Building on bare land

The old ways of construction in the Yucatan, as far as building on vacant land is concerned, have changed dramatically over the last few years. The environment agency of the Government SEMARNAT is heavily involved in the process. SEMARNAT is in charge of the protection of natural habitat. That includes any building lot you may buy and wish to build on. The restrictions and processes you have to follow vary, dependant on the zone you are in. But first you have to have an environmental assessment done and this is submitted to SEMARNAT. SEMARNAT will use this assessment to review your plans to build. Most homes will end up being built on Pylons like this one we are doing for customers in Chelem.

Building on pylons is better for the flora and fauna, as well as provides better protection from storm surge. A lot of places that may suffer hurricane damage require homes to be built on pylons by law. But building on pylons requires special engineering and techniques which adds to the costs. In some areas SEMARNAT specifies even swimming pools must be elevated and the level of elevation can vary zone to zone from ground level to 2 meters above terrain height. If you are looking at a lot to build on call us, before you buy, to make sure you will be permitted to build what your planning. Some lots would be almost impossible to build on due to the restrictions in place. A normal SEMARNAT review can take 6 months or more, so that has to considered in your overall timeline as well. We have one customer, that had a large parcel of raw beach front land, in a non built up zone, take 8 years to finally get permission from SEMARNAT. We can help you though out the permitting process, as we know what to do and how to do it.