.4 of the Royal Decree sets a minimum of 10 hours of training with prescribed content.

The 30% minimum permanent workforce

Companies that habitually work as contractors or subcontractors on construction sites must have at least 30% of their workforce on permanent contracts (art. 4.4 of the law), calculated over the twelve-month period specified in article 11 of the Royal Decree. It is a substantive requirement the company must meet, not a figure the Register checks on registration.

How a company registers in the REA

Registration is processed by the regional labour authority on the basis of a declaration by the legal representative that the company meets the requirements (art. 4.3 of the law; art. 4.2(b) as worded by Law 25/2009), together with documentation on the prevention organisation and training (art. 4.2 of the Royal Decree). Three useful rules:

• Changes to registered data: notified within the following month (art. 3.2 of the Royal Decree).
• Refusal: only for defects in the documentation submitted (art. 5.4 of the Royal Decree).
• Cancellation: at the company's request or by the authority of its own motion (art. 7 of the Royal Decree).

Applications are made electronically through each autonomous community's online portal; in Catalonia, for example, through the REA portal of the Departament d'Empresa i Treball. Fees, where charged, vary by region and by year: please check them on the relevant official portal.

When must REA registration be renewed?

Renewal is where most companies stumble, because nothing triggers it automatically. The rules (art. 6.1 and 8.1 of the Royal Decree):

1. Registration is valid for three years, renewable for equal periods.
2. Renewal is applied for within the six months before expiry.
3. If the application is made in time, validity is extended until it is decided (art. 8.1(a) of the Royal Decree).
4. If no application is made, registration is cancelled automatically and the company appears as unregistered.

Moving the registered office to another autonomous community has its own regime (art. 8.1(b) of the Royal Decree): please review it with the labour authority of the destination region before the move.

For the main contractor, the lesson is to treat REA status across the chain as it treats policies: with an expiry calendar for each subcontractor. The control we describe in how to validate a liability insurance certificate works equally well for registration: expiry date, a check before the subcontractor goes on site and a fresh check on renewal.

Do you track REA and policy expiry dates across your entire subcontracting chain? Let us review your contracting requirements.

The Subcontracting Book

The register identifies companies; the Subcontracting Book (Libro de Subcontratación) records what they do on each site. Every contractor must hold one before its first subcontract (art. 8.1 of the law; art. 13 of the Royal Decree), authorised by the labour authority of the territory where the works are located (art. 14 of the Royal Decree), which need not be that of the registered office.

It records each subcontract in chronological order: the company or self-employed person, its level in the chain and who engaged it, the purpose of the contract, the person in charge of the work, deliveries of the health and safety plan, instructions from the health and safety coordinator and entries by the site management team (dirección facultativa) (art. 8.1 of the law; art. 15 of the Royal Decree). Since Royal Decree 337/2010 it must also state who the health and safety coordinator is during the execution phase and record every change of coordinator (art. 15.3 of the Royal Decree). Those with access include the developer, the site management team and the labour authority.

The book stays on site and is kept for five years after the contractor's involvement ends (art. 16.1 of the Royal Decree). For building works subject to the Building Act (Ley de Ordenación de la Edificación), a copy goes into the Building Logbook (Libro del Edificio) (art. 16.3). And a developer that directly engages self-employed workers is treated as a contractor for the purposes of the book (second additional provision of the Royal Decree).

The limits on the subcontracting chain

Article 5 of the law caps the chain:

• Subcontracting is permitted up to the third level; the third subcontractor may not subcontract further.
• A self-employed person may not subcontract the work entrusted to them.
• Nor may a subcontractor whose contribution is essentially labour.
• Exceptionally, one additional level is allowed, only in justified unforeseen circumstances (specialisation, technical complications or force majeure), and never for the self-employed or the labour-only subcontractor, save in cases of force majeure (art. 5.3 of the law). It requires prior approval by the site management team, entered in the book, and notification to the labour authority within five working days (art. 5.4 of the law; art. 16.2(c) of the Royal Decree).

Exceeding those limits triggers the same joint and several liability under article 7.2, and against it the registration certificate is of no help whatsoever.

What a contractor risks by subcontracting to an unregistered company

The law places on contractors and subcontractors a duty of supervision over the companies they subcontract to (art. 7.1). If the accreditation and registration requirements, or the limits in article 5, are breached, the subcontractor and whoever engaged it are jointly and severally liable for the employment and Social Security obligations arising from that contract on the site, "whatever the activity of those companies" (art. 7.2). It therefore need not be the contractor's own core activity.

We examine how this fits with article 42 of the Workers' Statute in liability of the principal employer, and how it is reflected in the policy in contractors' contingent liability.

