How to Hire a Builder in Panama: What to Verify First

1. The situation

You want to build or renovate in Panama, often from abroad. A contractor sends a quote, a friend says "he's good," and work could start next week. The question to answer first is not the price. It is who is legally responsible for the work and whether the permits exist.

2. What can go wrong

• No licensed professional behind the work. Panama's Law 15 of 1959 requires every engineering or architecture work to be under the technical responsibility of a licensed engineer or architect, or of a company with licensed professionals; some single-story buildings can be under a licensed maestro de obra (JTIA, Law 15).
• Construction without a permit. A guide to the process says work cannot start without the construction permit, which comes after the plans are approved (Iurispa guide).
• Plans signed by someone without idoneidad can invalidate the permit process, according to the same guide.

3. How to check, step by step

1. Ask who the licensed professional is. Ask for the engineer or architect's idoneidad from the JTIA (Junta Técnica de Ingeniería y Arquitectura). If a construction company is applying for the permit, it must present its valid JTIA registration (Panamá Digital: permit requirements).
2. Know the stages. Preliminary project approval, plan approval, construction permit, and, at the end, an occupancy permit (Iurispa guide). Ask where your project is in that sequence.
3. Ask to see the permit before work starts. The municipal request states the work, the lot's registry data, the owner, the responsible professional and the value of the work (Panamá Digital).
4. Check the land first. The permit request needs the property's registry data. If you are buying the land too, see our guide on verifying a land project.
5. Subdivisions and urbanizations are different. They go through MIVIOT's one-stop window before construction permits (Panamá Digital).
6. Ask about the structural code. The guide notes that structures must follow Panama's structural regulation (REP) because the country is seismic (Iurispa guide).
7. Put it in a written contract. Scope, schedule, who pays for permits, and payments tied to completed milestones rather than paid up front. This last point is general practice, not a legal requirement.

4. What this doesn't cover

Requirements vary by municipality, project type and size, and they change. This is a checklist of questions, not a permit guide for your specific project. Your architect, engineer and lawyer should confirm what applies.