Project glossary: plot, garden, building works and warehouses

The first thing to know about a plot. Urban land can be built on if it meets the planning rules; developable land first needs an urban development plan; on non-developable land construction is heavily restricted. It appears on the town hall’s planning sheet or certificate.

See: Plot study

Pla d’ordenació urbanística municipal, the general planning instrument of each municipality in Catalonia. It sets zones, uses, buildability, heights and setbacks. Each town hall publishes its own, and two neighbouring plots can have different rules.

See: House in Girona

How many square metres of floor area can be built per square metre of plot. In Spain it is written m²t/m²s: at 0.4 m²t/m²s, a 1,000 m² plot allows 400 m² of floor area, adding up every storey that counts.

See: Plot study

The percentage of the plot that the building’s footprint may cover. It is separate from buildability: a two-storey house covers less ground than a single-storey one with the same floor area.

See: Plot study

The minimum distance the building must keep from the street and the neighbouring plots. Together with site coverage it decides where the house fits on the plot.

See: House project

The basic project defines the building to apply for the permit; the construction project adds everything needed to build it. Both are signed by a qualified professional: for a house, an architect. We prepare the model, the documentation and the quantities for that project.

See: House project

The height of a point relative to a reference, such as the street or the house floor. With the levels of a plot you know how much you need to climb, where the walls go and where the water runs.

See: How to design a sloping garden: terraces, walls, steps and ramps

The level difference is the height between two points; the gradient is that difference divided by the horizontal distance. A 10 % gradient climbs 10 cm per metre; 100 % equals 45 degrees.

See: Gardens on a slope

A flat strip of ground cut into a slope and held by a wall or an embankment. It turns a hillside into usable spaces: lawn, vegetable garden, pool or a place to sit.

See: Garden on a very steep slope — Turnkey project · slope garden

The wall that holds back the soil of a terrace. Its thickness, foundation and drainage depend on its height and the ground, and they are calculated and signed by a qualified professional.

See: How to design a sloping garden: terraces, walls, steps and ramps

A slope of soil without a wall, held with plants, mesh or stone. It is cheaper than a wall but takes more ground: the gentler it is, the more stable.

See: Gardens on a slope

The tread is the depth of the step where your foot rests; the riser is its height. A comfortable stair follows Blondel’s rule: two risers plus one tread add up to about 63 cm.

See: Garden stair calculator

Drainage collects rainwater with channels, drains behind walls and pipes. A rain garden is a lower planted area where that water collects and soaks in instead of running towards the house.

See: How to design a sloping garden: terraces, walls, steps and ramps

The drawing that shows where each tree, shrub and plant goes, with its species and number. With it the nursery prepares the order and the gardener plants without guessing.

See: Gardens and parks

The amount of each item of work in its unit: square metres of paving, cubic metres of excavation, metres of wall, number of plants. They come out of the 3D model and are the basis of the budget.

See: Turnkey 3D projects

A budget split into work items, each with its quantity and unit price. It lets you compare builders’ quotes line by line and see what changes when a material changes.

See: Cocina Garbí — Renovation project · kitchen

A render is a still image calculated from a model. The 3D model is the project itself: you walk through it, measure it and change it, and the drawings, quantities and videos come out of it.

See: See your garden before you plant it: what a 3D garden project gives you

A web tool where the customer changes a product’s sizes, materials and options and sees it in 3D straight away, often with the price updated.

See: 3D platforms and configurators

A heat pump that takes energy from the outside air for heating, cooling and hot water. In a house project it pays to decide early where the outdoor unit goes and how the services reach it.

See: House project

The usable height from the floor to the lowest point of the roof structure. It decides how many racking levels fit or how high an overhead crane can work.

See: Industrial building project

A crane that travels on rails carried by the building’s columns and covers the whole floor between them. Its load and hook height shape the structure from day one.

See: Ferrum Gavarres — Building project · industrial building

The point on the façade where a truck docks with its bed level with the warehouse floor, usually with a dock leveller and a shelter. The number of docks depends on how many trucks come and go each day.

See: Nave Gregal — Logistics warehouse project · storage

A part of the building separated from the rest by fire-resistant walls, ceilings and doors, so that a fire does not spread from one compartment to another. For industrial buildings in Spain it is regulated by Royal Decree 164/2025.

See: Industrial building project