Can anyone recommend: Builder

I've just written this reply on a similar question and thought it may be helpful to repeat on here :

This is always a difficult question to get an honest answer to, as you will get replies, but a good number of those will or could be the builders recommending themselves.

 Be careful of private messages that may be sent to you and if you are not sure about any 'recommendation' Google them and look for their website and/or other recommendation's on the Internet. Make sure they are legally registered and insured to work in Spain as well.

If you find a builder that seems OK , you can also ask on here, as a separate question,  if anyone has used them.

As you  probably know, it's never a good idea to pay money up front.

 After you get a quote and have done all the checks and have agreed to let them start,  you could (and should) only pay in stages of work as it's done (or at the end as work is finished depending on the size of the job)  - A good reputable builder would do this anyway. 

We have just had building work done in the UK and we paid nothing until the work had started and then only paid in stages. All building regulations and plans were sorted by the builder and we had proof that these were submitted. The problem in Spain appears to be that some 'not so good' builders say they will submit the plans or will apply for the permissions and never do and because it's in Spain we don't always check until it's too late..this happened to us years ago when we had some walls built up and it wasn't until the builders had gone we found the permissions were not even applied for, even though the builder took all our details saying he was sorting it with the town hall for us. He sounded so plausible! 

It's easy to check with the town hall (and  your community rules if relevant) yourself to see what is needed...we didn't know that at the time.

Good luck with finding a good reputable  builder - They are out there but just be wary of the smooth talking devils.