What are the construction standards in Bocas Del Toro, Panama?
Alberto Socarraz - Panama Vida
The construction standards in Bocas del Toro, Panama really depend on your contractor/builder. In Bocas del Toro the cost of building is about 25% more than the rest of the country mainly because of the logistics involved in getting building materials to the region and especially the island. When hiring a contractor/builder one should always get a reference list of clients that the builder has worked for, and go and inspect the work yourself. Also if you plan...
The construction standards in Bocas del Toro, Panama really depend on your contractor/builder. In Bocas del Toro the cost of building is about 25% more than the rest of the country mainly because of the logistics involved in getting building materials to the region and especially the island. When hiring a contractor/builder one should always get a reference list of clients that the builder has worked for, and go and inspect the work yourself. Also if you plan on building I would recommend that you be one site, because the last thing you want is to tear it down and start all over again.
Posted July 19, 2013
Anne-Michelle Wand - United Country Bocas del Toro
I am not aware of any strict construction standards in Bocas Del Toro. You do need to get permits but there is no requirement or procedure where they have to inspect every little thing. They do come out to see what you are doing, that but as far as inspecting your electricity and verifying that you and / or your builder have done things correctly, other than that, there is nothing like that here in Bocas, that I know of.
I am not aware of any strict construction standards in Bocas Del Toro. You do need to get permits but there is no requirement or procedure where they have to inspect every little thing. They do come out to see what you are doing, that but as far as inspecting your electricity and verifying that you and / or your builder have done things correctly, other than that, there is nothing like that here in Bocas, that I know of.
If you are building on the water, however, you cannot destroy any coral and you cannot destroy any mangroves, so they make you get permits in this case in order to know what you are going to do.
They will come and see when you're finished building in order to see if you built what you said you were going to build, but other than that, it is pretty simple.
As a result, when you buy a used house, you cannot just assume that everything is built "to code" like you generally would if you were buying a home in the US. You have to come and inspect the home in order to decide what it is worth to you based on the quality of the construction – some are good and some are poor. You don't, however, have to do the inspection yourself. There are people who you can hire to help you with the inspection.
Posted November 13, 2014
JB Seligman - BUENA VISTA REALTY located in BOCAS DEL TORO, PANAMA
Construction standards in Bocas del Toro are actually pretty high. You have to have a building permit that is approved by the city engineer. They take that pretty seriously. There are two kinds of construction in Bocas del Toro. One is cement block concrete and the other is wood. Sometimes it is a combination of both. There are building permits, and there are inspections by the bomberos (firemen).
The contractor gets all the permits. The owner...
The contractor gets all the permits. The owner...
Construction standards in Bocas del Toro are actually pretty high. You have to have a building permit that is approved by the city engineer. They take that pretty seriously. There are two kinds of construction in Bocas del Toro. One is cement block concrete and the other is wood. Sometimes it is a combination of both. There are building permits, and there are inspections by the bomberos (firemen).
The contractor gets all the permits. The owner does not have to do so. It is always easier for the contractor, who is a local, to do this. You can have a fairly high degree of confidence that your house that is built in Bocas del Toro will meet certain basic standards because bomberos, engineers and city people monitor the construction.
Most of the houses around Bocas del Toro are very well constructed. There are good builders in Bocas Del Toro that service gringos, or expats. Expats have been coming down here in large numbers since 2000 and they wanted to set their standards a little bit higher, so most of the houses that were built for expats are pretty well constructed and up to American standards. It wouldn’t be a high end American standard, but it would be basic American Standard type of home.
The contractor gets all the permits. The owner does not have to do so. It is always easier for the contractor, who is a local, to do this. You can have a fairly high degree of confidence that your house that is built in Bocas del Toro will meet certain basic standards because bomberos, engineers and city people monitor the construction.
Most of the houses around Bocas del Toro are very well constructed. There are good builders in Bocas Del Toro that service gringos, or expats. Expats have been coming down here in large numbers since 2000 and they wanted to set their standards a little bit higher, so most of the houses that were built for expats are pretty well constructed and up to American standards. It wouldn’t be a high end American standard, but it would be basic American Standard type of home.
(Home with compound overlooking Cauchero Bay, Bocas del Toro, Panama, pictured.)
Posted April 28, 2015