How a franchise defines its 'local tipo': the premises requirement sheet for franchisees

What a local tipo is and who uses it

A local tipo (standard premises) is the franchisor's written description of the premises the concept needs. Networks also call it the ficha de requisitos del local (premises requirement sheet), perfil de local or criterios de implantación (siting criteria).

It usually sits in the dossier de franquicia (the franchise prospectus) and in the manual de franquicia (operations manual). Some teams call the same document an expansion brief: a list of criteria a premises must meet before anyone books a visit.

One sheet, read the same way by everyone, means each candidate premises is judged on the same criteria.

• Franchisee candidates (franquiciados): use it to pre-screen premises before proposing a site to the central.
• Agents and brokers: use it for the preselección (shortlisting) of premises they send to the network.
• The franchisor's comité de expansión (expansion committee): uses it to approve or reject each proposed location.

Legal context, briefly

Real Decreto 201/2010, article 3, requires the franchisor to give the prospective franchisee written pre-contract information (información precontractual) at least 20 working days before signing or any payment.

That information includes an estimate of investment and expenses for a 'negocio tipo' (standard business). The regulation does not require a premises sheet. The local tipo is how the standard business becomes a real site.

The Registro de Franquiciadores (franchisors' register) no longer exists: articles 5 to 12 of RD 201/2010, which created it, were repealed by Real Decreto-ley 20/2018 (BOE, 8 December 2018).

This is a summary of the BOE text, not legal advice.

• Identity data of the franchisor.
• Title to, or licence for, the trademark.
• Description of the sector.
• The franchisor's experience.
• Content of the franchise: know-how, assistance and the investment and expense estimate for a negocio tipo.
• Structure and size of the network in Spain.
• Essential terms of the contract.

The fields of a complete requirement sheet

A complete ficha de requisitos covers six groups of fields. Write each one so that a listing, a plan or a visit can confirm it.

• Location: cities or provinces, districts, street type (eje comercial, the main shopping street, or a residential high street), proximity to anchor stores, and zones to avoid. Madrid's ZPAE plan for Centro restricts new hospitality activities by street section (articles 9, 12 and 15), so food formats should exclude or flag these zones; see ZPAE in Madrid.
• Premises: surface range for sales area and back-of-house, ground floor a pie de calle (at street level), metres of frontage (metros lineales de fachada), corner or chaflán (chamfered corner), escaparate (shop window), free height, open plan, basement allowed or not, loading access, accessibility.
• Technical: salida de humos (smoke outlet; see premises with a smoke outlet), power supply, water and drainage for a kitchen, air conditioning, gas, acoustic constraints.
• Licence and status: licencia de actividad (activity licence) stated in the listing, traspaso (taking over an existing business and its lease) accepted or not, protected building.
• Contract: rent ceiling as a named criterion, term, rent-free period, deposit, assignment clause.
• Catchment (área de influencia): footfall in people a day within a five-minute walk, residents within a 10-minute walk, household income, age mix, competitors nearby, visitor mix of locals, commuters and tourists. See how to read footfall.

Must-haves vs nice-to-haves

Split the sheet into requisitos excluyentes (must-haves: fail one and the premises is discarded) and requisitos valorables (nice-to-haves: they add to a score). This keeps the expansion committee consistent from one proposal to the next.

For each criterion, say what evidence the committee accepts. A smoke outlet mentioned in the listing is a starting point; an engineer's report is proof.

• Listing text: enough for pre-screening.
• Floor plan: surface split, frontage, layout.
• Site visit: height, access, condition, window.
• Technical or engineer's report: extraction route, loads, installations.
• Council check: whether the activity is allowed at that address.

Local tipo by format (worked examples)

The fields stay the same; their weight changes by format. Rules vary by municipality and change, so name the source in the sheet and date it.

• QSR with kitchen: smoke outlet as a must-have, a viable extraction route, and the licence class the activity needs.
• Coffee or bakery: may fit premises without extraction. OCAS art. 24 in Madrid and article 39 of Barcelona's OMAIIAA ordinance define when a food premises can operate without an extraction duct; put those conditions in the sheet. See premises without a smoke outlet. Frontage and window come first.
• Fitness: free height, open plan, loading access and residents nearby. CTE DB-SE-AE table 3.1 gives design loads, with gyms in category C4 at 5 kN/m²; reference it so an engineer checks the structure. See gym premises.
• Pharmacy, clinic and services: accessibility, visibility, residents and household income.
• Fashion retail: frontage, shop window, sales area, eje comercial and footfall.

From sheet to search: using the spec in Claro

Paste the sheet or upload it as it is. Claro turns it into criteria you can see, reads each listing's own words and marks every criterion met, not met or not stated, quoting the evidence. Location figures from a Casafari group company are added where available.

Claro searches commercial premises across Spain by city or province, and new premises are added every night. It checks what listings state and the location figures; it does not verify licences, structure or lease terms. Those stay with the visit, the engineer and the lawyer.

Share the same brief with franchisees and brokers, so every candidate is screened on the same criteria. Template below, with labels in English, Spanish and Catalan:

• Location · Ubicación · Ubicació: [cities or provinces]; [districts]; [eje comercial / residential high street]; exclude [zones].
• Surface · Superficie · Superfície: [min–max] m² sales area; [min–max] m² back-of-house.
• Floor and access · Planta y acceso · Planta i accés: ground floor a pie de calle; accessible entrance; basement [allowed / not allowed].
• Frontage · Fachada · Façana: at least [x] m; shop window; corner [preferred / not needed].
• Technical · Técnico · Tècnic: smoke outlet [required / not required]; free height at least [x] m; [power]; water and drainage.
• Status · Situación · Situació: licencia de actividad stated; traspaso [accepted / not accepted].
• Contract · Contrato · Contracte: rent ceiling [x]; term [x]; rent-free period [x]; assignment clause.
• Catchment · Área de influencia · Àrea d'influència: footfall above [x] people a day within a five-minute walk; residents within a 10-minute walk above [x].
• Must-haves · Excluyentes · Excloents: [list]. Nice-to-haves · Valorables · Valorables: [list].
• Date and version · Fecha y versión · Data i versió: [date].

Keep it current

Review the sheet after each opening. When a site fails, find the criterion that would have caught it and add it. Date every version so franchisees and agents know which one they are using.

Licensing and technical points vary by municipality and change. Check them for each site with the city council or a qualified professional; this is a guide, not legal advice.

• Review after every opening and every rejected site.
• Move criteria between must-have and nice-to-have as evidence builds.
• Record the source and date of every regulatory reference.