When can a Peruvian municipality close your business, and how does the ITSE safety certificate work?

What a closure is and which law governs it

A closure (clausura) is the municipal act that shuts a business premises and stops you from operating there. Since October 2023, Ley 31914 sets when a closure is allowed, when it is not, how it is carried out and how it is lifted. That law added articles 19 to 22 to Ley 28976, the Business License Framework Law. Because that numbering does not match the 2020 consolidated text (TUO) and we found no updated TUO, we cite Ley 31914 directly here.

The law distinguishes two kinds:

• Temporary closure (clausura temporal): a transitional shutdown. Almost the whole law is about this one.
• Permanent closure (clausura definitiva): only allowed as a penalty at the end of an administrative sanctioning procedure under Ley 27444 (art. 22).

The license itself (who needs one, the maximum list of requirements, deadlines) is covered in municipal business license. We do not repeat it here.

When a temporary closure is allowed

Only in these five cases (art. 19.1):

1. As a preventive measure, when an imminent danger to people’s life, health, property or safety is found that cannot be fixed during the inspection itself.
2. You have no business license.
3. You have no ITSE certificate, unless renewal is in process.
4. You run a different line of business from the one authorized.
5. Your activity produces smells, smoke, noise or other effects beyond the limits set by the relevant laws.

If the premises have independent areas or separate entrances, only the area creating the risk is closed (art. 19.2). The closure lasts until you correct the findings (art. 19.3).

When it is not allowed

The law says a temporary closure is not allowed (art. 20):

• For breaches of administrative rules that pose no imminent risk to life, health, safety or property.
• When the problem can be fixed during the inspection, or has disappeared by the end of it.

Owing fines is not on the list of grounds in article 19.

How it must be carried out

• It is ordered by the head of enforcement or equivalent official, who cannot delegate it (art. 21.1).
• The premises are sealed, preferably with video recording or else photographs, and a closure record is drawn up (art. 21.2).
• A copy of the record, signed by the official, is served on you when the procedure ends. If it is not served, the closure has no effect at once (art. 21.3).

Fines and closures: what they cannot do

• They cannot close you and fine you for the same facts at the same time. A fine can come after the closure is lifted, only if you did not fix the problem or there are different facts, and at the end of a sanctioning procedure (art. 21.4).
• They cannot make you pay fines to lift the closure. Officials who do so are liable (art. 21.5).

How it is lifted: 48 hours

You fix the cause and notify the municipality formally. From then, the municipality has 48 hours to lift the closure. If it does not raise a duly reasoned objection within that period, the closure lapses automatically. The clock starts at the time your document enters the front desk (art. 21.6). That is why the stamped copy should show the time.

The ITSE certificate

The Building Safety Technical Inspection (Inspección Técnica de Seguridad en Edificaciones, ITSE) assesses the risk and safety conditions of your premises for the activity you carry out there. What used to be called the Defensa Civil certificate is now the ITSE certificate: the TUO of Ley 28976 says any reference to the former is to be read as a reference to the latter.

The governing regulation is Decreto Supremo 002-2018-PCM (New Regulation on Building Safety Technical Inspections). In December 2024, a Housing Ministry resolution cited it as in force, «modificado por el Decreto Supremo Nº 064-2018-PCM».

Risk level and type of inspection

For low or medium risk, if the inspector finds fixable issues, you get up to 3 business days to correct them. If you do not, the municipality refuses the certificate (art. 23.d).

Validity, renewal and revocation

The certificate lasts two years from issue, and so does each renewal (TUO of Ley 28976, art. 12; regulation, art. 15.4). To renew it you file an application, pay the fee and sign a sworn statement that you still meet the safety conditions (arts. 24 and 29). If those conditions changed, you must apply for a new ITSE.

Official sources differ here:

• The regulation defines renewal as the procedure you apply for before the certificate loses validity (art. 2, item x).
• The general gob.pe page (updated 21 February 2022) says you apply for renewal once it has expired.

What is clear: Ley 31914 only protects you from closure for lacking an ITSE if renewal is already in process. Check with your municipality before it expires.

The certificate can also be revoked if an inspection visit finds you no longer meet the conditions and you do not fix them within 2 business days (art. 15.6).

What it costs

If your premises need a license, the ITSE cost is included in the license fee (regulation, art. 6.1). Renewal has its own fee, set by each municipality under its cost structure (art. 6.2).

Example: the gob.pe page of the Huancayo Provincial Municipality, updated on 16 January 2022, charges S/ 34.20 for low risk, S/ 82.70 for medium risk and S/ 389.50 for high risk to renew the ITSE. Check your own municipality’s page.

If you think the municipality is overstepping

• If you are asked for a requirement, a charge or a condition the law does not allow, it may be a bureaucratic barrier: see how to report an illegal bureaucratic barrier to Indecopi. Ley 31914 itself added to the bureaucratic-barriers law that anyone can file a complaint on behalf of collective or diffuse interests, without being directly affected.
• If a procedure is refused or goes unanswered, see what to do if you are refused a government procedure.