What does área de construção mean in Portugal?
Área de construção is the sum of the areas of all floors of a building, above and below the threshold level, leaving out attics and basements without regulation ceiling height. Each floor is measured to the outside of its outer walls.
- Defined in
- Decreto Regulamentar n.º 5/2019, Annex I, ficha I-8
- Law
- Decreto Regulamentar n.º 5/2019, technical concepts for spatial planning and urbanism
- Official text
- data.dre.pt/eli/decregul/5/2019/09/27/p/dre/pt/pdf
- Sources
- data.dre.pt/eli/decregul/5/2019/09/27/p/dre/pt/pdf
- Checked
- 2026-11-05
What it means for the owner
- It includes covered circulation spaces (halls, corridors, stairwells, lift shafts) and covered outdoor spaces such as porches and covered balconies and terraces.
- The decree uses área total de construção in place of the older terms área bruta, área coberta and área de pavimento (ficha I-13).
- It is expressed in square metres.
More: Guide
Free check
Ask us what a Portuguese building term means and we will answer your question by email, free of charge.