The certificate that releases the contractor, and what it does not release

This is the practical tool that most procurement departments are unaware of. Royal Decree 1109/2007 provides for a registration certificate with a releasing effect (art. 6.3 and 6.4):

• The engaging company requests it in the month before the contract starts.
• The Register issues it within ten calendar days.
• Once obtained, the contractor is released from joint and several liability under article 7.2 for the term of the contract and for that site only, regardless of the subcontractor's later registration status.

Three limits: it applies to a single site, it does not release the contractor from articles 42 and 43 of the Workers' Statute and it covers only the accreditation and registration scenario: it does not release the contractor from joint and several liability for exceeding the subcontracting levels in article 5. Requesting it should be a fixed, dated and documented step whenever a subcontractor joins a site.

Penalties

Breaches are penalised under the Law on Infringements and Penalties in the Social Order (LISOS) (art. 11 of Law 32/2006). Its articles 12.27 to 12.29 classify as serious the breaches by the subcontractor, the contractor and the developer; articles 13.15 to 13.17 raise them to very serious for work involving special risks or where data has been falsified. As occupational health and safety infringements, the amounts in article 40.2 apply (as worded by Law 10/2021, in force since 1 October 2021): €2,451 to €49,180 for serious infringements and €49,181 to €983,736 for very serious ones.

Outside that scale, failing to meet the minimum percentage of permanent staff is a very serious employment infringement (art. 8.16 LISOS), carrying a fine of €7,501 to €225,018 (art. 40.1(c)). And not having the Subcontracting Book on site is a minor infringement (art. 11.6).

The REA screens the subcontractor; your contract and your policy decide who pays. Request a review of your programme.

The REA is not insurance: what else to require in the contract

Registration evidences prevention capability and organisation. It does not evidence solvency or cover: a subcontractor may be properly registered and still lack a policy suited to the works. That is why the REA is one element of the control, not the whole of it. It is also advisable to:

• Set an insurance clause in the tender specifications or contract: we cover this in insurance documentation in the coordination of business activities. On construction sites, coordination under Royal Decree 171/2004 is governed by its first additional provision; the REA does not replace it.
• Validate the insurance certificate before the subcontractor goes on site, applying the same control described above.
• Review the contingent liability cover in your own policy.
• Separate damage to the works from damage to third parties: contractors' all risks versus liability on site, with construction all risks insurance as the reference product.
• Check the covers required by law for each activity: mandatory covers by sector. If you work for the public sector, the contractor's liability towards the Administration also comes into play.

One point calls for caution: joint and several liability under article 7.2 extends to employment and Social Security contribution debts. A liability insurance policy for companies is designed for damage to third parties; whether any section reaches this kind of obligation depends on the specific wording. Please do not assume it is covered or excluded without reading the policy.

As an independent brokerage registered with the Spanish DGSFP under reference J0140, we act on the client's mandate, not the insurer's: we compare wordings across the whole market and, when a claim arises, we represent the company before the insurer.

Frequently asked questions

What is the REA? The Register of Accredited Companies: a public administrative register, held by the labour authority of the autonomous community where the company has its registered office, in which contractors and subcontractors on construction works must be registered (art. 6 of Law 32/2006; Royal Decree 1109/2007).

Do self-employed workers have to register in the Register of Accredited Companies? Only if they employ staff (art. 3 of Law 32/2006). Those without employees are exempt, according to the official REA FAQs.

How often must REA registration be renewed? Every three years, by applying within the six months before expiry. If the application is made in time, validity is extended until it is decided; otherwise, registration is cancelled automatically.

What happens if we subcontract to a company that is not registered? You become jointly and severally liable for its employment and Social Security obligations on that site (art. 7.2 of Law 32/2006) and may commit a serious or very serious infringement under the LISOS. The only release from joint and several liability is having obtained the registration certificate, requested in the month before the contract starts, and it applies to that site only.

Who must hold the Subcontracting Book? Every contractor, before its first subcontract, authorised by the labour authority of the territory where the works are located. It is kept for five years after the contractor's involvement in the works ends.

Sources and legislation

• Law 32/2006 regulating subcontracting in the construction sector, articles 1 to 8 and 11 (arts. 4.2(b) and 4.4 as worded by Law 25/2009).
• Royal Decree 1109/2007, implementing Law 32/2006, articles 2 to 16 and second additional provision (as amended by Royal Decree 337/2010).
• Royal Legislative Decree 5/2000, Law on Infringements and Penalties in the Social Order (LISOS), articles 8.16, 11.6, 12.27 to 12.29, 13.15 to 13.17, 40.1(c) and 40.2.
• Ministry of Labour and Social Economy, REA frequently asked questions and public registration search.
• Government of Catalonia, Departament d'Empresa i Treball, REA renewal notice.

This information is for guidance only and does not constitute legal or binding advice. REA processing requirements are set by each regional labour authority; please consult its official portal. Covers, limits and exclusions are governed in every case by the specific terms of each policy. New Brokers Correduría de Seguros, S.L., registered with the DGSFP under reference J0140.