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Working on Spanish scaffolds: posting, the REA register and the TPC card

A foreign scaffold firm working in Spain deals with two sets of rules: the posting and subcontracting paperwork that the Spanish client must check, and a scaffold regime written into a 1997 royal decree on work equipment. This guide covers both, with the article number for each point.

By Ole Emil Frikstad Urstad · How the numbers are computed ·

ULMA BRIO scaffolding around a house of 11.4 × 5.3 m with a gabled roof (eaves 4.5 m, ridge 6 m), drawn by the ScaFix 3D model
ULMA BRIO around the example house, as ScaFix draws it in 3D.

What does a foreign scaffolding firm need to work in Spain?

Before the job starts, file the posting declaration (comunicación de desplazamiento) with the regional labour authority under Ley 45/1999, article 5. On construction sites that filing doubles as the application to the REA contractor register (RD 1109/2007). Keep payroll and time records on site in Spanish, and follow the PMDM and inspection rules of RD 1215/1997, annex II, 4.3.

What has to be filed before the crew travels?

The posting declaration. Under Ley 45/1999, article 5, an employer posting workers to Spain must notify the Spanish labour authority of the territory where the work takes place, before the posting starts and whatever its length. The filing is electronic. It must give:

  • the posting company, its tax address and its VAT number;
  • personal and professional details of each posted worker;
  • the client company and the site where the work will be done;
  • start date and expected length;
  • the service to be provided and the legal ground for the posting;
  • a contact person in Spain who acts as liaison with the authorities and receives documents;
  • a person who can represent the firm in information and consultation procedures with the workers.

The Spanish government's posted workers page explains that the filing goes to the labour authority of the autonomous community concerned, can be made through the labour inspectorate's electronic application, and that several regions also run their own procedure. Postings of up to eight days under article 2.1.1.º a) or b), which covers a crew sent to fulfil a contract with a Spanish client, are exempt (article 5.3); the exemption does not cover temporary-work agencies.

Why the REA register matters on a building site

Spain limits subcontracting in construction. Ley 32/2006, article 4.2, requires every firm hired as contractor or subcontractor on a construction site to be entered in the Registro de Empresas Acreditadas (REA) and to show that its managers and workers have the required health and safety training. A posted firm does not file a separate application: under the first additional provision of RD 1109/2007, the first posting declaration counts as the application, with the declaration of annex I.A attached, and it goes to the register of the region where the first job is done. The firm may work provisionally until registration is granted or refused. Postings of no more than eight days need no registration, and later postings must quote the REA number.

REA pointRuleSource
Who must registerevery contractor and subcontractor on a construction siteLey 32/2006, art. 4.2 b)
Where a posted firm registersthe region of its first job in SpainRD 1109/2007, DA 1.ª b)
Validitythree years, renewable; renew within the six months before expiryRD 1109/2007, art. 6
Coveragevalid throughout Spain, public dataLey 32/2006, art. 6

The chain is also capped. Under article 5 of Ley 32/2006 the third subcontractor may not subcontract further, and a subcontractor that brings only labour and hand tools may not subcontract at all. Article 7 makes the contractor jointly liable for the labour and social security debts of a subcontractor that breaks the registration or chain rules, so expect the Spanish client to check your REA entry before you start.

AT-PAC Ringlock scaffolding around a house of 11.4 × 5.3 m with a gabled roof (eaves 4.5 m, ridge 6 m), drawn by the ScaFix 3D model
AT-PAC Ringlock around the example house, as ScaFix draws it in 3D.

Which documents must be kept on site?

Article 6 of Ley 45/1999 requires these to be available at the workplace or in digital form for immediate inspection during the posting:

  • the employment contracts, or the written statement of essential terms;
  • payslips and proof that wages were paid;
  • daily time records showing start, end and length of the working day;
  • work authorisations for non-EU nationals, under the home state's rules.

They must be translated into Spanish or into the co-official language of the region (article 6.5), and any harm to a posted worker's health caused by the work must be notified in writing to the labour authority (article 6.4).

Do posted scaffolders need the TPC card?

The Tarjeta Profesional de la Construcción (TPC) is set up by the VII sector collective agreement, published in the BOE on 23 September 2023, articles 154 to 161, on the basis of Ley 32/2006, article 10.3. It is issued by the Fundación Laboral de la Construcción and records the holder's health and safety training, trade category and periods of employment. Workers of firms within the agreement's scope can apply, as can anyone with at least 30 days' registered employment in such firms in the previous 60 months; the minimum condition is the 8-hour initial safety course, and the card expires five years after issue.

