A listing photograph answers none of the questions that decide a purchase: where the boundary actually runs, how steep the land is, where the water goes in September, and what the municipality will allow on top of it.
We coordinate the technical work that answers them, inside the legal file, so the findings arrive as conditions rather than as anecdotes. The work requires a contour line survey; without contours, site potential is speculation.
Survey first
The topographer measures boundaries, dimensions and field occupation, georeferences the parcel and produces contour information. That data is compared against the cadastral plan, which is where discrepancies usually appear.
Plans and measurements are signed by the licensed professional responsible for them. That signature is the difference between a deliverable and an opinion.
Reading the site
Slope classes show where building is realistic and where the cost of retaining walls and access eats the project. Hydrology maps surface flow, seasonal creeks and wetlands before drainage becomes a permit problem.
Access options, vegetation and the municipal parameters come next, organised into opportunity and constraint layers rather than a single attractive rendering.
Scenarios, not a promise
We compare at least two development directions, with what each requires and what each risks. The output names the studies and institutional confirmations still needed: land use certificate, water availability, forest status, coastal rules.
An early site study is not a permit and not a guarantee of development rights. It is the cheapest point at which to discover that the land cannot do what you imagined.
What changed, and what it costs to ignore
Three changes decide how a Costa Rican company is run today, and they catch owners who formed a company years ago or who copied an old template.
The company no longer has a name
A company is identified by its cédula jurídica, the corporate ID number, not by a commercial name. The name you liked is a brand, and a brand is protected separately, as a trademark. Contracts, invoices and bank accounts must match the registered ID.
One manager, with a digital signature
Every company needs at least one manager able to act for it, and that person needs a digital signature to file the shareholders' declaration and the beneficial-ownership declaration. Without a valid signature the filing stalls, and a stalled filing becomes a company that cannot register its own acts.
The declaration is not optional
The shareholders' and beneficial-ownership declarations have to be filed and kept current. Missing them exposes the company to fines and can block registry filings until the position is cured. The exposure sits with the company, and in practice with whoever signs for it.
The exact penalty and the filing calendar depend on the company's history and on registry practice at the time. We confirm it on your file before quoting a remedy.
How we can carry it for you
Power of attorney
Apoderado generalísimo
A registered power so the firm can act for the company before municipalities, the tax authority, banks, the registry, utilities and other institutions, without you flying in for a certificate. We draft it, register it and use it within the limits you set.
- Municipal permits, certificates and arrears
- Tax authority filings and representations
- Bank account openings and KYC updates
- Registry corrections and recordings
Annual compliance
Retainer for the year
A yearly fee for the boring work that keeps the company alive: declarations filed on time, corporate books current, registry watched, and one named person responsible. Fixed scope and fixed fee, reviewed once a year.
- Shareholders' and beneficial-ownership declarations
- Corporate book updates and officer changes
- Registry monitoring and alerts
- Coordination with your accountant on filings
What the engagement includes
- Boundary, dimension and occupation verification
- Contour and topographic survey
- Slope and hydrology analysis
- Legal access and easement review
- Zoning and coverage reading
- Two or more development scenarios
- List of pending official confirmations
- Findings converted into contract conditions
Questions we are asked first
Can you tell me if I can build?
We can tell you what the survey, the terrain and the published rules suggest, and what the municipality must confirm in writing. Anyone who answers the first question without the second is guessing.
Do I need a survey if there is a cadastral plan?
Yes. The plan says what was registered. The survey says what is on the ground. The distance between them is the risk you are buying.
How does this connect to the legal review?
The findings become conditions in the purchase agreement, with dates and remedies. Without that link, a technical report is a document nobody is obliged to act on.