Stages to build a house in Saltillo: from land to handover

Building a house in Saltillo, Coahuila, follows seven stages: design and budget, permits, site work and foundation, shell (obra negra), rough-in (obra gris), finishes (obra blanca) and handover. The building permit is mandatory before the first stage: homes of 60 to 1,000 m² require the Major Building Permit from Saltillo's Dirección de Desarrollo Urbano.

Key facts

• The Major Building Permit covers homes of 60 to 1,000 m² (form F-VNT-10).
• Its requirements include an ID, a cadastral key with property tax paid, and a registered deed.
• Structural concrete block is governed by standard NMX-C-404-ONNCCE-2012.
• Cement used on site follows NMX-C-414-ONNCCE-2017 (Official Gazette, January 4, 2018).
• Aggregates for concrete comply with NMX-C-111-ONNCCE-2018.

What are the stages to build a house in Saltillo?

There are seven, and each depends on the previous one being closed out. The table summarizes what happens at each stage and what drives it.

The permits stage usually starts in parallel with design, because the permit requires plans already signed by a Director Responsable de Obra. The article on the Saltillo building permit details requirements and costs.

What permits and requirements are needed before building?

Before breaking ground, the Major Building Permit — for homes of 60 to 1,000 m² — asks, among other documents, for:

• Official ID of the owner.
• Cadastral key for the property, with property tax paid.
• Deed registered with the Public Property Registry.
• Valid alignment certificate, issued after November 9, 2021.
• Three sets of plans signed by a Director Responsable de Obra.

The permit is filed with the Dirección de Desarrollo Urbano, under the Urban Development and Construction Regulations for the Municipality of Saltillo. Without an approved permit, the site work and foundation stage cannot formally begin.

What is obra negra, obra gris and obra blanca?

These are the three blocks into which the Mexican construction industry groups the work that follows the foundation.

Obra negra ("black work") is the structural shell: foundation, columns, beams, load-bearing walls and slabs. It has no installations or finishes; it is the "box" of the house.

Obra gris ("gray work") adds what stays hidden or half-finished: hydraulic and sanitary piping, electrical conduit, wall plastering and floor screeds. Once this stage closes, the house has its shape and services, but no finishes.

Obra blanca ("white work") is the visible finishes: flooring, tile, paint, carpentry, doors, and bathroom and kitchen fixtures. It is the last stage before handover, and the one whose cost varies most with the materials chosen.

This three-block division does not appear by that name on the Major Building Permit, but it organizes how contractors quote and schedule the work: each block groups different trades — masonry and structure in the shell, installations in rough-in, finishes in obra blanca — and usually has its own crew.

What materials are used at each stage, and under what standards?

In the foundation and shell stages, the dominant materials are stone aggregates, cement and concrete block.

Aggregates — gravel and sand — for hydraulic concrete are specified under NMX-C-111-ONNCCE-2018, published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on November 12, 2018. It sets grading and quality, not price: that is quoted by the supplier based on volume and haul distance. Complementary standards NMX-C-077-ONNCCE-2019, for sieve analysis, and NMX-C-170-ONNCCE-2019, for sample reduction, set how those aggregates are tested before they go into a project.

Structural concrete block for load-bearing walls is governed by NMX-C-404-ONNCCE-2012, in force since February 11, 2013, which sets specifications and test methods for blocks and bricks.

Cement follows NMX-C-414-ONNCCE-2017, published on January 4, 2018, which classifies hydraulic cementing materials by type and strength.

There is no public source with a cost per square meter of construction in Saltillo: price depends on the project, the construction system and the finishes chosen. To quote materials by volume, Vermat — Grupo Server's construction materials and hardware chain, an authorized Cemix distributor — operates several branches in the city.

How does Grupo Server help?

Server Construcciones, the founding company of Grupo Server in 1966, is a contractor for land development, paving, bridges and industrial buildings in Saltillo. Promotora Server, since 1982, manufactures the structural and facade concrete block used in the shell stage. For questions about a project or the building process, you can write in through the contact page or review the site's construction section.