How to build a house or hotel in Portugal and what documents are required?
In Portugal, land is classified into various categories, such as urban, suitable for construction, or agricultural. However, from a technical perspective and for simplicity of understanding, it is better to divide it into two broader categories – urban land (terrenos urbanos) and rural land (terrenos agricolas). You can always obtain information about a specific plot in the municipality where it is located, at the Câmara Municipal (City Hall). At this stage, it is important to review one of the most essential documents, the PDM (Plano Diretor Municipal).
It is also necessary to check whether the plot is located in an area where essential infrastructure facilities are already in place, such as sewage, power lines, water supply, street paving, and street lighting. If you pay attention to all these details and choose an urban plot with basic infrastructure, the level of bureaucracy, permits, and expenses you will have to deal with will be much lower. On a plot not designated for construction, the developer will be responsible for these infrastructures, ultimately leading to higher project costs.
Carefully review all the documentation for the land.
The land registration certificate (Caderneta predial) is an essential document that allows you to find out if there are any restrictions or encumbrances on the land you want to purchase. Another aspect not to be overlooked is checking whether the land you want to buy is within an AUGI (Área Urbana de Génese Ilegal), which identifies areas that have been built without proper authorization and essentially exist outside the law. You should also rule out any plots located in National Agricultural Reserve areas (Reserva Agrícola Nacional – RAN), National Ecological Network areas (Rede Ecológica Nacional – REN), protected areas, or coastal zones, as the building restrictions in these areas make any development project unfeasible.
Check if there is an approved construction project for the plot. A plot with an approved project will already have all the prepared documentation for obtaining a building permit. This means that you will only need to pay the relevant fees and construct the house according to the existing project. Often, projects are only preliminarily approved and require final approval. If you want to make any changes, you may encounter serious problems, even to the point where continuing construction becomes impossible. In simple terms, with an approved project that comes with the plot, ideally, you should adhere to it, which ultimately limits your creativity and options for the future house.
After acquiring the plot, it is necessary to obtain a building permit by submitting Preliminary Information on the intended construction (Plano de Informação Prévia) to the Câmara Municipal. However, if it turns out that there are obstacles or hindrances to construction, the municipality will inform you about the restrictions that must be adhered to. This procedure is governed by Law DL n.º 555/99, dated December 16, which states that the building permit depends on the decision of the Câmara Municipal, declaring the land suitable for construction and granting permission to carry out construction in accordance with the municipal master plan. At this stage, the response time typically takes about 20-30 days.
Having obtained the permit from Câmara Municipal in the previous step, the developer can proceed with topographic surveying and the development of the Architectural Project (O Projeto de arquitetura), which must also be submitted for approval. The timelines may vary depending on the municipality’s workload and the number of comments issued for rectification, but, in general, with some luck, it can be completed within a one-month timeframe.
After the approval of the architectural project, the next step is to develop the Working Documentation (O Projeto de especialidades), which is reviewed by the same Câmara Municipal. The architectural project and working documentation can be submitted together, or the working documentation must be submitted within six months from the date of approval of the architectural project. The working documentation specifies the type of construction and the size of structural elements that need to be built to support the external and internal walls considering operational loads throughout the structure’s service life. It consists of written (Peças escritas) and drawn (Peças desenhadas) parts: the written part includes a descriptive section, supporting calculations, and a cost estimate, while the drawn part includes detailed drawings for construction in scales of 1/100, 1/50, 1/20, and so on. Additionally, it includes a statement of the project author’s responsibility (Termo de Responsabilidade), as well as confirmation from the Ordem dos Engenheiros (OE) or Ordem dos Engenheiros Técnicos (OET) that the author is qualified to undertake this type of project (Declaração da OE or OET). To successfully approve the working documentation, it must strictly align with the previously agreed-upon architectural project.
It’s important to emphasize that certain additional projects must be separately approved by external organizations. Energy certification is one such project, and it is approved by a specific organization, in this case, the Energy Agency. You can find all the information regarding this on their website – ADENE. Similarly, for water supply and/or sewage projects, municipal water and sanitation services, such as SMAS (Serviços Municipalizados de Água e Saneamento de + your city’s name) or EPAL, are responsible. A gas supply project is issued by one of the certified companies. These external permits and certificates must be obtained and submitted to Câmara Municipal for coordination, along with the working documentation, after the approval of the architectural project.