What the law itself requires is that every worker on site has adequate safety training for the job (Ley 32/2006, article 10.1). We found no text that obliges a posted worker to hold a TPC; the agreement calls it «a form of accreditation». Ask the main contractor in advance which proof of training it will accept. For scaffold work, the agreement's trade course «Montaje de estructuras tubulares» takes 20 hours (14 common, 6 trade-specific), and annex VII bars temporary-work agencies from supplying scaffold erectors at all.

Which Spanish words will you meet on site?

SpanishEnglish
andamio tubularsystem / tube scaffold
montantestandard
largueroledger
plataformadeck
barandillaguardrail
rodapiétoe board
anclajetie
PMDMerection, use and dismantling plan
nota de cálculostructural calculation
inspeccióninspection

See guardrail, toe board and wall tie in our glossary.

When is a PMDM required, and who signs it?

RD 1215/1997, annex II, point 4.3.3, added by RD 2177/2004, makes the plan compulsory for prefabricated scaffolds more than 6 m from base to top or with horizontal spans over 8 m, for scaffolds standing on roofs or upper structures more than 24 m above ground, for mobile towers used above 6 m, and for suspended and mast-climbing platforms. The plan and any calculation must be prepared by a person with a qualifying university degree; the INSST technical guide gives architect, technical architect, engineer or technical engineer as examples. A home-country engineer's plan therefore raises the question of whether that qualification is recognised in Spain; settle it with the client before mobilising.

Erection must be directed by a person with a qualifying university or vocational qualification (4.3.7). Where no plan is needed, a person with more than two years' experience certified by the employer and basic-level safety training may direct it instead.

What inspections will the Spanish client expect?

Point 4.3.8 requires an inspection by a qualified person before first use, periodically, and after any modification, period out of use, exposure to bad weather or earthquake. The decree sets no interval in days; the INSST guide says it follows regional rules or, failing those, the employer's risk assessment. Article 179 of the agreement requires the results to be documented and kept for the labour authority, and article 4 of RD 1215/1997 adds that a scaffold used away from the employer's premises must carry proof of its last check. Our inspection checklist covers the checks; regulations by country compares intervals.

Which Spanish limits differ from home rules?

RuleValueSource
Guardrail, generalat least 90 cm where a fall exceeds 2 mRD 1215/1997, annex I, 1.6
Guardrail, prefabricated tube scaffoldat least 1 m, mid rail, 15 cm toe boardagreement, art. 180 e)
Inner side without guardrailonly if less than 20 cm from the facadeagreement, art. 180 e)
Deck widthat least 60 cmagreement, art. 180 e)
Uncertified tube scaffoldonly up to 6 m, spans up to 8 magreement, art. 180 a)
Wind during erectionstop above 72 km/h (guidance)INSST NTP 1016

What happens when protection is missing?

Under article 44 of Ley 31/1995, a labour inspector who finds a serious and imminent risk may order the work stopped at once. The firm can challenge the order within three working days, and the labour authority decides within 24 hours.

How ScaFix fits in

ScaFix lays out the lifts, guardrails, toe boards and decks of a facade on many systems, so you can check deck counts and the 6 m plan threshold before material is shipped. The calculation, the PMDM and the inspection stay with qualified people in Spain.

Planning information, not structural approval and not legal advice. In Spain the consolidated texts in the BOE, the applicable collective agreement and the manufacturer's manual decide; outside the tested configuration a qualified person prepares a calculation and plan (RD 1215/1997, annex II, 4.3.2 and 4.3.3), and the scaffold is inspected before use (4.3.8). Check the posting and REA formalities with the regional labour authority before each job.

Frequently asked questions

Is the posting declaration needed for a short job in Spain?

Yes, before the posting and regardless of length, except postings of up to eight days under article 2.1.1.º a) or b) of Ley 45/1999; the exemption does not apply to temporary-work agencies.

Does a foreign scaffolding firm have to join the REA?

Yes, if it works as contractor or subcontractor on a construction site; its first posting declaration counts as the application, and jobs of up to eight days are exempt (RD 1109/2007, DA 1.ª).

Is the TPC card mandatory for posted workers?

We found no rule saying so. The law requires adequate safety training; the TPC is the sector agreement's way of proving it, so agree with the client which evidence it accepts.

What is the guardrail height on Spanish scaffolds?

At least 90 cm under RD 1215/1997, and at least 1 m with a 15 cm toe board on prefabricated tube scaffolds under article 180 of the sector agreement.

Can a temporary-work agency supply scaffold erectors in Spain?

No. Annex VII of the VII sector agreement lists the scaffold erector among jobs barred outright from agency placement on safety grounds.

Sources

Primary sources used for this article, with the date each was read.