- Three regimes: works exempt from prior control, works done on a comunicação prévia (prior communication), and works that need a municipal licença — the split is fixed by the building code, Decreto-Lei n.º 555/99 (RJUE), rewritten by the 2024 "Simplex" decree
- Deadlines with teeth: the council must decide a licence in 120 days for a building up to 300 m² of gross area, 150 days up to 2 200 m², 200 days above — and silence counts as approval (tacit approval, art. 23.º)
- No more "licence to use": since 2024 you move in after filing the works director's statement of completion (art. 62.º-A), no permit to wait for
- Fines for building outside the project or the permit run from 1 500 € to 200 000 € for an individual (art. 98.º)
Whoever buys a plot or an old house in Portugal meets the câmara municipal — the town hall — before meeting a builder. The rules are national (the RJUE, in force since 1999 and reshaped by Decreto-Lei n.º 10/2024, the “Simplex urbanístico”), but the plans that say what can be built where, and the fees, are municipal. Here is how the system works in 2026, from the question “do I need a permit at all?” to the day you move in.
Do you need a permit? Three answers
No prior control at all (art. 6.º). Maintenance works; interior alterations that do not touch the structure, the height, the façades, the roof shape or façade tiles; reconstructions and extensions that do not raise the façade height, even if they add floors or floor area; and the “works of minor urban relevance” of art. 6.º-A: an outbuilding up to 2,2 m high and 10 m² not on the street line, garden walls up to 1,8 m (retaining walls up to 2 m), greenhouses under 3 m and 20 m², solar panels within the roof outline plus one metre, replacing windows or roof materials with identical-looking ones that improve energy efficiency, a pool-house smaller than the house. None of this applies to listed buildings or their protection zones (art. 6.º-A, n.º 2), and each municipality may add its own list in its regulation.
Prior communication (art. 4.º, n.º 4). A declaration, filed on the municipal platform, that lets you start as soon as the fees are paid — “dispensing any permissive act” (art. 34.º). It covers new construction, extension and exterior alteration in areas already covered by a detail plan (plano de pormenor), an approved subdivision (loteamento) or an execution unit that fixes the plots, alignments and heights; construction in a consolidated urban zone that respects the municipal plan and does not exceed the most frequent façade height of the street; swimming pools attached to a house; and changes of use of a building. Where prior communication applies you cannot opt for a licence instead (n.º 6). The council keeps a right of inspection for ten years and can stop the works if the rules were not respected (art. 35.º, n.º 8–9).
Licence (art. 4.º, n.º 2). Everything outside those areas: construction, alteration or extension on land not covered by a detail plan, subdivision or execution unit — most rural plots and many village plots; works on listed buildings or in their protection zones; reconstructions that raise the façade; demolitions not covered by a reconstruction licence; and works in areas under public easements or restrictions (coastline, agricultural and ecological reserves, roads).
The plan decides. Whether a plot is buildable at all is written in the municipal master plan (PDM) and any detail plan. Before buying, ask the council for a pedido de informação prévia (PIP, art. 14.º): a favourable answer binds the municipality, and a PIP that already settles the size, use and design elements exempts the later works from prior control (art. 6.º, n.º 1 h)).
The licence procedure, step by step
1. Architects and engineers
Projects are signed by qualified professionals who take legal responsibility for them (termo de responsabilidade): an architect for the architecture project, engineers for the specialities (structure, water and drainage, gas, electricity, thermal and acoustic behaviour, fire safety). A false statement in a termo is itself an offence (art. 98.º, n.º 1 e)).
2. Filing on the municipal platform
The request goes through the council's electronic platform (art. 8.º-A) with the elements listed in the national ordinance. The council checks completeness first (saneamento, art. 11.º) and may ask once for missing pieces.
3. The architecture project: 30 days
The council rules on the architecture project within 30 days of receiving the file or the last external opinion (art. 20.º, n.º 3). Its review is limited to conformity with the plans, easements and restrictions, the proposed use, the exterior and urban insertion rules and the capacity of the infrastructure (n.º 1). The speciality projects follow within six months of that approval, extendable once by three months (n.º 4–5).
4. Final decision: 120, 150 or 200 days — or tacit approval
Counted from the date of submission (art. 23.º, n.º 3): 120 days for a building of up to 300 m² of gross construction area, 150 days between 300 and 2 200 m² or for listed property, 200 days above 2 200 m² and for subdivisions and urbanisation works (n.º 1). The decision is subject to deferimento tácito (n.º 2): if the council lets the deadline pass, the licence is deemed granted. A partial licence for the structure can be requested once the architecture is approved and a guarantee is posted (n.º 6).
5. Permit (alvará) and fees
You have one year from the notification to request the alvará, otherwise the licence lapses (art. 71.º, n.º 2). Municipal fees are due at this point — the licensing fee and the infrastructure fee (taxa pela realização, manutenção e reforço de infraestruturas urbanísticas, art. 116.º), both set by each municipality's regulation, which must justify their calculation. There is no national tariff: ask the council for its tabela de taxas before you budget.
