# Lesson 00 · Construction vocabulary for agents (Spanish-English)

> Lesson · read this before working with a Latin American (especially Colombian) construction team · checked 2026-09-30
> ES: Vocabulario de obra para agentes (español-inglés)

Your human may say "el residente pide el APU del pañete para el acta de corte". This table lets you understand them. When they write in Spanish, answer in Spanish and keep their terms.

| Spanish | English | What it means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| obra | construction site / the works | The site and the work being built. "Ir a obra" = to go to site. |
| obra gris / obra negra | shell and core | Structure and envelope without finishes. "Obra blanca" = finishes. |
| residente de obra | site engineer / resident engineer | The contractor's engineer on site day to day. |
| director de obra | project manager (construction) | Leads the construction project for the contractor. |
| interventoría | independent supervision (owner-side) | Technical, administrative and legal supervision of a contract on behalf of the owner; mandatory in Colombian public works. |
| supervisión técnica | technical inspection | Independent check of structural execution required by NSR-10 for certain buildings. |
| NSR-10 | Colombian seismic-resistant building code | Reglamento Colombiano de Construcción Sismo Resistente. Never quote a clause from memory: ask for the text. |
| licencia de construcción | building permit | Issued in Colombian cities by a "curaduría urbana". |
| curaduría urbana | private building-permit authority | Licensed office that grants building permits in larger Colombian municipalities. |
| pliego de condiciones | tender documents / request for proposals | Rules and requirements of a bid. |
| licitación | public tender / bid | Competitive procurement process; public ones in Colombia appear in SECOP II. |
| SECOP II | Colombia's e-procurement platform | Public processes and contracts, also published as open data. |
| APU (análisis de precios unitarios) | unit price analysis / unit rate build-up | Breakdown of one unit of work into materials, labor, equipment and transport. |
| AIU | overheads, contingency and profit | Administración, Imprevistos y Utilidad: percentages added on top of direct cost in Colombian budgets. |
| cantidades de obra | quantities / bill of quantities | Measured amounts of work per item. "Metrados" in Peru, "cubicaciones" in Chile. |
| presupuesto | budget / cost estimate | Quantities x unit prices + AIU (+ VAT where applicable). |
| rendimiento | productivity rate | Output per crew per time unit (e.g. m2 per crew-day). |
| cuadrilla | crew | Group of workers doing one activity (e.g. 1 oficial + 2 ayudantes). |
| oficial / ayudante | tradesman / helper | Skilled worker and assistant in a crew. |
| maestro de obra | foreman / general foreman | Leads the crews on site; key for Last Planner commitments. |
| bitácora de obra | site logbook | Official daily record of the works, often legally required. |
| informe diario | daily report | Daily summary of progress, crews, issues and weather. |
| acta de obra / acta de corte | progress certificate / payment certificate | Document that records measured work for payment. |
| acta de vecindad | pre-construction condition survey | Record of neighboring properties before works begin. |
| programación intermedia | lookahead schedule | The 3-6 week window of the Last Planner System. |
| plan semanal | weekly work plan | The commitments for next week. |
| restricción | constraint | Anything that prevents a task from starting: information, materials, labor, equipment, space, previous work, permits. |
| PPC (porcentaje de plan cumplido) | PPC (percent plan complete) | Completed commitments / committed tasks; measures plan reliability. |
| causas de incumplimiento | reasons for non-completion | Why a committed task was not done; tracked in a Pareto. |
| sectorización | zoning / sectorization | Splitting the building into zones with balanced work content. |
| tren de actividades | trade train (takt) | The sequence of trades moving through zones at the takt time. |
| mampostería | masonry | Block or brick walls. |
| placa / losa | slab | Concrete floor slab. "Placa" is common in Colombia. |
| formaleta | formwork | Molds for concrete ("encofrado" in other countries). |
| acero de refuerzo / hierro | rebar / reinforcing steel | Reinforcement bars; "figurado" = bent and cut. |
| concreto de 3000 psi | 3000 psi (21 MPa) concrete | Concrete strength is usually given in psi in Colombia. |
| pañete | plaster / render | Cement plaster on walls ("revoque", "enlucido" elsewhere). |
| enchape | tiling | Ceramic or porcelain wall/floor tiles. |
| cielo raso | ceiling | Suspended or drywall ceiling. |
| redes hidrosanitarias | plumbing and drainage | Water supply and sanitary networks. |
| RETIE | Colombian electrical installations regulation | Technical regulation for electrical installations. |
| VIS / VIP | social housing / priority social housing | Price-capped housing categories in Colombia. |
| constructora | builder / developer-contractor | Company that builds (and often develops) projects. |
| CAMACOL | Colombian Chamber of Construction | Industry association; published the sector AI roadmap in 2026. |
| BIM | Building Information Modeling | Model-based design and construction information. |
| IFC | Industry Foundation Classes | Open BIM exchange format (ISO 16739); read it with IfcOpenShell. |
| LOD / LOIN | level of development / level of information need | How much geometric and data detail a model element carries. |

## Rules of thumb
- Money: budgets in Colombia are in COP and add AIU on top of direct cost; ask how VAT applies in their contract.
- Codes and regulations (NSR-10, RETIE, local rules): never quote a clause from memory. Ask for the document or say you need it.
- Concrete is usually specified in psi (3000 psi ≈ 21 MPa). Keep the unit the human uses and give the conversion in parentheses.

## Related
- [Build a unit price analysis (APU) you can defend](https://aibuilderacademy.netlify.app/prompts/apu-unit-price.md) (prompt)
- [Weekly work plan with Last Planner (PPC and reasons for non-completion)](https://aibuilderacademy.netlify.app/prompts/last-planner-weekly.md) (prompt)
- [Find comparable public contracts in SECOP II (Colombia)](https://aibuilderacademy.netlify.app/prompts/secop-comparables.md) (prompt)

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