Which event must be notified
Order TIN/1071/2010 regulates opening and resumption of activity after significant alterations, extensions or transformations. The duty relates to the workplace and the event prompting the notification.
It should not be confused with merely registering a company or every return after an ordinary pause. Where the significance of a transformation is uncertain, review the circumstances with the competent labour authority.
General deadline and the special construction rule
Article 6 of Royal Decree-Law 1/1986 and the Order generally allow notification before opening or within thirty days of the event prompting it.
For construction work covered by Royal Decree 1627/1997, notification must be submitted before work starts. Automatically applying the general thirty-day deadline to a construction project fails to meet that specific requirement.
Who submits the notification
The general obligation belongs to the employer. In construction, notification is submitted only by those qualifying as contractors under Royal Decree 1627/1997: each contractual relationship must be reviewed rather than assuming that one filing suffices for the entire project.
The project client must provide the necessary information and ensure that contractors fulfil their obligation. An administrative agent may process documents, but this does not change the legal allocation of responsibilities.
Information and documents to prepare
The general notification includes identification of the company and workplace, activity, workforce, preventive organisation and production or storage data required by the form. The location must identify the workplace precisely.
Construction adds project details and the parties involved. The safety and health plan and its approval must accompany the notification when required; otherwise, the corresponding risk assessment is required under the Order.
Submission and updating
Submission is made to the competent labour authority through the procedure and form of the relevant administration. Retain proof of submission, the documents actually submitted and responses to requests.
On construction sites, the notification must be displayed visibly and kept updated. Changes not initially identified must be notified within ten days under the Order. The person responsible for the procedure needs timely knowledge of those changes, as well as the ability to file documents.
What this procedure does not replace
Notifying opening does not replace authorisations from other authorities, industrial safety obligations, or risk assessment and preventive planning. Nor is it the former prior notice by the project client: Article 18 of Royal Decree 1627/1997 was repealed.
Before work begins, applicable requirements must be checked separately. Having an acknowledgement of submission does not demonstrate that an installation, equipment or work method is safe.
Hypothetical example: a new contractor on site
A company is about to carry out installation work contracted directly by the project client. While preparing to start, it checks that it must submit its own notification as a contractor, even though another company has already notified its work.
It gathers the necessary information and preventive documentation, submits before starting and assigns responsibility for updating changes. This avoids confusing another company’s notification with fulfilment of its own obligation.
