Royal Decree 171/2004: what it requires of each company
Updated on 29 October 2026 · This guide is for information only and does not replace advice from your health and safety prevention service.
Royal Decree 171/2004 of 30 January develops article 24 of Spain’s Law on the Prevention of Occupational Risks on business activity coordination. It organises obligations according to each company’s role in the workplace: concurrent company, owner or main company. They are minimum rules: collective agreements can extend them.
What does Royal Decree 171/2004 regulate?
| Articles | What they cover |
|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | Purpose, definitions (workplace, owner and main company) and objectives of coordination. |
| 4 and 5 | Duty of cooperation between concurrent companies and choice of the means of coordination. |
| 6 to 9 | Information and instructions from the workplace owner and measures for the companies working at its workplace. |
| 10 | The main company’s duty to monitor its contractors and subcontractors. |
| 11 to 14 | Means of coordination, who decides them and the person in charge of coordination. |
| 15 and 16 | Rights of prevention delegates and health and safety committees. |
| Additional provisions | Application to construction sites, collective bargaining and written documentation. |
1. Concurrent companies: cooperate and inform each other (arts. 4, 5 and 9)
All companies and self-employed workers who share a workplace have a duty to cooperate. Specifically:
- They inform each other of the specific risks of their activities that may affect the others’ workers, especially those that may get worse because they share the workplace.
- The information is given before starting and whenever there are relevant changes, and in writing when a company creates risks classed as serious or very serious (art. 4.2).
- Emergencies and accidents that may affect the other companies are reported immediately.
- Each company takes that information into account in its risk assessment and planning, and passes it on to its workers.
When they work at someone else’s workplace, companies must also follow the owner’s instructions and pass them on to their workers (art. 9).
2. Owner of the workplace: inform and instruct (arts. 6 to 8)
The owner is whoever has the power to make the workplace available and manage it. As well as cooperating, it must:
- Inform the other companies of the workplace’s own risks that may affect their activities, the measures to prevent them and the emergency measures, in writing if the risks are serious or very serious (art. 7).
- Give instructions to prevent those risks and to act in an emergency when its own workers are also at the workplace, again in writing if the risks are serious or very serious (art. 8).
3. Main company: monitor contractors (art. 10)
When a company contracts or subcontracts works or services within its own business activity that are carried out at its workplace, in addition to the above it must monitor that its contractors and subcontractors comply with health and safety law. Before they start, it requires them to prove in writing:
- That they have carried out the risk assessment and prevention planning for the contracted work.
- That they have met their information and training obligations towards the workers who will provide the service.
It must also check that the contractors and subcontractors sharing its workplace have set up the necessary means of coordination between them. And if a contractor subcontracts part of the work, it must request the same evidence from its subcontractor and hand it to the main company. In practice, all this becomes a list of documents per company, worker and machine: you will find it in which documents to request from a contractor. Many companies manage it with a platform; we explain how to choose one.
4. Means of coordination and the person in charge (arts. 11 to 14)
Companies choose the means of coordination according to the hazards of the activities, the number of workers and how long the work lasts. The initiative to set them lies with the owner of the workplace when its own workers carry out activities there or, otherwise, with the main company, and they must be updated when they are no longer adequate (art. 12). Article 11 lists, among others: exchanging information and messages, regular meetings, joint meetings of the health and safety committees, instructions, joint procedures, the presence of preventive resources and a person in charge of coordination.
That person is the preferred means when two or more of these conditions apply (art. 13):
- A company carries out hazardous activities or processes, or ones with special risks, that may affect the others’ workers.
- It is especially difficult to control interactions between activities that create serious or very serious risks.
- It is especially difficult to avoid incompatible work, whether successive or simultaneous.
- Coordination is especially complex because of the number of companies and workers, the type of activities or the characteristics of the workplace.
They must have at least intermediate-level prevention training, and may access any area of the workplace, give instructions and propose measures (art. 14).
Construction
On construction sites, Royal Decree 171/2004 applies together with Royal Decree 1627/1997 (health and safety coordinator, safety plan) and Law 32/2006 on subcontracting in the sector, which adds requirements such as registration in the Register of Accredited Companies (REA) and the subcontracting book. Its first additional provision explains how they fit together: the owner’s information and instruction duties are met by the developer through the safety study and the coordinator, and the main company’s duties fall on the contractor.
What is at stake if you do not comply?
Failing to adopt cooperation and coordination measures is a serious offence (art. 12.13 of the LISOS, the Social Order Offences and Penalties Act) and a very serious one for activities that regulations class as hazardous or with special risks (art. 13.7). Health and safety fines are set by article 40.2 of the LISOS:
| Offence | Minimum degree | Medium degree | Maximum degree |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minor | €45 to €485 | €486 to €975 | €976 to €2,450 |
| Serious | €2,451 to €9,830 | €9,831 to €24,585 | €24,586 to €49,180 |
| Very serious | €49,181 to €196,745 | €196,746 to €491,865 | €491,866 to €983,736 |
In addition, the main company is jointly liable with its contractors and subcontractors for health and safety obligations during the contract when the offence occurs at its workplace (art. 42.3 of the LISOS). And a lack of coordination weighs heavily when there is an accident.
The best defence is being able to prove that you coordinated: what you requested, what you were given, who reviewed it and when, and what you communicated. The third additional provision makes that written information part of the documentation the company must keep under article 23 of the Law on the Prevention of Occupational Risks.
Frequently asked questions about Royal Decree 171/2004
What is a main company under Royal Decree 171/2004?
It is the company that contracts or subcontracts works or services within its own business activity that are carried out at its own workplace. Only in that case does it have the monitoring duty of article 10.
Which documents does Royal Decree 171/2004 require from a contractor?
Article 10 requires the main company to obtain in writing, before work starts, proof of the risk assessment and prevention planning for the contracted work and of the workers’ information and training. The rest of the usual documents (medical fitness, PPE, insurance, certificates) come from other regulations or from each company’s procedure.
How much is the fine for not coordinating business activities?
As a serious offence, from €2,451 to €49,180; as a very serious one, where there are hazardous activities or activities with special risks, from €49,181 to €983,736, under article 40.2 of the LISOS. The exact amount depends on the degree the Labour Inspectorate applies.
Is it mandatory to appoint a business activity coordinator?
Not always. It is the preferred means when two or more of the conditions in article 13 apply (hazardous activities, interactions with serious risks, incompatible work or special complexity), and even then it can be replaced by other means if technical or organisational reasons guarantee the objectives of coordination.
Sources
- Royal Decree 171/2004 of 30 January (BOE, consolidated text, in Spanish).
- Law 31/1995 on the Prevention of Occupational Risks (BOE, in Spanish).
- Royal Legislative Decree 5/2000, Social Order Offences and Penalties Act (BOE, in Spanish). Current amounts in art. 40.2 set by Law 10/2021 of 9 July (final provision 1.2), in force since 1 October 2021.
- Guidelines for effective business activity coordination (INSST, 2024), in Spanish.
Written by the Coorvia team from the consolidated text in the BOE (Spain’s Official State Gazette) and the INSST guidelines cited in the sources. If you find a mistake or something has changed, write to us at hola@coorvia.app and we will fix it. How we write our guides.