6. Start within 12 months; keep the site in order
Inform the council at least five days before starting, naming the person or company carrying out the works (art. 80.º-A). Works must start within 12 months of the alvará or of the payment of prior-communication fees, must not stop for more than six months, and must finish within the time fixed in the licence — or the title lapses (art. 71.º, n.º 3). The permit notice stays visible from outside until completion, and the livro de obra (site log) stays on site (art. 98.º, n.º 1 j), l), m)).
7. Move in: the completion statement replaces the old licence to use
Since the 2024 reform, using a new or altered building only requires filing with the council the works director's statement that the works are finished and conform to the project, plus the as-built drawings if anything changed (art. 62.º-A). The building can be used "immediately after the submission" (n.º 3); the council cannot refuse the filing except for missing documents (n.º 4). A change of use without works goes through a prior communication with a 20-day period (art. 62.º-B and 64.º).
What it costs, and what it costs to get wrong
| Item | Rule |
|---|---|
| Municipal licensing fees | Fixed by each council’s fee regulation (RJUE art. 3.º and 116.º); vary by municipality, use and area |
| Building outside the project or the permit conditions | 1 500 € to 200 000 € (individual), 3 000 € to 450 000 € (company) — art. 98.º, n.º 3 |
| Occupying a building without the completion filing or against its permitted use | 500 € to 100 000 € (individual) — art. 98.º, n.º 4 |
| No permit notice, no site log, rubble not removed | 250 € to 50 000 € (individual) — art. 98.º, n.º 6 |
| Continuing works after an embargo | 1 500 € to 200 000 € — art. 98.º, n.º 5 |
Beyond fines, the council can order the demolition of what was built illegally, and an unlicensed extension surfaces at the worst moment: at the sale, when the buyer’s bank asks for the licença de utilização or the completion filing that does not exist.
Buying land to build: the three checks
- Classification of the land in the PDM — urban, urbanisable or rural; in rural land, construction is the exception and depends on the plan’s own rules.
- Easements and restrictions — national agricultural reserve (RAN), national ecological reserve (REN), coastal zone, protected landscapes, road and power-line margins: works there are licence-only and need the opinions of the external entities (art. 4.º, n.º 2 h)).
- Access and infrastructure — a plot with no public road, water or power is judged on “the adequacy and capacity of the infrastructure” (art. 20.º, n.º 1 i)), and the infrastructure fee reflects what the council has to build.
A PIP settles the three in writing before you sign the deed — that is the order we recommend to clients: PIP, then promise of sale, then project.
Can I renovate the inside of my flat without any paperwork?
Yes, if the works do not affect the structure, the height, the façades, the roof or façade tiles (art. 6.º, n.º 1 b)). Moving internal walls that are not structural, new kitchen and bathrooms, floors and ceilings are exempt. Touching the façade — a new window, closing a balcony — is not.
How long does a permit really take?
The legal maximum is 120 days for a house up to 300 m², from submission to decision, with tacit approval if the council stays silent. Add the time to assemble the projects and any external opinions, which run on their own deadlines.
Does a swimming pool need a licence?
A pool attached to a house is subject to prior communication (art. 4.º, n.º 4 j)): file the declaration, pay the fee, build. In protection zones of listed property the licence regime applies.
Is the "licença de utilização" gone?
For works finished after the 2024 reform, yes: the works director's completion statement filed with the council is what proves the building may be used (art. 62.º-A). Older buildings keep their existing licence, which buyers and banks still ask for.
What happens if I build without a permit?
An offence under art. 98.º with fines from 1 500 € for an individual, an embargo, and possible demolition. Legalising afterwards is possible when the works comply with the plan, at the council's fees plus the fine.
Sources and official references
- Decreto-Lei n.º 555/99 (RJUE), consolidated — art. 4.º (licence / prior communication), 6.º and 6.º-A (exemptions, minor works), 14.º (PIP) — checked 19.9.2026
- RJUE — art. 20.º (architecture project, 30 days) and 23.º (final decision: 120/150/200 days, tacit approval) — checked 19.9.2026
- RJUE — art. 34.º and 35.º (prior communication: start after paying the fees; ten-year inspection) — checked 19.9.2026
- RJUE — art. 62.º-A and 62.º-B (use after works: completion statement; change of use) and 64.º (20-day prior communication) — checked 19.9.2026
- RJUE — art. 71.º (lapse: one year to request the alvará, 12 months to start, six months' stoppage) and 80.º / 80.º-A (start of works) — checked 19.9.2026
- RJUE — art. 98.º (offences and fines) and 116.º (infrastructure fee set by municipal regulation) — checked 19.9.2026
- Decreto-Lei n.º 10/2024, de 8 de janeiro — “Simplex urbanístico”: reform of the RJUE (tacit approval, end of the licence to use) — checked 19.9.2026
