What is a boletín eléctrico?
A boletín eléctrico — formally the Certificado de Instalación Eléctrica de Baja Tensión (CIE) — is the document signed by an authorised installer that confirms your home or business meets the Spanish low-voltage electrical regulation (the Reglamento Electrotécnico de Baja Tensión, REBT). Without it, the electricity supplier — Endesa, Iberdrola, Naturgy, or any other — will not open a new contract or transfer an existing one. With it, the bureaucracy clears in days, not weeks.
The certificate is signed by an "instalador autorizado", a category of electrician registered with the Junta de Andalucía and assigned a unique authorisation number. Without that registration, the document is not valid — which is why pulling a boletín off the internet or asking a handyman to sign one will not pass.
When you need one
- You are buying a property and the existing boletín is older than 20 years, missing, or signed by an installer no longer registered. Lawyers normally flag this in the week before completion.
- You are opening a new electricity contract at a property that has been disconnected for more than two years. The supplier will request a fresh boletín before reactivating the supply.
- You are upgrading the contracted power (potencia) by more than 50% or changing the supply type (single phase to three phase, common with EV chargers and AC).
- You have completed major electrical work — a rewire, a kitchen extension, adding a swimming pool, installing solar panels.
- You are licensing a holiday let ("vivienda con fines turísticos"). Most Andalusian municipalities require a current boletín as part of the application.
- You are renting out long-term and want to be insured against electrical claims, which require a current installation certificate to be valid.
What we provide
- On-site inspection of the consumer unit, circuits, earthing and main switchgear.
- Earth resistance measurement (the "toma de tierra" — often missing in pre-1990 builds).
- Verification of the differential (RCD) and magnetothermic switches against current REBT.
- A written defect list with a clear quote for any required upgrades.
- The signed boletín, electronically registered with the Junta de Andalucía.
- A stamped PDF copy and the registration number — accepted by every Spanish supplier.
- Documentation in English on request, so you can hand it to your gestor or lawyer cleanly.
What happens if you do not have one
The most common pain point is the supply contract. If you buy a property and the previous owner cancels their contract before yours is in place, you may end up with no electricity until the boletín is issued. We have seen completion days in Málaga ruined by this exact sequence — keys handed over Friday afternoon, no power until Tuesday because the boletín process started too late.
Insurance is the second issue. If a fire or appliance failure is traced to an installation that does not meet the REBT, the insurer can refuse the claim — even if you have been paying premiums for years. A current boletín is your evidence that the installation was compliant when issued.
Our process
- Phone call or message. Tell us the property type, postcode, age of the build, and whether anyone has tried (and failed) to issue one before. Most properties we can quote off the call.
- Site inspection (60–90 minutes). We walk the property, test every protection device, measure the earthing, and write the defect list — if any.
- Fixed-price quote on the spot. No work begins without your approval. If the installation is already compliant, we sign the boletín there and then.
- Upgrade work. Earthing, differentials, modern consumer unit, kitchen circuit — whichever items need bringing up to standard. We aim for one visit; complex properties may take two.
- Boletín issued and registered. Filed electronically with the Junta de Andalucía. You receive the stamped PDF, the registration receipt, and a one-page summary in English explaining what was done.
Certifications and authorisations
We are registered with the Junta de Andalucía as an authorised installer in the Categoría Especialista IBTE, which covers single-phase and three-phase low-voltage installations in domestic and commercial settings. The full registration number and a copy of our installer card are available before work starts — ask, and we will email them.
Every job carries full public liability and professional indemnity cover. The installer signing your boletín is personally certified to do so — meaning the document is legally valid the moment it is stamped, not after a third-party review.