What does caducidade mean in Portugal?
Caducidade is the lapse of a licence or notification. It lapses if the fees are not paid within a year, if works do not start within 12 months of payment, if they are suspended or abandoned for over six months, or are not finished in the set time.
- Rests on
- RJUE, art. 71.º n.º 2 and n.º 3
- Law
- Decreto-Lei n.º 555/99 (RJUE), as republished by Decreto-Lei n.º 108/2026
- Version
- In force since 1 October 2026 (Decreto-Lei n.º 155-B/2026)
- Official text
- data.dre.pt/eli/dec-lei/108/2026/05/29/p/dre/pt/pdf
- Sources
- data.dre.pt/eli/dec-lei/108/2026/05/29/p/dre/pt/pdf
data.dre.pt/eli/dec-lei/155-b/2026/07/31/p/dre/pt/pdf
data.dre.pt/eli/declretif/29-a/2026/07/27/p/dre/pt/pdf - Checked
- 2026-11-05
What it means for the owner
- Works are presumed abandoned if suspended without a reason recorded in the livro de obra, carried out without a diretor de obra, or if the holder cannot be found and has named no representative to the council (art. 71.º n.º 4).
- The council declares the lapse only after hearing the interested party (art. 71.º n.º 5).
- On a reasoned request, the council president may extend the fee-payment period once, by the same length of time (art. 71.º n.º 8).
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