There are a lot of do's and don't. Which are totally different than the US and Canada. What I do like is helping people out and by doing so stopping them from having trouble getting things done. I want to explain about building a house in Panama.
First is your property. Most people are told several thing when they ask about buying property. First is whether to put the property in your names or in a corporation or in a foundation. Here are some facts for your consideration. If you put the property in your names. When you sell it. It will be through a Lawyer and all the legal process. When you have the land in a corporation or foundation. The process is just as lengthy for the initial setup. But it is much easier to do the transfer if you would sell it later on. You do use a Lawyer but it is basically a transfer of shares. Now the difference between the corporation and the foundation. The corporation is reportable to the US. I don't know about Canada. A corporation is for making money so each year, you must file corporate tax forms even though your corporation does not make money. Talk to a tax expert about this. The forms are confusing
Most people from the US will attack building a house like in the states. If you do, you will have trouble big time. First if you don't know Spanish. You will need to look for a architect, who does know English or hire an interpreter or use a friend that knows Spanish. The language barrier is your worse problem here. When are looking for an architect. Talk to him. Start out slowly. Interview him and talk about family a little. Get a slight personal view of the person. Panamanians are friendly but most are not driven like in the US. It is not about rush rush rush. If you have that attitude. Expect to have issues. Take it slow and find out about the work that the architect has done. Sometimes the architect has a builder that they work with. Sometimes they do not. You need to look at this. Decide whether you want to use his builder or not. We were blessed because we had Panamanian friends, who helped us in the process of finding a good Architect and a good builder.
Starting out. It would be a good idea to have some drawings of what you want. They don't need to be exact. But they give a good idea of where the architect can start. The architect will lead you through the process. The blue prints will be drawn up. They will show your property, where it is located. Then it will display where the house will be located. The reason that I say this is because the first page is where the architect, the electrician and the plumber will put their stamps. If these stamps are not there then the permit process will not go through. Now here is a special note. One that I learned the hard way. If you go over 80amps of electricity panel for the house (this might change depending on the local electrical supplier), you must get a special stamp from the electrical supplier. This takes a while.
Once you have the plans finalized. Then you can start on the permit process. Let the architect lead you. That is what he is paid for. Make sure that is agreed on when you are negotiating on the job. During the permit process. You will need to pay for some stamps at a local bank. The drawings and the permit request will go to the district engineer's office. Trips will be required to go to the Electrical Suppliers offices to get temporary power setup. The Bomberoes and the Department of Sanitation are stops,too. Once again, let the architect do this. Sometimes it is better that the architect does this and not you...
Once you have start building. Here are some helpful hints. Be nice to the workers. I made sure that they had ice in the morning and in the early afternoon. A deposit or storage shed will be made to hold supplies and tools. Go to several hardware stores. Have a list of all materials needed. Get quotes from them. You can get better prices when they know that you are building a home. When they know that they will be supplying all the material for the home. You can get better prices. I suggest this method. It is more work for you but can save you a lot in the long run. The hardware store that I used was so helpful that they would deliver supplies in one or two hour after I called them. Most builders will want 50% up front before building. I was able to work out a deal with our builder. That I would pay the workers weekly. A deal that the builder and I made without the workers knowing was I would pay a bonus for the job being completed on time and then another bonus when the house passed the final inspection. This kept my cost down during construction and ensure that the builder would be there at the finish to make sure things were completed.
Just one final note on construction. Theft of supplies is something that happens. Whether here or in the US. I was again blessed that I did not have that happen. The builder and most of his workers were related. Cousins and Uncles and such. But if you should have issues. I have a suggestion. Talk to the builder. Make sure it is understood. If there is theft of supplies. Then the workers will be responsible for the replacement of said supplies. Do this tactfully. If the material are not returned and the party that took them does not come forward then all workers will split the cost for replacement. I talked to one builder that I know about this when he had trouble. He said that that was an excellent ideal. Just let the men know that they are responsible. This is so much better than yelling at them. They will just walk away and then you will be at square one for workers. Treat the Panamanians with respect and kindness and they will work very hard for you. But you know that there are always exceptions to the rule. Just take your time don't rush.
Just as a note. Our house was built in three and half months. We only had three issues during the building and they were corrected quickly. We took our time to get to know Panama and it's people. Then we proceeded to work with the Panamanians. The only major problem was not getting special permission from the electrical supplier for a 125 amp service before construction.
Take care and I hope this helps those who are interested in building their own home in Panama.