What to expect
| Typical duration | Assessment 2–4 weeks · works by scope |
|---|---|
| Cost band | Figures live in the cost index |
| Permit required | Licensing is separate from, and interacts with, the building permit |
| Seasonal constraint | Works in the closed season |
Where the building and the licence meet
Licensing is handled by a licensing consultant or engineer, not by us. What we contribute is making sure the building matches what the licence assumes, and flagging where planned works would change that.
- Room count and configuration. Splitting, combining or adding rooms changes the basis of the licence.
- Escape routes and exits. The single most consequential thing a refurbishment can accidentally compromise. Moving a wall, changing a door swing or reconfiguring a corridor can affect an escape route.
- Fire safety provision. Detection, alarms, emergency lighting, signage, and the compartmentation that a refurbishment can breach without anyone noticing.
- Sanitary provision relative to capacity.
- Adding facilities — a pool, a spa, food and beverage — which brings additional requirements with it.
- Accessibility provision, where applicable.
The as-built problem
Many Santorini accommodation properties have grown incrementally over decades: a few rooms added, a terrace enclosed, a store converted, a pool built. Some of that was permitted and some was not, and the licence, the permit record and the actual building can all disagree.
A refurbishment is the point at which those disagreements surface, because a new permit application requires the record to be reconciled.
- Survey what actually exists.
- Compare it against the permit record and against the licence basis.
- Identify what is unauthorised and establish the legalisation position. See legalisation.
- Resolve that before, or alongside, the new application.
- Then design the refurbishment against a known baseline.
Buying an accommodation property
If you are buying a hotel, villa complex or apartment building to operate, the building due diligence is more involved than for a house.
- Does the as-built match the permit record and the licence basis?
- Are there unauthorised structures, and can they be regularised?
- Fire safety provision and escape routes — assessed rather than assumed.
- Drainage and electrical capacity against actual peak occupancy, not against the room count on paper.
- Waterproofing of terraces above occupied rooms, which is the most commonly deferred capital item in this sector.
- The condition of anything expensive and invisible: pool structure and plant, distribution boards, drainage runs.
See for hotel owners and hotel construction.
What this trade covers
- Survey and document what actually exists, against the permit record.
- Flag where a proposed refurbishment would affect room counts, escape routes, compartmentation or facilities, before the design is fixed.
- Coordinate with your licensing consultant and engineer so the building works and the licensing run together rather than sequentially.
- Carry out the physical works, in a closed-season programme built backwards from the opening date.
- Produce as-built documentation at handover, so the next refurbishment starts from a known position rather than repeating this exercise.
Questions people actually ask
Do you handle the licence application?
No — that is a licensing consultant's or engineer's work. The builder handles the building side and coordinates with them, which is where most of the practical problems actually sit.
Will refurbishing my hotel affect the licence?
It can, particularly anything touching room counts, escape routes, fire compartmentation or facilities. It should be checked before the design is fixed rather than at completion.
We have added rooms over the years without permits. What now?
It has to be resolved before a new permit application. It is common, it is fixable in many cases, and the timing matters — start well before the season in which you want to build.
Does a villa let to guests need a licence?
Short-term letting and licensed accommodation are different paths. Which one applies depends on how you operate. Take advice on your specific arrangement. See short-term rental compliance.
What should we survey before buying a hotel here?
As-built against the record, fire and escape provision, drainage and electrical capacity at peak occupancy, terrace waterproofing above occupied rooms, and pool structure and plant. Those five carry most of the risk.